STARFELL. Willow Moss and the Lost Day.

 

by Dominique Valante;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess

 

Erin, addicted to Mystery Adventure and Mice!

 

 

 

 

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review!

 

 

This week we are delighted to bring you the first of three books, thus far, featuring Willow Moss and her under the bed monster (NOT a cat) feline-like companion, Oswin.

 

The books are beautifully and funnily illustrated by the talented Sarah Warburton. This book was first published in 2019 and the third earlier this year. 

 

 

NEWS FLASH!

 

Before we proceed with the review, we would like to thank concerned readers of the blog who contacted me after reports of the entire parish of Upper Much-Mousing being in a state of siege. It seems that reports of farmer Clarksins sheep foaming at the mouth and running amok in the village had made it into the national newspapers! 

 

An investigation has since revealed that far from being rabid, farmer Clarksin's young son, Eggbert, appalled by the colour of the fleeces, had tried to wash said sheep by pouring two gallons of Mrs Singhs Everlasting Washing Up liquid over them. That, however, is as far as he got before being called in to bed. The ensuing night's heavy rainfall did the rest! 

 

Repeated dunkings have so far failed to rinse the sheep off. So the villagers, and those in the neighbouring village of Much Deeping-Hollow, have spent the last few days bringing all their dishes to be washed by farmer Clarksin's wife and a selection of sheep. Surprising how effective a clean you get from a sheep fleece dishcloth!

 

OK, so enough the everyday antics, let's get on with this review!

 

 

 

 

 

STARFELL. Willow Moss and the Lost Day, by DOMINIQUE VOLENTE

 

Published by HarperCollins.

 

Cover artwork by Sarah Warburton

 

For ages 8 - 12 and upwards.

 

Hardback ISBN: 978 - 0 - 00 - 830839 - 1  

Paperback ISBN: 978 - 0 - 00 - 830840 - 7 

Trade paperback ISBN: 978 - 0 - 00 - 833505 - 2

Cover price for Hardback £12.99, Paperback £7.99 (or cheaper)

 

 

 

The Plot: 

 

Willow Moss is the youngest in her family. They live near the village of Grinfog, in the kingdom of Shelagh, in the world of Starfell. 

 

A thousand years ago, Starfell used to abound with magic, witches and wizards. Then came the great war between the religious sect called The Brothers of Wol and those that did magic. The Brothers thought magic was all bad, and those born with the gift, unnatural and possessed by evil. When the war had ended, magic had all but been ripped from the land. Gradually though, in time, it seeped back, but not how it was before. The gifts, for that, is truly what they were, were sparse and given to few. It was almost as though the magic was being careful, biding its time...

 

Willow and her family are some of the few. She, her two sisters and mother are all witches, though she happens also to be the least powerful, and some would say least able of witches. Her skill is for finding lost objects: socks, dentures, spectacles and spoons amongst them. Unlike her sisters, she doesn't command much recompense for her services when she helps those in the village.

 

One day, the most feared and skilled witch in the kingdom, Moreg Vaine, arrives at Willow's house, sending the awaiting customers scattering in fear. More surprising than that was that she wanted Willow's help.

 

Why, you ask? What could Moreg lack that Willow has? Well, someone has stolen last Tuesday!

 

Yup, it seems that the previous Tuesday had vanished, and nobody could remember what they did that day. Even more so than usual. And whatever happened to that day may well cause reality to unravel and Starfell's destruction. 

Having packed her possessions for the trip, Willow pulls out by his tail the monster that lives under her bed, a 'kobold' called Oswin.

 

What you need to know: Kobold's technically only just qualified as monsters. But best not raise that point as they get very tetchy about it. They are also NOT cats.

 

Oswin may have pointy ears and a nice tail and white paws to add to the appearance of a tabby cat, but he is definitely NOT a cat. He has luminous orange eyes and lime green body fur, and a bright green and white striped tail. At the moment of being unceremoniously yanked from under the bed, his tail was electrified with indignation and his body hair turning from green to pumpkin orange. 

