Scan barcode
A review by lemonbun
The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney
4.0
This was a really fun and light book! And spookier than I expected. I was surprised how creepy it could be considering this is for a younger audience.
Tom was a decently likable MC. His character didn't exactly shine through but he wasn't unlikable either. I liked that we saw his struggles of overcoming his fears and getting used to the job rather than immediately taking to it.
Ahh the Spook. I don't like him. I think as a reader, I'm probably meant to, considering he's the all powerful and knowing teacher of Tom. But he just had too many sexist comments to say and frankly it took away from my involvement in the book. I mean, its about witches and ghosts and boggarts, and the Spook is sitting there telling Tom that women aren't to be trusted, women are suckers to compliments , women are this and that and blah blah blah blah blah.
In fact the whole world in the book seemed pretty sexist. Men are to be men. You don't like your job? Too bad . You're a man so deal with it. Charming.
You'd think with it being a fantasy world and the book having no need for any of that the author would have deemed it not necessary to include sexist BS but here we are.
At least Tom didn't seem to carry these opinions. Idk, I guess my main concern is considering this is a book aimed at young boys, they could take this stuff to heart.
All that aside though, the story was great, it had a great flow, and I was really hooked. Also, despite all the rubbish about how women suck, the female characters in the book were actually pretty badass.
So yeah, solid 4/5 stars and I'll definitely be reading the next book. The trials in book 1 were all wrapped up nicely, and I hope each individual book has a new evil to take on that incrementally get harder and harder to take down.
Tom was a decently likable MC. His character didn't exactly shine through but he wasn't unlikable either. I liked that we saw his struggles of overcoming his fears and getting used to the job rather than immediately taking to it.
Ahh the Spook. I don't like him. I think as a reader, I'm probably meant to, considering he's the all powerful and knowing teacher of Tom. But he just had too many sexist comments to say and frankly it took away from my involvement in the book. I mean, its about witches and ghosts and boggarts, and the Spook is sitting there telling Tom that women aren't to be trusted, women are suckers to compliments , women are this and that and blah blah blah blah blah.
In fact the whole world in the book seemed pretty sexist. Men are to be men. You don't like your job? Too bad . You're a man so deal with it. Charming.
You'd think with it being a fantasy world and the book having no need for any of that the author would have deemed it not necessary to include sexist BS but here we are.
At least Tom didn't seem to carry these opinions. Idk, I guess my main concern is considering this is a book aimed at young boys, they could take this stuff to heart.
All that aside though, the story was great, it had a great flow, and I was really hooked. Also, despite all the rubbish about how women suck, the female characters in the book were actually pretty badass.
So yeah, solid 4/5 stars and I'll definitely be reading the next book. The trials in book 1 were all wrapped up nicely, and I hope each individual book has a new evil to take on that incrementally get harder and harder to take down.