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An Adventure Book Review
by Erin the Cat Princess© The literary cat!
Hello, and welcome to A Wednesday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!
Apologies to our regular readers as our review dates and frequency are a bit wonky at the moment. This is due to doing edits on one of our co-written books. After two long solid weeks, it was done. Just in time it seems for Mrs H to come down with 'crone-ic' hayfever. This she says is a step up from chronic hayfever, and the sort that really ancient and mythical folk get. Worse though is the fact it leaves her sleepy and bearly able to do a full 20 hour day here at the palace!
Talking of people and places of myth and legend, we have this week a stunning new book for you by one of Irelands famous childrens authors, Catherine Doyle.
So, without further ado, here is my review of the soon-to-be-released The Lost Girl King.
THE LOST GIRL KING by CATHERINE DOYLE
Cover art by: TBA
Published by: BLOOMSBURY CHILDRENS BOOKS
Publication date: 1 SEPTEMBER 2022
Paperback ISBN: 978 - 152 660 8000
Cover price for Paperback £7.99, Kindle edition to be available: YES
Pages 336.
Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)
Any
dogs or cats? No, but there's Selkies and a rather opinionated pooka squirrel!
SPOILER ALERT
Yes, small spoilers to direction of plot/characters
Disclaimer.
We were lucky enough to be approved by Bloomsbury Children's Books to receive an Advance Reader Copy of this book to review.
The plot
When siblings Amy and Liam Bell are packed off to their grandma Dorothy's house in the wilds of Connemara, not far from the west coast of Ireland, the holiday seems to hold little in the way of excitement for them. Especially as it is raining. Liam would rather sit and read his books and has little time for the tales of Irish mythology that his gran, as a literary professor, has taught her students in years past and has written a book about. Amy, however, is keen to explore and try to find the lost kingdom of Tír an nÓg, renowned as a place of eternal youth. This, however, is something her gran warns her against.
As dawn breaks on the first morning of their stay, the sun starts to shine. Amy drags Liam off to explore. Liam, who doesn't believe in the magical places or beings of Irish mythology, finally, and reluctantly, agrees, just to get some peace and quiet. Taking a sixpenny piece that she found in their bedroom, which used to belong to Dorothy's sister, the two head off to explore.
Drawn on by the sighting of a large hawk, the two soon discover a backwards flowing waterfall. The wisdom of age would say NO! But Amy is incorrigible, stubborn and ever inquisitive. Entering the waterfall, Liam unwillingly follows, and the two are soon in the mythical realm. Worse, though, they have no way back as the entrance in the cave behind the waterfall has now become blocked!
Travelling through the forest they find themselves in, they soon fall foul of some creatures. Good or bad remains to be seen, as the siblings become separated and then entrapped. It is from here on in that the adventure really starts. A race to save a kingdom from perpetual and scorching daytime and an evil sorcerer. Celtic creatures from mythology abound, and all isn't quite as it seems.
So, what did we think?
Having thoroughly enjoyed Catherine's middle grade 'Storm Keeper' trilogy – which I recommend to those MG fans who haven't yet come across them – I was very keen to read this new stand alone story. I have not been disappointed. This is a fabulous adventure for Middle Grade upwards. It has hints of Tolkein and CS Lewis style that, blended with Celtic mythology, creates a beautiful atmosphere, sense of place and has lots of thrills. As with all books in this age group, lessons are learned from the characters' actions. But that is by the bye, and doesn't spoil the read one bit.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, and assuming you can avoid headless riders and fearsome selkies, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a selection of mythological magic and mayhem that is sure to delight!
Catherine Doyle's WEB page link can be found HERE or use https://www.catherinedoylebooks.com/
Bloomsbury Childrens Books (UK) web page link can be found HERE. or use https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/childrens/
If any authors or publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.
I shall leave you with a (incredibly rare) picture of me snoozing after my own 20hr day of napping!
Till laters!
ERin
ERin ewe bee lookin most gorgeouz az ewe all wayz due N we hopez ta cod that yur dreemin
ReplyDeleteoh fish on yur plate N knot bass terd turkee
yur ree veew iz awesum !!!! for SURE thiz book soundz grate.....de gurlz peepulz iz
frum ireland...her haz bookz bye de dozenz bout hizz tree, mythologee N sum with
just fotoz ;)
♥♥♥
Ireland is a grand country and no mistake. this is a grand adventure also, and one that only has a few pooka swans, which arent really birds ;)
DeleteERin
This sounds really good! I would love to snooze after a 20 hour nap ;)
ReplyDeleteIt is a push to do, but I do like to get the hours in, MOL
DeleteERin
That was a good review sweet Princess. Hey, I'm sorry if I seem to be ignoring your posts, they are not showing up in my feed reader for some reason so I don't know when you post.
ReplyDeleteI suspect it is as I do not post all the time due to time constraints and book editing for two books!
DeleteLove;ly to see you though.
ERin
This sounds like a wonderful book, dear Princess Erin!
ReplyDeleteAnd the picture of YOU is also wonderful.
Thank you the book is and, I do try to look my best for my fans :)
DeleteERin
Just posted a comment and it has disappeared into thin air! What in the world is happening with Blogspot!
ReplyDeleteTo repeat myself - this book sounds wonderful. And the picture of you napping, sweet Princess Erin, is also wonderful.
Ah, sorry, we have comment moderation on, so it is neither you or blogspot. Still, it is lovely to have you visit twice. 🙂
DeletePurrs
ERin
And now for Our Third Visit - just to make sure you get the Invitation to today's pawty!
DeleteAwww, that is really kind of you to invite us. And yes, this does seem to be the third visit, but all have made it through. (I deleted the duplicate of the 1st comment).
DeletePurrs
ERin
I have always loved the legends of Ireland which could be because my maternal grandmother was Irish. We took a two week road trip around Ireland in 2017 and had our own strange happening which I cannot explain. I am determined to go back and try to make some sense of it. You may have read my post on it at the time, but if not and if you are interested here is the link.
ReplyDeletehttps://allatseawithme.blogspot.com/2019/10/ireland-road-trip-true-spooky-story-for.html
Thank for the link. I shall have a read in a bit! Always good to share adventures, more so when they are real!
DeleteERin