 

He is also, true to all kobolds, the grumpiest, doom and gloom monger of a non-cat individual you could ever wish to meet. That is if he or you ever wanted to meet each other, which is most unlikely. He is also quite good at pinching things. Add to that the risk of exploding if he gets really, really upset, and the habit of speaking what he thinks at not the best of times, and you will get a reasonably rounded description of the guy. 

 

So, with Oswin encamped in a large carpetbag with her change of clothes, the two witches head off in search of an oublier and Tuesday. They hope he will be able to see what happened, and more importantly, who was behind this dastardly plan and what their intentions are! The only trouble is, oubliers are much unliked due to their unfortunate habit of seeing events others would rather keep secret. So, most of them have either met untimely ends, or live as hermits. 

If things were going to be as easy as knocking on someone's door or going to the lost property office, then this fab adventure wouldn't be very long or fabulous, and Oswin could have enjoyed the gloom under Willow's bed. 

 

So, from here on in, the magic adventure and fun really starts. As usual, I have to stop just there as there is so much more to be had, in addition to the marvellous fun at the beginning. Suffice to say, along the way, things just do not go as planned. There is, of course, the ever-annoying menace of the Brothers of Wol (who don't go shopping at Wol-mart). There are also dragons, trolls, a nasty witch and some devilish charms to overcome, surprises and shocks, and more than a few secrets to be uncovered. If that weren't enough, why . . . . . OK, I won't tell you about that as it's way too nasty. You will just have to go exploring Starfell for yourself. 

 

 

 

So, what did we think?

 

I have to say that Oswin is, despite the smell of boiled cabbage, the moaning and groaning, and the 'woe is me' attitude, quite the most splendid anti-companion for Willow. Like Hoagy in last week's review of Maggie Blue and the Dark World, Oswin (along with the other characters) is brilliantly depicted in the artwork that runs through this adventure. He is an instant win in our book.

 

Willow is far easier to get along with than Maggie Blue. This is likely because Willow's life is pretty much defined from the outset and not based on imponderables and teenage angst.  

 

This does not mean Willow is one dimensional, far from it. In the tradition of the best kids books, Willow is on a voyage of discovery, and uses her talents as best she can, and builds on them too, though not in an excessively overly convenient fashion.

 

The story really does flow along nicely. All the characters are believable and described and illustrated just how I would like and love to read and see. If it isn't evident from my praise, the pictures really add that extra sparkle to a book that is already brimming with lots of good things. The gold sparkliness on the iced and cream and jam-filled sponge cake. 

 

This was a debut book for Dominique, and a brilliant one at that.  

 

 

Crunch time. 

  

 

As ever, we are not in the habit of marking books. We only read and review books we enjoy, based on research, recommendations from authors, and those in the know. That is our guarantee to you. However, taste is, all said and done, so very personal. 

 

So, having mentioned our loves and with no reservations, we whole heartedly recommend this book to our readers who have kids of their own in need of a fab adventure. There is magic and fun and adventure at the turn of every page. Something to learn too, for the observant, and a message for everyone who has ever been told or who feels they have no talent or worth. 

 

After reading this, I wanted my own 'monster under the bed'. Mrs H has warned me that having me and my own kind of gifts under the bed is "just plenty of that sort of a thing, thank you very much!"

 

As we have already got books two and three, our following review will be book two: Starfell. Willow Moss and the Forgotten Tale.

  

 

 

Want to buy a copy?

 

 

To add some magic and some iracund kobold mischief and moaning into your life, then do take the nearest broomstick to your local enlightened and Brothers Wol free independent bookshop. 

 

 

 

Dominique Volente's web page can be found HERE. 

 

Harper Collins Chidrens web page can be found HERE. 

 

 

 

If any publishers, agents or authors wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by. I'm off to see if farmer Clarksin is willing to strap those sheep to some sort of automatic revolving apparatus so I can wash down Mrs H's new motorcycle.

 

Until we meet again, we wish you a week free from missing days and full of literary marvels.

 

 

 

Laters!

 

ERin

 

MAGGIE BLUE AND THE DARK WORLD

by Anna Goodall;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess

 

Erin, addicted to Mystery Adventure and Mice!

