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naits's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
kathydavie's review
4.0
First in The Last Apprentice paranormal fantasy series for middle-grade readers (a.k.a., the Wardstone Chronicles) and revolving around Thomas Ward, the county’s young — last — hope.
My Take
Whoa…his Mam sure is hard on him! Telling him he can never come home again. I suspect Delaney using first-person protagonist point-of-view helps make this even more heartrending.
It’s a simple and very easy-to-read tale of a young man thrust into a role he hadn’t expected and didn’t particularly want, especially when his mentor is such a curmudgeon! Delaney does a nice job of introducing the characters, setting the scene, and creating the culture, all while properly imbuing a sense of the horror of what Tom experiences. Parents, you needn't worry that this is too horrific.
On the whole I enjoyed Revenge of the Witch, and yes, I’ll be reading Curse of the Bane next.
What I did not enjoy was how stupid Tom could be, those cakes a case in point.
It’s all about making your way in the world, whether you be witch, farmer, or protector. There is much to learn and rarely the time to learn it.
The Story
Tom has no time to worry about the things he still sees in the night, for he’s off to apprentice with Old Gregory.
It’s an interesting life for Tom, until he ignores the strictures Old Gregory places on him … until babies and children start to go missing.
The Characters
Thomas Ward is from a family of farmers and as a younger son, a seventh son, will inherit nothing. Dad, a seventh son, and Mam, who knows more about plants and medicines than the local doctor, are his parents. Jack is the oldest who will inherit Brewer’s Farm and is married to the pregnant Ellie. "Snout" butchers the pigs.
The Spook is Old Gregory, the man who protects the farms and villages from things that go bump in the night, and he’s served for 60 years. One brother is a priest and the other a locksmith.
Horshaw is…
…a pit village with the largest coalyards in the county where Old Gregory has his house. (His winter house is in Anglezarke.) Tommy is one of the children who go missing.
Near Pendle Hill are…
…where the witches live. Alice is Bony Lizzie’s favorite niece. Old Mother Malin is a live witch buried in the ground.
Boggarts come in all sorts: free boggarts can roam far from home and do endless mischief; a bound boggart can’t move at all; naturally bound boggarts can’t move more than a few yards; hairy boggarts may be evil or good; hall knockers play tricks and rap on walls and doors; stone chuckers can rain stone on you for weeks; and, cattle rippers also like human blood.
Now, witches come in four types: the ones who don’t know they’re witches; good witches; evil witches; and, those who are falsely accused. Bone magic is used by necromancers. Blood magic is powered by human blood, particularly that of children. Bone-bound is when the spirit of a dead witch is trapped inside her bones. Leys are lines of power beneath the earth. Ghasts are fragments of spirits; ghosts are spirits unable to move on.
The Cover and Title
The cover has the feel of a woodcut and is dark in its browns. It’s the bearded Spook, hooded and cloaked in gray, brown knee high cuffed leather boots, a thick chain dangling from his waist, carrying a staff and lit lantern, stalking through the cemetery. The background is of dead grasses amongst the leaning tombstones with a broken stone wall behind him, the trees bare in this late autumn story. The series information is at the very top in an embossed, aged gothic red with the tiny title under it in an embossed brown, both backed with a creamy widespread shadow. The author’s name is centered at the bottom in white with a round red seal promoting its forthcoming movie, Seventh Son.
The title is the inciting incident, the Revenge of the Witch.
My Take
Whoa…his Mam sure is hard on him! Telling him he can never come home again. I suspect Delaney using first-person protagonist point-of-view helps make this even more heartrending.
It’s a simple and very easy-to-read tale of a young man thrust into a role he hadn’t expected and didn’t particularly want, especially when his mentor is such a curmudgeon! Delaney does a nice job of introducing the characters, setting the scene, and creating the culture, all while properly imbuing a sense of the horror of what Tom experiences. Parents, you needn't worry that this is too horrific.
On the whole I enjoyed Revenge of the Witch, and yes, I’ll be reading Curse of the Bane next.
What I did not enjoy was how stupid Tom could be, those cakes a case in point.
It’s all about making your way in the world, whether you be witch, farmer, or protector. There is much to learn and rarely the time to learn it.
The Story
Tom has no time to worry about the things he still sees in the night, for he’s off to apprentice with Old Gregory.
It’s an interesting life for Tom, until he ignores the strictures Old Gregory places on him … until babies and children start to go missing.
