Scan barcode
A review by erebus53
The Spell Tailors by James Nicol
4.0
This review for the Audiobook version (not listen as of review date):
ISBN 9781038619280 - published by Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd - Bolinda audio, 01 Sept 2022
and Narrated by Alex Wingfield
This is an adventurous story for young readers 9-13, about a boy who lives with his grandmother in a shop that makes custom clothing with magical properties. Business is starting to go down hill for the Spell Tailors as there are rumors of spelled clothing making people unwell, infestations of parasites that eat spell stitches, and increasing competition from a company that is buying out smaller businesses, and marketing cheap mass-produced items. His uncle's business folds and soon the extended family are all living under the same roof, meaning that he has to spend a lot of time with his cousin, Connie.
Narrator Alex Wingfield has a really high pitched voice that is well suited to young characters and women. The narration is spot on and really brings it all to life.
I think this story hits a sweet spot just north of Roald Dahl, with humour and childish fun without the nasty bits. It really captures the frustration of young people who are being brave and trying to solve problems while the overbearing adults in their lives are heavy-handed, unreasonable, and just _won't_ listen. Hen seems perpetually excluded, and Connie is often embarrassed by her worrywart mother who says indelicate things in mixed company.
Integral to the plot, is the theme of mending things, and this includes relationships. Whereas I think it is essential to my values that people "reduce, reuse, recycle" this is not something that is a common feature of the fashion industry. The drive to innovate, the competition, and the disposable nature of the fashion industry, takes the shine off for those of us who only love the artistry and creativity. The ethos of reusing, restoring, renovating, reimagining, repairing, repurposing and rehoming is an important part of my life and hope for the future of humanity... (ok that sounded lofty!).
I found the ideals of repairing relationships to be a little more challenging. It definitely bears thinking about. As is illustrated in the plot, sometimes it is much more valuable to preserve a relationship and forgive slights when they are small. A wound left too long and ruminated over can begin to feel like an insurmountable gap in a relationship (by which I mean interaction of two people, rather than "romance"). The unintentional pun that comes to mind is the cliché, "a stitch in time saves 9", though it's possibly a better metaphor to say a "swift rinse stops a stain". The problem I see with encouraging this thinking in young readers is the idea that they might consider themselves responsible for fixing relationships when another person is unwilling, that they might think that everyone is somehow redeemable so long as you put up with their garbage long enough, or that their family/parents might get back together if they just try more..
I do love that the twist at the end of the story was predictable enough if you had been paying attention to little clues, but really was a bit of a blindside if you weren't looking for it. This book was fresh and exciting and a good lark, with some big ideas underneath.
ISBN 9781038619280 - published by Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd - Bolinda audio, 01 Sept 2022
and Narrated by Alex Wingfield
This is an adventurous story for young readers 9-13, about a boy who lives with his grandmother in a shop that makes custom clothing with magical properties. Business is starting to go down hill for the Spell Tailors as there are rumors of spelled clothing making people unwell, infestations of parasites that eat spell stitches, and increasing competition from a company that is buying out smaller businesses, and marketing cheap mass-produced items. His uncle's business folds and soon the extended family are all living under the same roof, meaning that he has to spend a lot of time with his cousin, Connie.
Narrator Alex Wingfield has a really high pitched voice that is well suited to young characters and women. The narration is spot on and really brings it all to life.
I think this story hits a sweet spot just north of Roald Dahl, with humour and childish fun without the nasty bits. It really captures the frustration of young people who are being brave and trying to solve problems while the overbearing adults in their lives are heavy-handed, unreasonable, and just _won't_ listen. Hen seems perpetually excluded, and Connie is often embarrassed by her worrywart mother who says indelicate things in mixed company.
Integral to the plot, is the theme of mending things, and this includes relationships. Whereas I think it is essential to my values that people "reduce, reuse, recycle" this is not something that is a common feature of the fashion industry. The drive to innovate, the competition, and the disposable nature of the fashion industry, takes the shine off for those of us who only love the artistry and creativity. The ethos of reusing, restoring, renovating, reimagining, repairing, repurposing and rehoming is an important part of my life and hope for the future of humanity... (ok that sounded lofty!).
I found the ideals of repairing relationships to be a little more challenging. It definitely bears thinking about. As is illustrated in the plot, sometimes it is much more valuable to preserve a relationship and forgive slights when they are small. A wound left too long and ruminated over can begin to feel like an insurmountable gap in a relationship (by which I mean interaction of two people, rather than "romance"). The unintentional pun that comes to mind is the cliché, "a stitch in time saves 9", though it's possibly a better metaphor to say a "swift rinse stops a stain". The problem I see with encouraging this thinking in young readers is the idea that they might consider themselves responsible for fixing relationships when another person is unwilling, that they might think that everyone is somehow redeemable so long as you put up with their garbage long enough, or that their family/parents might get back together if they just try more..
I do love that the twist at the end of the story was predictable enough if you had been paying attention to little clues, but really was a bit of a blindside if you weren't looking for it. This book was fresh and exciting and a good lark, with some big ideas underneath.