 

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review!

 

This week we are delighted to bring you a recent publication sent to me to review, called MAGGIE BLUE and THE DARK WORLD. This is the debut book by British writer Anna Goodall.

 

So, as news from Upper Much-Mousing is currently thin on the ground (mainly because Mrs H is using the newspaper spread out to keep the floor clean as she sweeps the chimney), let's get on with this review!

 

 

 

 

 

MAGGIE BLUE and THE DARK WORLD, by ANNA GOODALL

Published by Guppy Books.

Cover artwork by Sandra Dieckmann

ISBN: 978 - 1 - 913101 - 33 - 6  

Cover price £7.99

 

 

The Plot: 

 

Maggie Blue Brown, aged 13, has gone to live with her aunt Esme in the English town of West Minchen. Her mother, Cynthia Brown, has been ill in hospital for some time. Her father, Lionel Blue, has left them to go off with a younger woman.

 

Maggie has had issues at school, often ending up with others hurt. None of which is Maggie's fault as she is provoked into action and has the habit of seeing red. Her aunt Esme is the safe harbour of last resort. The headmistress of her new school, Fortlake, has only taken her as a personal favour to Esme. 

 

Maggie has never felt like other kids and as a result, is a bit of a loner and does her own thing, including bunking off school. Basically, she likes to keep off everyone's radar. Esme seems not to care what she does, just so long as she gets home to take her once a week phone call from her mother.

 

Esme's garden-flat porch hosts an old looking (but young at heart) raggedy eared, battle-scarred, one-eyed tomcat. In fact, he figures boldly and delightfully illustrated on the cover. 

 

He greets Maggie each evening with a rumbling purr that seems, to her at least, to have a jazz melody being hummed in the background. There is a reason why Esme won't let it in, but she won't let on.

 

Now, Maggie really wants to be friends with Ida, who is the best looking most popular girl in school. She even draws Ida in her notebook and tries to calculate their compatibility. After all, they share the same birthday so it must be suitable to be friends, right? WRONG! Ida hates Maggie. In fact, her nickname for her is 'bruise', based on her double-barrelled surname. Still, the course of friendship is not to be put off by teasing, hatred and the fact that Maggie's notebook finds its way into Ida's hands. As a result, Maggie is branded a stalker who's in love with Ida and a freak whose mother had a breakdown and whose father scarpered. 

 

 

With the backstory well and truly set, as all the best tales do, let us move on to the meaty bit. In fact, let's say hello to Hoagy. Hoagy is a cat, a rather plump one-eyed cat that speaks. Much to Maggie's surprise, he speaks to her!

 

Hoagy knows Dot, who happens to be a local herbalist, and some would say, witch. Dot, who seems as old as the hills, and plays a mean game of snooker from her wheelchair, asks Hoagy to watch over Maggie. She thinks there is more to this troubled teen than meets the eye. 

 

When Ida goes missing in the local Everfall Woods, and Maggie is the only witness to the crime, things really start to get exciting. But Maggie can't say anything to the police. Why, I hear you ask? Well, for one, she followed Ida out of school. Two, the school counsellor, Miss Cane, was with Ida just when she vanished. In fact, it was Miss Cane who dragged Ida through an open portal into a dark world beyond, having first changed into a huge wolf to do it!

 

Would you believe a thirteen-year-old who told you that tale and had the missing girls phone? I thought not, and nor would anyone else. This is why the ever-in-trouble Maggie stays quiet and just says she found the phone in the woods and saw Miss Cane heading into the woods too. The latter will cause her problems.

 

To have a friend, you need someone to call a friend. You need an actual body, an alive and mutually willing body. Maggie is adamant she will have Ida as her best friend, and rescuing her from this strange world and beast seems to be the way to kickstart the friendship. Sooo, she heads to Dot to see if she can help. With the aid of some instructions copied from one of Dot's ancient books, Maggie sets off through the portal into a whole other world of darkness. 

 

It is a world that is without The Great O, its version of Mother Nature. Without O, it is dying, lightless and for the greater part, natureless. And seemingly for all but the rich, a world without joy. Where The Great O, has gone, is a mystery.