The Characters
Thomas Ward is from a family of farmers and as a younger son, a seventh son, will inherit nothing. Dad, a seventh son, and Mam, who knows more about plants and medicines than the local doctor, are his parents. Jack is the oldest who will inherit Brewer’s Farm and is married to the pregnant Ellie. "Snout" butchers the pigs.
The Spook is Old Gregory, the man who protects the farms and villages from things that go bump in the night, and he’s served for 60 years. One brother is a priest and the other a locksmith.
Horshaw is…
…a pit village with the largest coalyards in the county where Old Gregory has his house. (His winter house is in Anglezarke.) Tommy is one of the children who go missing.
Near Pendle Hill are…
…where the witches live. Alice is Bony Lizzie’s favorite niece. Old Mother Malin is a live witch buried in the ground.
Boggarts come in all sorts: free boggarts can roam far from home and do endless mischief; a bound boggart can’t move at all; naturally bound boggarts can’t move more than a few yards; hairy boggarts may be evil or good; hall knockers play tricks and rap on walls and doors; stone chuckers can rain stone on you for weeks; and, cattle rippers also like human blood.
Now, witches come in four types: the ones who don’t know they’re witches; good witches; evil witches; and, those who are falsely accused. Bone magic is used by necromancers. Blood magic is powered by human blood, particularly that of children. Bone-bound is when the spirit of a dead witch is trapped inside her bones. Leys are lines of power beneath the earth. Ghasts are fragments of spirits; ghosts are spirits unable to move on.
The Cover and Title
The cover has the feel of a woodcut and is dark in its browns. It’s the bearded Spook, hooded and cloaked in gray, brown knee high cuffed leather boots, a thick chain dangling from his waist, carrying a staff and lit lantern, stalking through the cemetery. The background is of dead grasses amongst the leaning tombstones with a broken stone wall behind him, the trees bare in this late autumn story. The series information is at the very top in an embossed, aged gothic red with the tiny title under it in an embossed brown, both backed with a creamy widespread shadow. The author’s name is centered at the bottom in white with a round red seal promoting its forthcoming movie, Seventh Son.
The title is the inciting incident, the Revenge of the Witch.
karrama's review
4.0
I liked it enough to read more of the series, but so far it's not the greatest of it's kind.
laura_mayfair's review
3.0
Darker than I had expected. Very Grimms fairy tale-esque. It would be a good book to read around Halloween. I enjoyed it -- but not enough to grab future installments.
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
Welcome to a world filled with witches, boggarts, weird things that go bump in the night. It is up to Spook, and his apprentice (Tom, our MC) to save the day.
I believe I have tried to read this series before, or at least I can remember that I bought 2 or 3 random books in the series years ago, but never set to reading it or getting the rest of the books. But, with Halloween nearing again, I decided to read this series, well if it stays good. There are 13 books, and maybe after 5 books I get tired of it, we will see. It would be nice if I had a new supernatural series that I can devour.
Meet Tom, he is the seventh son of the seventh son (not to mention his mam is also special in a way that I hope we will find out as the story continues). Instead of getting a normal job like his brothers, he is about to become apprentice to the Spook. His life is going to be topsy-turvy very fast. Tom was a bit of a wimp at times, but I did like him a lot. I liked how he conquered his fears, how he made the best of the situation, and how he tried to rectify his mistakes (because he does make several mistakes due to him being new to this whole Spook business). I also loved how eager he was to learn all there was about the job, about the monsters that roamed the world.
But of course, the author also shows that Tom is afraid, that is worried about making certain decisions, and later he also sees the real scope of what will happen when he becomes a Spook (or even his assistant for some time). He realizes that it won’t be an easy life. Not only because of the monsters, the threats, the enemies he will make, but also how people (even his family) will treat him.
This book is about Tom’s first adventures. His first encounters with witches, ghasts, boggarts, his first encounter with a girl with pointy shoes. Most of the book is about one certain witch, the wickedest witch, the one in a pit behind Spook’s house. And about her family, just as evil as she is. Or well, for most, because Alice is clearly an in-between upcoming witch. She can be evil, but she can be good, but for all we know she can also be both. The witch, Mother Malkin, was a truly evil hag. One not to be messed with. One to stay away from. One you warn your kids about.
Every time you think you can breathe a bit easier something happens, you are back at the edge of your seat, eagerly waiting to see what will happen next. What kind of dark things will crawl up now?
Alice, I didn’t like her that much. I don’t know why, I just came here for a boy who becomes an apprentice to the Spook, the guy who fights the dark, but instead there is quite a bit of focus on this girl. She was well written, and she was an interesting character, but I don’t know, for some reason I just couldn’t like her that much.
