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A review by lilyn_g
Watch Hollow: The Alchemist's Shadow by Gregory Funaro, Matt Griffin
5.0
Talking animals are always a tricky proposition for me, but I found Watch Hollow to be a charming read with enough creepy overtones to make my horror-jaded heart happy.
I started this as a buddy read with Jess from Storytime in the Stacks and swiftly found that I wanted to keep reading it. This isn’t a book you want to spread out over several days. It’s one you want to curl up with and blast through.
Out of the two children that we follow for the story (Lucy and Oliver) I have to say that it was Oliver that stole my heart. He’s a sweet, good-natured boy that has been forced to grow up way too soon due to the fact that life can suck. He’s a good big brother to Lucy. Lucy herself is young enough to see the magic in everything, hot-tempered, and seems like she would be an absolute handful. (Not necessarily in a bad way.)
While I liked all the good guys in Watch Hollow, I have to say that I found the Garr to be a bit much. Not how he acted, but how blatant he was about what he wanted. Maybe for younger middle-grade readers it’ll be perfect, though. Subtlety isn’t always their strong suit, lord knows!
The pacing is fantastic. I adored the characters I was supposed to like. I found myself invested in seeing the clock get restored. (And did I mention how freaking cool the idea of a clock that runs an entire house is?!) The end had me giving a mental cheer for the children and definitely warmed my blackened heart a bit. Overall, this was just a fun read told by a talented author, and I hope I can get my middle-grader as interested in it as I was.
I started this as a buddy read with Jess from Storytime in the Stacks and swiftly found that I wanted to keep reading it. This isn’t a book you want to spread out over several days. It’s one you want to curl up with and blast through.
Out of the two children that we follow for the story (Lucy and Oliver) I have to say that it was Oliver that stole my heart. He’s a sweet, good-natured boy that has been forced to grow up way too soon due to the fact that life can suck. He’s a good big brother to Lucy. Lucy herself is young enough to see the magic in everything, hot-tempered, and seems like she would be an absolute handful. (Not necessarily in a bad way.)
While I liked all the good guys in Watch Hollow, I have to say that I found the Garr to be a bit much. Not how he acted, but how blatant he was about what he wanted. Maybe for younger middle-grade readers it’ll be perfect, though. Subtlety isn’t always their strong suit, lord knows!
The pacing is fantastic. I adored the characters I was supposed to like. I found myself invested in seeing the clock get restored. (And did I mention how freaking cool the idea of a clock that runs an entire house is?!) The end had me giving a mental cheer for the children and definitely warmed my blackened heart a bit. Overall, this was just a fun read told by a talented author, and I hope I can get my middle-grader as interested in it as I was.