Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Da morir dal ridere!
Romanzo intelligente, divertente, ma anche assolutamente creepy (la scena dei topi.. No commenti!!)
La mia infanzia è stata bella anche grazie a Eva Ibbotson!
Romanzo intelligente, divertente, ma anche assolutamente creepy (la scena dei topi.. No commenti!!)
La mia infanzia è stata bella anche grazie a Eva Ibbotson!
Kindly white witch Beladonna has never been able to do black magic, but when the handsome wizard Arriman sets a contest to find the wickedest witch to be his bride, she is determined to give it her best shot.
Beladonna has her work cut out for her if she wants to shake her embarrassing affinity for begonias and cute woodland creatures, but she is helped out in the contest by an orphan named Terence Mugg. Terence owns a pink earthworm named Rover, and Rover seems to be just the familiar to help Beladonna accomplish the necessary nastiness.
The good witch's competition is her own coven - and each witch is icky in her own way, accompanied by a familiar (none of the black cat variety, but far more ingeniously odd). The contest is inventive and sometimes even scary: Madame Olympia's hideous Symphony of Death is a stomach-turning trick that H. P. Lovecraft would have been proud to write.
The side characters are as fun as the witches - I particularly liked Mr. Leadbetter, Arriman's tailed but rather ordinary secretary, who enjoys watching Miss Universe competitions. There is also Arriman's silent friend, a creepy wife-killer ghost named Sir Simon: Sir Simon's fate is amusing and appropriate (actually, if Ibbotson had written a sequel about that relationship I would read it in a heartbeat).
Ibbotson's witches possess a Charles Addams type of evil (you may want to check out The Addams Family: Evilution if you're a fan of macabre humor). They have an affinity for creepy-crawly things but doing little actual harm to innocent strangers - with the exception of the truly wicked Madame Olympia, whose evil is just a tad too evil for everyone's taste. If you want real wickedness, you'll have to turn to Roald Dahl's The Witches.
Beladonna has her work cut out for her if she wants to shake her embarrassing affinity for begonias and cute woodland creatures, but she is helped out in the contest by an orphan named Terence Mugg. Terence owns a pink earthworm named Rover, and Rover seems to be just the familiar to help Beladonna accomplish the necessary nastiness.
The good witch's competition is her own coven - and each witch is icky in her own way, accompanied by a familiar (none of the black cat variety, but far more ingeniously odd). The contest is inventive and sometimes even scary: Madame Olympia's hideous Symphony of Death is a stomach-turning trick that H. P. Lovecraft would have been proud to write.
The side characters are as fun as the witches - I particularly liked Mr. Leadbetter, Arriman's tailed but rather ordinary secretary, who enjoys watching Miss Universe competitions. There is also Arriman's silent friend, a creepy wife-killer ghost named Sir Simon: Sir Simon's fate is amusing and appropriate (actually, if Ibbotson had written a sequel about that relationship I would read it in a heartbeat).
Ibbotson's witches possess a Charles Addams type of evil (you may want to check out The Addams Family: Evilution if you're a fan of macabre humor). They have an affinity for creepy-crawly things but doing little actual harm to innocent strangers - with the exception of the truly wicked Madame Olympia, whose evil is just a tad too evil for everyone's taste. If you want real wickedness, you'll have to turn to Roald Dahl's The Witches.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of my all time favorite books from childhood. Terence Mugg could kick Harry Potter's ass without breaking a sweat.
A children's book I held onto far too long, because I once loved Beth O'Leary. This is no longer what I'm looking for.
This book did not feel like a children's book at all. I can see why it would be shelved that way, though. There was a bit of a Roald-Dahl-esque feeling about how the world is turned on its head: darkness and being an evil wizard / witch is the thing to strive for. And yet, none of the characters truly want to hurt anyone, so there is no real evil. Darkness is not evil, I suppose is the takeaway?
In any case, I felt the characters were charming, the story was written magically but to the point, and the plot wrapped up far better than I hoped for. I probably would have loved this book a lot more if I was younger.
In any case, I felt the characters were charming, the story was written magically but to the point, and the plot wrapped up far better than I hoped for. I probably would have loved this book a lot more if I was younger.
This was a re read for me but it’s as good as it was when I first read it years ago. Ibbotsons books are delightfully dark and spooky and simply perfect for spooktober
This was just a ton of fun. Ibbotson is like a tamer Roald Dahl, with a twist of Monty Python. The part about the rats, though? That was pure Stephen King. *shudder*