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A review by rachelcabbit
Groosham Grange by Anthony Horowitz
3.0
This is the class reader I'm going to be looking at with my Year 7s, to link into their work on Gothic stories.
It surprised me how silly it was and yet it was an entertaining read. I expect the Year 7s will love it. It seems to have made an impact on my Year 8s, as some of them listed it as their favourite book.
It does have a lot of parallels with Harry Potter (though this came out long before!) but it is different enough to not warrant constant comparison. For one thing, the abuse the main character suffers at home is exaggerated and almost played for laughs, which did disturb me. Then I realised everything in this book is exaggerated and unrealistic - except the main character and his reactions. He is the reader through and through - confused, scared and a little excited.
Little by little the real mysteries of Groosham Grange start to unfold and the reader always gets the hints before poor David.
By the end I was hooked and I do want to read the sequel just to see how the characters will be now that the dynamic has changed from hating/fearing/trying to escape Groosham Grange, to understanding it.
It surprised me how silly it was and yet it was an entertaining read. I expect the Year 7s will love it. It seems to have made an impact on my Year 8s, as some of them listed it as their favourite book.
It does have a lot of parallels with Harry Potter (though this came out long before!) but it is different enough to not warrant constant comparison. For one thing, the abuse the main character suffers at home is exaggerated and almost played for laughs, which did disturb me. Then I realised everything in this book is exaggerated and unrealistic - except the main character and his reactions. He is the reader through and through - confused, scared and a little excited.
Little by little the real mysteries of Groosham Grange start to unfold and the reader always gets the hints before poor David.
By the end I was hooked and I do want to read the sequel just to see how the characters will be now that the dynamic has changed from hating/fearing/trying to escape Groosham Grange, to understanding it.