Hello, and welcome to my latest Book Review featuring this week an Adventure in Middle Grade Fiction.
Hello, and welcome to my latest Book Review. This week, we return to the 1920s and book two in the Wendington Jones series. I have included a short summary of book one below and a link to our review.
Mrs H and I found this new adventure incredible. Better than the first, which is saying something given the high bar that was set. It is steeped in action as well as multiple plot twists and turns and u-turns, which means we can't, nor do we wish, to spoil it for you by even attempting to give our more usual detailed plot outline. Instead, we are opting for a broad approach.
So, with Mrs H and me already making plans to review book three, and there absolutely has to be one after this, especially given the ending, let's get on with the review!
AUTHOR: Daniel Dockery
Illustrations by: Marco Guadalupi
Published by: UCLan Publishing
Publication date Paperback:
Paperback 13 digit ISBN: 978 - 191 674 7531
UK Cover price for Paperback: £8.99
Amazon KINDLE price: £4.99
Pages: 329
Age range: 10-14 but an amazing adult read too.
SPOILER ALERT
Yes, lots as to plot direction and characters in this and book one.
Thank you to...
Our gratitude to Graeme Williams and UCLan Publishers for offering us a chance to Read & Review both books in this series. We are so glad we did. As ever, those books we review and share are those we select, find delight in, and feel you will also enjoy.
The plot
SPOILER ALERT. Please read book one first if you don't wish to have too much given away as to the back story! See my review HERE.
Book two starts off a matter of weeks after book one. In book one, recently orphaned 15-year-old Wendington, aka Wendi, heads off to complete her mother Penni's last adventure: the search for the fabled Tree of Life.
After dodging various villains who seemed to include her grandma's valet, Rohan, she boards a ship to Australia, the last place the tree was seen. On board, she comes across a French family called Domino. There are other factions on board; some are friendly, and others are not. Some are there to protect Wendi, and others are determined to find the tree first irrespective of the price paid in blood. After one heck of an adventure worthy of Adèle Blanc-Sec and Enola Holmes, Wendington arrives in Australia and heads inland to the last known location of the tree.
Rohan has turned out to be a long-term friend and ally of Wendi's mother, and also a bit of a white knight cum dark horse. He is the perfect adult foil and friend for the inexperienced Wendi. But even he is not enough to fend off Madam Domino. She is hell-bent on finding the tree to save her own life from a genetic illness that also threatens her two children. They feature in the story, in their own way, providing both passion and drama to balance Wendi's.
In a big shoot-out with the now-present police in the outback, Madam Domino shoots and kills Rohan. Turning her attention back to Wendi, Madam Domino forces Wendi into the cave where Penni discovered it. Yes, her mother had found the tree. And it seems she promised her friends they would share in the slithers of the tree's amber sap that cures all. But there was a falling out, and we find out the Domino's were behind Penni's death and that of others along the way.
Unable to supply what Madam Domino wants, Wendi, is shot and killed in the cave and left there. But in death, Wendington finds the true location of the tree, and she is saved. She is given three tiny pieces of amber by the tree's keeper, with the knowledge that they are medicine and not a cure. Resurrected, she saves Rohan with one of the pieces. With the Domino's having exited the scene, our heroine and Rohan head home.
Book two starts a matter of weeks later, back in Oxfordshire. Rohan has stayed with Wendi's grandmother and acts as the family's valet, etc. One night, Wendi spots a light in the snow-covered gardens.
It turns out to be Grigori Rasputin, returned from the dead it seems, and up to no good. Later, on researching him, Wendi's friend, Cordelia, makes an amazing discovery. In a picture of the Russian royal family, she recognises another face. One of the girls at their school, Octavia, is identical to Princess Anastasia Romanov who had been killed with her family by the nasty revolutionaries some four years before. Not unlike Rasputin himself!
Things start barreling along very quickly from here on in. Octavia has suddenly and for no seeming reason, run away from school. Could this be because of her history, and the sudden reappearance of Rasputin who the girls feel is out for revenge? Wendi and Cordelia return to school to check for evidence of Octavia's past, to confirm if she is Anastasia, and thus try to understand why Rasputin should be skulking around. In their search, a part of the building is set alight by Rasputin and the girls are lucky to escape with their lives.
What follows is a trail of evidence that Wendi and friends follow, first to the horse race track and a horse owned by Penni, then on to Venice and finally to Paris. However, ever-present are the Domino's. They are, as the friends soon discover, bent on bloody revenge and obtaining from Wendi the pieces of life-restoring amber that she got from the keeper of the Tree of Life. Pieces of amber they feel are rightly owed to them. And they have enlisted Rasputin to aid them.
Who ends up chasing who is rather a moot point as staying alive long enough to save Octavia/Anastasia, is the main issue. And let me tell you, that is not going to be easy for the friends. Especially as new parties join the fray and hunt, parties with social power, powers and motivation and agendas of their own. Deals must be brokered, sacrifices made, and not just for the amber, but to stay alive and in the chase.
So, what did we think?
Immensely competent, intense, and a hugely enjoyable, engaging, and action-packed adventure. This redefines adventure reads as we now see them for this age group, and beyond.
Filled with delightful world-building and characterisations that run deep and would not be out of place in the most able of adult fiction.
We could not believe how involved we got with this story; how impassioned we felt about the rights, wrongs, and injustices thrown upon our characters, the resulting decisions they had to make, and the consequences they endured.
Book 1 was very much about Wendington's loss of her mother. During that tale, which was hugely dramatic, heartfelt and entertaining, the reader experiences her loss and journey to final acceptance that she can't bring her mother or those that died alongside her, back. Here in book two, we find friendship, resilience, and sacrifice as key themes, for all the cast.
The plot IS immensely enjoyable, very clever, and with more twists and turns than all others we have read. It slots beautifully into the period but is not consumed by it. There is also some amazing use of dialogue to look out for along the way. It isn't just the dry wry wit of Jeeves to Bertie Wooster that Rohan shares with Wendi. It does, as the reader will find out as they head towards the end, conceal clues as to things – alternate meanings. Which we think will, and does, elevate this to a suitable adult read.
So . . . . Crunch time.
Buy and enjoy what has to be the 'best-in-class' adventure that so very ably bridges middle-grade and young-adult reading and makes a jolly good adult read, too.
For those who loved the Alice Eclair Spy Extraordinaire series that we have reviewed, by the awesome Sarah Todd Taylor, this will be a must-read progression.
For those who liked the Adventure on Train series by M.G. Leonard (soon to be a film franchise) and who now want to try a period adventure with more feel, teeth and stylish drama, this is an excellent choice.
Available through Amazon and all good bookshops.