I am really curious about Mam. What kind of powers does she have? What did she mean when she said she married Tom’s dad specifically for being the seventh son? How did she silence those ghasts back at the farm? How does she always seem to know what is going on? I hope that in the later volumes we find out more about this intriguing character.
Spook was also quite the character, I am still not entirely sure if I 100% like him. His methods of teaching are a bit unorthodox, and he is a bit moody. But he also shows he can be kind and he is always willing to teach. I hope we find out one day how he became a Spook. What kind of adventures did he have during his life?
All in all, I will definitely continue with this series. I hope that the next books are as good as this one, or better! I hope the next book feature some new ghouls and dark creepy crawlers.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I believe I have tried to read this series before, or at least I can remember that I bought 2 or 3 random books in the series years ago, but never set to reading it or getting the rest of the books. But, with Halloween nearing again, I decided to read this series, well if it stays good. There are 13 books, and maybe after 5 books I get tired of it, we will see. It would be nice if I had a new supernatural series that I can devour.
Meet Tom, he is the seventh son of the seventh son (not to mention his mam is also special in a way that I hope we will find out as the story continues). Instead of getting a normal job like his brothers, he is about to become apprentice to the Spook. His life is going to be topsy-turvy very fast. Tom was a bit of a wimp at times, but I did like him a lot. I liked how he conquered his fears, how he made the best of the situation, and how he tried to rectify his mistakes (because he does make several mistakes due to him being new to this whole Spook business). I also loved how eager he was to learn all there was about the job, about the monsters that roamed the world.
But of course, the author also shows that Tom is afraid, that is worried about making certain decisions, and later he also sees the real scope of what will happen when he becomes a Spook (or even his assistant for some time). He realizes that it won’t be an easy life. Not only because of the monsters, the threats, the enemies he will make, but also how people (even his family) will treat him.
This book is about Tom’s first adventures. His first encounters with witches, ghasts, boggarts, his first encounter with a girl with pointy shoes. Most of the book is about one certain witch, the wickedest witch, the one in a pit behind Spook’s house. And about her family, just as evil as she is. Or well, for most, because Alice is clearly an in-between upcoming witch. She can be evil, but she can be good, but for all we know she can also be both. The witch, Mother Malkin, was a truly evil hag. One not to be messed with. One to stay away from. One you warn your kids about.
Every time you think you can breathe a bit easier something happens, you are back at the edge of your seat, eagerly waiting to see what will happen next. What kind of dark things will crawl up now?
Alice, I didn’t like her that much. I don’t know why, I just came here for a boy who becomes an apprentice to the Spook, the guy who fights the dark, but instead there is quite a bit of focus on this girl. She was well written, and she was an interesting character, but I don’t know, for some reason I just couldn’t like her that much.
I am really curious about Mam. What kind of powers does she have? What did she mean when she said she married Tom’s dad specifically for being the seventh son? How did she silence those ghasts back at the farm? How does she always seem to know what is going on? I hope that in the later volumes we find out more about this intriguing character.
Spook was also quite the character, I am still not entirely sure if I 100% like him. His methods of teaching are a bit unorthodox, and he is a bit moody. But he also shows he can be kind and he is always willing to teach. I hope we find out one day how he became a Spook. What kind of adventures did he have during his life?
All in all, I will definitely continue with this series. I hope that the next books are as good as this one, or better! I hope the next book feature some new ghouls and dark creepy crawlers.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
laserdiscreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was a nice reread for me. The main character isn't the brightest but it's his first foray into the world on his own so I won't hold it against him. Great opening book for the series
sassblaster's review
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
harleyrae's review
4.0
3.5/5 Stars
I'm actually surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. It was a quick fast-paced book, that always kept you wondering what was gonna happen next. I enjoyed the creepy tone to the book, and found Tom to be a fun character to follow. While he sometimes made stupid decisions, he never made them to hurt anyone. There wasn't really much I didn't like.
All in all this was an OK book that I quite enjoyed. As of now I plan on continuing with the series.
I'm actually surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. It was a quick fast-paced book, that always kept you wondering what was gonna happen next. I enjoyed the creepy tone to the book, and found Tom to be a fun character to follow. While he sometimes made stupid decisions, he never made them to hurt anyone. There wasn't really much I didn't like.
All in all this was an OK book that I quite enjoyed. As of now I plan on continuing with the series.
indiareadsalot's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kyky88148's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25