A review of 'The Ship of Shadows'.

Mystery and Adventures in Middle Grade reading. Reviews brought to you by Erin the Cat.

This week we review:-

The Ship of Shadows, By Maria Kuzniar 

 

Hello and welcome back to the blog. 

After a hefty hiatus, and by that I don't mean all the pounds and kilos Mrs H has piled on during lockdown, we have finally burst free from the covid induced hiding under the duvet, with a review of a most wonderful book.

I recently finished reading books 1 & 2 in the Strangeworlds Travel Agency series by acclaimed author L.D. Lapinski (more on these great books in another review) and found myself with a massive void to fill in my reading life. So I instructed Mrs H to hunt through through Amazon for something exciting and flavoursome that I could dive into. 

Alas, she bought a saucepan! I tweeted about my woes at her apparent ineptitude, and possible need for new glasses, and was rewarded by L.D. Lapinski herself recommending to us The Ship of Shadows.

And most grateful I am too, as this has proven to be a delightful adventure.

So enough of the pre-amble, heres the review!

The Ship of Shadows, by Maria Kuzniar.

The adventure starts in Seville, Spain, in the early part of the 1700's, 1715 to be precise. Here we meet Aleja, a twelve-year-old who would rather seek adventure and trips to foreign countries than do what other girls her age are expected to do. Teased and bullied for wanting to follow her dreams, she spends her nights on the city's rooftops. There she dreams, studies the stars, and reads books about the famous pirates, explorers and adventurers: Columbus and Thomas James, to name but two.

One night Aleja spots a mysterious, cannon-fire damaged ship slip silently into port under cover of darkness. When she realises the ship belongs to the long-missing, presumed dead explorer, Thomas James, her interest is more than aroused. Piecing together what she has read, this ship has to be the infamous Ship of Shadows, a pirate ship feared by men and said to be crewed by a band of merciless pirate women. The ship is also said to be haunted by the ghosts of the sailors they have killed. She is keen to know more. After all, these are women who are defying the expectations of their gender and living a life of adventure Aleja can only dream of. Who wouldn't want to at least see if the tales were true?

Whilst following one of the women from the crew, she discovers, quite by chance, smuggled gold coins on the dock - counterfeit coins. Caught with a coin in her hand, she manages to escape from the gang. If she tells the authorities, the penalty for them will be death. The sentence for being accused of being a thief is public flogging. The smugglers give chase, intent on retrieving the coin and branding her a thief. Aleja runs because who would believe a twelve-year-old over the leader of the gang who is a prominent landlord. 

Now, through twists and turns, she comes a cropper and is caught. And so begins probably the best adventure of its kind I have read in many a year, and worthy to sit beside Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, the Arabian Nights tales, and Jules Verne's adventures. I know these are big names to compare against, but this is a big-hearted story in the same vein. 

What I really liked.

An excellent and varied supporting cast of personalities that are not cut and dried, and evolve with the story. No adventure would be complete without villains, and this has the looming threat of a key antagonist, a pirate hunter with a grudge. Of course, there are fantastic monsters, too, monsters that I think Jules would have been proud of and punctuate the story just at the right moments! Mrs H says she'll never be going to the seaside again without some serious backup!

Did I mention the ship itself? Well, that is more fun and secrets buried within its timbers than Hogwarts.

Which sort of leads me to a question I have increasingly been asking myself as I read more and more Middle-Grade adventures. Would I take this over JK Rowling's Harry Potter series, given this is the first book? The answer is an emphatic YES. Both have their merits, but this has a kind of spark that goes deeper and wider and stretches the enquiring mind more. Maybe that is just us, but Mrs H and I both felt that we had been transported away with this book.

Now I won't spoil any more for you; that really would not be fair for what is a wonderful tale.

The second instalment of this beautiful adventure, called The 'Secrets of the Stars', is released 8th of July 2021. We are hoping to buy a copy of this as soon as released and will do a review for you.

If you know some budding adventurer (of whatever age) who would love a great read, then please do consider ordering from your local independent book shop. In this day and age, they all deserve our business.

I can't leave without saying just how nice the book cover is. In fact, it has two front covers, all glossy and exciting.

 

Inner front cover.

 

And here is the back cover.

Back cover .

Well that's it from me this week. I hope you enjoyed this review. As to the the saucepan, Mrs H says that whilst it is exceptionally good, it isnt as good as this book. Mrs H said she'll do a review of the pan later. 

The Ship of Shadows is published by Puffin Books, part of Penguin Random House. 

Tune in next time when we will be reviewing one of my favourites: Max the Detective Cat, by Sarah Todd Taylor!

 

 

Erin the cat: Addicted to Mice Mystery and Adventure!

Now that's 'Jolly Foul Play'

 'Jolly Foul Play' by Robin Stevens; an absolutely spiffing book review & A Sunday Selfie!