 

OK, so that's all I can really tell you. I have led you to the portal. Now you must enter this strange world, with its new creatures called Umon, and travel with Maggie to rescue her unwitting friend-to-be. Some will fall, and others will rise, and some will find answers though not necessarily what they wanted or expected. There are Moon Witches. Did I mention a magic ring, an ouroboros? Well, there is one, and it knows whose finger it wants to be on. . . . 

 

 

So, what did we think?

 

I have to say upfront that the hero of the story for us, is Hoagy. Out and out brilliantly crafted. A finer — if somewhat proud, moody, territorial, but equally, and against his natural instinct and judgement, devoted to the girl Maggie — feline you will never meet. If you have read the Nevermoor books by Jessica Townsend, you will have come across the Hotel Deucalion's housekeeper, Fenestra. She is a Magnificat, a talking cat, and by no means is she anything other than HUGE. Large in life with a larger than life character. In his own way, Hoagy is just like that only more so, but a standard cat size – thus far. That is an outstanding achievement in my book. 

 

Maggie, who will the be humans favourite protagonist, is a nicely crafted, seemingly conflicted, troublesome teen. She is suitably averse to seeing good or to taking help when it is placed before her. But, her flaws are there, and she isn't as she is for no reason. And she is mostly paying the price for things she has no real control over.

 

As a pair, Maggie and Hoagy really do work together well, even when they are at loggerheads in the story. For both Mrs H and me, they are the magic that drives the book along. Of course, there are some nasties too, shape shifters, and evil yellow eyed boys that change into glowing spheres. They work well as foils for Maggie and maybe surprisingly, against each other.

 

One tiny error in the continuity of the plot /unaccounted for change of action caught our eye, which is a shame, though you might well not see it. But it didn't ruin our enjoyment of the story, just made Mrs H put down her sherry, take a step back and check before continuing to read to me. 

 

This is the first in a series, and a jolly good start it is too, especially as a debut. A good plot and two interesting main characters that compel engagement.

 

If there is a downside, it is that the story is not as abundant with lavish descriptive scenes as, say, the Ship of Shadows, which we reviewed not so long ago. Arguably, with the bleakness of the scenes/landscape in the story, maybe it doesn't lend itself to that too much? But, I have to admit, at times I did hope and want for a bit more outside of the scenes with Maggie and Hoagy. Just wanting a bit more . . . sparkle.

 

 

Crunch time. 

 

As ever, we are not in the habit of marking books, as we only read and review books we enjoy, based on research, recommendations from authors, and those in the know. That is our guarantee to you. However, taste is, all said and done, so very personal. 

 

So, having mentioned our loves and reservations, would we recommend this book to our readers? The simple answer is yes. I think the characters will resonate with many, be they truculent teens or tenacious tomcats or their sometimes strange human companions. 

 

It is a fun adventure that had us waiting to the last pages to shed a tear at a moment we weren't entirely sure it would come. And no, we don't peek at endings. And yes, Mrs H is a bit of a softie under those calloused fingers and all that chimney soot. 

 

I hope this is a series that will continue to develop well, as I find I have developed quite a liking for Hoagy and Maggie Blue. 

 

The next book is titled Maggie and The White Crow. I am unsure when this is due, but it is already on our list to review when a copy makes its way to the palace letterbox. Rest assured, said package will not be on the mat too long!

 

 

Want to buy a copy?

  

To add a copy of Maggie Blue, and some Dark World light and an encourageable feline and iracund girl into your life, then do use the nearest portal to your local enlightening independant bookshop. 

 

Anna Goodall's page, as set out at Guppy Books, can be found HERE. 

 

 

We are not sure what book to review next week, so it will be a surprise to at least one of us! 

 

If any publishers wish us to review their books, please do get in touch.

 

 

Thanks for dropping by. I'm off to jetwash off soot and pidgeon feathers and droppings from Mrs H, then to get the fire brigade to see if they can rescue the brush from on top of the chimney!

 

Until later, we wish you a week free from irascibility, shapeshifters and glowing floating yellow orbs intent on doing you harm!

 

  

ERin