I received a review copy of the book as part of the blog tour in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
Genre: Fantasy Age Range: MG Star Rating: 4 stars Series: standalone
Blurb:
‘When the fairies arrived in Clonbridge town, the wind changed direction.’
For the first time in over fifty years, the Trooping Fairies arrive in the small town of Clonbridge for their annual revels. Their arrival awakens other creatures, who have mischief and chaos in mind.
Cat Donnelly and her friends spend their final day of school before midterm break swapping scary stories and planning the ultimate trick-or-treating strategy. But with the Fairies back in town, this Halloween will be one where Cat has to face real danger and use all her wits and bravery to save those she loves.
‘The whole world had turned upside down and she needed to fix it.’
Blurb taken from Goodreads. Add to your shelves here.
Review:
THE BOOK OF SECRETS is the natural successor to THE THIRTEEN TREASURES, a contemporary fairy story full of tricksy fairies out to make mischief by stealing children and punishing those they’ve held long grudges against.
These are dark fairies, not the sort who are going to help, and it makes for a deliciously spooky book to read as the days grow shorter and the nights crowd in. It is a modern fairy tale in all respects, harkening back to older tales but with nods and elements (like phones and the children’s speech and midsets) that ground it firmly in today.
This is a story about reclaiming your loved ones, packed full of fairies from Irish folklore out to wreak havoc on mortals. They make for a series of challenges Cat, and her ex-friend Shane, have to pass in order to get to the “boss level” challenge of bargaining with the fairy king and queen themselves.
All of it is set on a dark, windy Halloween night, in an eerie forest, that is the perfect setting for these meddlesome fairies to loom large and dangerous. There is something about being hunted by creatures through trees that is more nerve-wracking than being hunted through open grassland!
While most of the book is told from Cat’s perspective, there are some chapters here and there from the Pooka’s, a fairy who loves nothing more than mischief and is pulling strings behind the scenes. His chapters give you a glimpse of what is to come and some of the challenges facing the children.
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 