 

 Erin the cat; Addicted to Mice & Mystery!

With the bonfires all burnt out, the cinders raked up, and the sparklers all packed away for another year, Mrs H and I found the time to catch up on some missed sleep and a good read. This last few weeks we have been sharing book four in the Murder Most Unladylike series, titled: Jolly Foul Play.

 

What's it all about?

 

Having returned to their school after their adventuresome holiday on the Orient Express, Hazel and Daisy find that a new Head Girl has been appointed. Elizabeth Hurst is, as far as the rest of the students are concerned, nobodies idea of the ideal head girl, but seems to have the headmistresses approval. And so begins a reign of terror.

Using her deputies – five older school girls known ominously as 'the five' – she gathers details of each student. Then in a very discrete manner, uses it against them as a form of blackmail, and to stir up rivalries.

Then, during the Deepdene Girl's School School bonfire night celebration, after the sparklers have fizzled out, a scream goes out. Elizabeth is found dead, a tragic, freak blow to the head from stepping backwards onto a rake. 

The Headmistress and staff believe just that, and matters are resolved with the sacking of the school's handyman and groundskeeper, Jones, who must have left the rake out.

 

Tragic though it was, the rest of the school think things will now return to a normal. But for schoolgirls, Daisy (President of the Detective Society) and Hazel (Vice-President and Secretary), this seems to have the hallmarks of a murder!

But with Elizabeth's rod of iron rule gone, and the five seemingly unable to control the younger students, things start to slide: discipline lapses, and breaking of the school rules abounds. 

Matters heighten when notes – torn from a notebook – start being found by the younger students. Each one reveals some indiscretion, or sin, of a student or their family which they would want kept secret. Whilst some are already known, others are shocking and nigh on criminal. 

 

This has the effect of raising the tensions and driving wedges between once friends. Daisy has a soft spot for Jones and sets out to detect the case, find the motive, criminal and get Jones back with his good name restored. And all before any more secrets come out or anyone else murdered.

To help, Daisy and Hazel enlist the help of their dorm mates: Kitty, Beanie, and Lavinia. With a team of five, they match 'the five' prefects and start their hunt for clues in earnest. But to do it, they soon realise need to uncover the very secrets of the five that kept them under Elizabeths control.

Now at this point, things start to go wrong for our friends, and there is a falling out, big time, in the Detective Society. All good friendships are based on trust, and it seems someone has committed an unforgivable sin and betrayed the Detective Society oath. 

OK, so from here on, I will not offer you too much more as it will spoil the story, and yes, there is lots more to come!

 

What I will say is that it comes in ways you do not expect, and the plot weaves its way back and forth and strikes just like a snake, or indeed, like a hockey player with the ball.......

What did we think?

 

WOW! Mrs H and I loved this book, in fact, we have this in paperback and on Audible too. Mrs H says thankfully her school was not quite as bad as this, though there was a time when...... OK, OK, apparently I can't tell you what she got up to, well not at the moment. But what I can say is that the plot is rich and unique; interwoven with aspects of friendships, hardships, and the power or otherwise of secrets and those that use them – for better or worse. 

 

Since the last book, our protagonists, Hazel and Daisy, have both matured in ways that show an intensity of emotions, aptitude and drive, which we feel mirrors life. This all helps create a realistic feel for the times and a promise of exciting things to come in the next story. Is there an international flavour? There sure is! Is there romance blooming? Well, I think that is one I shall leave up to the reader to decide – and the astute readers and detectives amongst you will maybe see clues that go beyond this story.

If you've not read any of the others in the series, I DO recommend starting at book 1 as this will give you a better grasp and feel for the characters, time period, and events that have been referred to.

Who should read this book? 

 

Absolutely ages 8-9 upwards, of any gender. And also anyone that loves a great detective mystery that almost turns the pages for you. Adult readers: Don't be put off by this being a middle-grade book, the series is very well considered and much loved – and where else do young detectives earn their stripes?

So, all that remains is to say "Jolly hockey sticks to one and all, and Jolly Foul Play!"

 

 

Want to buy a copy?

 

If you'd like to do a spot of detecting of your own, on and off the hockey pitch, please do consider ordering from your local book store.

........ and one of me, my selfie and doing what comes naturally (aka thinking up stories for my latest book).

 

Next time I will be reviewing Book 5 in the series. 

 Between then and now I suspect, as it's the WI's annual, all-in, no holds barred charity Hockey match in aid of the Uppper Much-Mousing Red Cross, I'll be nursing a few bruised shins, bloodied knees and an incidental/accidental black eye or two. Not all Mrs H's I hope. Till then, we wish you all a safe, happy, and well-read week – sans the hockey sticks!

Till later.

Toodlepip and Purrs!

ERin