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A review by vsteg1
The Troll Heart by Jack Henseleit
4.0
The Troll Heart is a delightful follow-up to The Vampire Knife, and exactly the kind of thing I would have enjoyed reading when I was in primary school. Even as a 23-year-old I enjoy watching Anna and Max caper around the world under the not-so-watchful gaze of the Professor and get into all sorts of trouble.
I read a lot of spooky fairy/fantasy books when I was a kid, so I'm pretty confident in saying that The Witching Hours series stacks up. The story is great and the illustrations compliment it so well. I particularly like that in addition to the usual backbone of spooky, adventure, and supernatural elements, the fact that a girl is doing all the saving is treated as totally normal.
Based on the books I read 10 or 15 years ago, usually girls who got the leading role had to be 'extra special' in some way (maybe they have elven blood, or are secretly witches, ancient curse, whatever) in order to explain why they could step up to the post - whereas boys just got to be kickass purely by the value of being boys, no otherworldly explanation needed.
In The Troll Heart, like in The Vampire Knife, there's no fanfare or hand-wringing over why Anna is so kickass - she just IS. Sure, she has the magic knife from book one, but that's no different to any male hero picking up a magic sword.
I also like the story's treatment of Max's hand - no spoilers, but it feels true to the way the series has been marketed. This isn't your standard rosy fairytale and I love that.
My only wish for The Troll Heart would have been slightly faster pacing, but all in all I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to read the next book when it comes out.
I read a lot of spooky fairy/fantasy books when I was a kid, so I'm pretty confident in saying that The Witching Hours series stacks up. The story is great and the illustrations compliment it so well. I particularly like that in addition to the usual backbone of spooky, adventure, and supernatural elements, the fact that a girl is doing all the saving is treated as totally normal.
Based on the books I read 10 or 15 years ago, usually girls who got the leading role had to be 'extra special' in some way (maybe they have elven blood, or are secretly witches, ancient curse, whatever) in order to explain why they could step up to the post - whereas boys just got to be kickass purely by the value of being boys, no otherworldly explanation needed.
In The Troll Heart, like in The Vampire Knife, there's no fanfare or hand-wringing over why Anna is so kickass - she just IS. Sure, she has the magic knife from book one, but that's no different to any male hero picking up a magic sword.
I also like the story's treatment of Max's hand - no spoilers, but it feels true to the way the series has been marketed. This isn't your standard rosy fairytale and I love that.
My only wish for The Troll Heart would have been slightly faster pacing, but all in all I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to read the next book when it comes out.