24 Sept 2014

MYSTERIES OF RAVENSTORM ISLAND #1: THE LOST CHILDREN.


The What's In A Name reading challenge logo

- The final book read for the 2014 'What's In A Name?' Reading Challenge.
Mysteries Of Ravenstorm Island: The Lost Children - 'A type of element or weather' category.

MYSTERIES OF RAVENSTORM ISLAND #1: THE LOST CHILDREN by GILLIAN PHILIP.

SOURCE: An unsolicited Orchard Book received for review from Hachette Children's Books.

THE BOOK: {According to the outer back cover}: The last thing Arthur and Molly are expecting when they arrive on Ravenstorm Island is adventure.

But when Molly's little brother Jack disappears - an no one else seems to remember he ever existed - they uncover a dark and dangerous secret. Because the sinister creatures of the island are out for revenge .....

And it's the children of Ravenstorm who must pay.

FIRST SENTENCE {Chapter 1}: A gust of wind sliced a hole through the mist.

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 149}: Magic is real, and now the person who's doing the magic is sitting in Arthur's kitchen ..... and crying!

MY THOUGHTS: An eerie Gothic house, an elderly butler, an island without children, unusual art installations, changelings,  shadowspryes and ..... gargoyles?

With so many children's books for this age range (10+ according to the back cover) raising issues that never seemed to concern us as children it was really refreshing to read a good 'old fashioned' story.

Book one in what I'm sure will be an enchanting series. Though much older than the suggested reading age I know I'm looking forward to the next book as after all we are never too old for a good mystery story with a dash of the fantastical about it.


14 comments:

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

A good book is a good book! :) I'm glad you enjoyed this one. I'll have to recommend it to my cousins.

Stephanie@Fairday's Blog said...

I love the cover and the book sounds awesome! I will definitely need to read this one. So glad you enjoyed it so much. :)

Suko said...

Tracy, this sounds charming. Your blog looks wonderful.

Shooting Stars Mag said...

this sounds like such fun!! thanks for sharing.

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Hi Tracy,

I see that there is a claim on the book's cover, that this one is ideal for Enid Blyton fans and I wondered if you had any views on that claim?

'Ravenstorm Island' certainly seems to bring things very much up to date for younger readers, introducing them to genres they might be drawn to further down the line in their adult reading.

Loving the new look to 'Pen and Paper', subtle changes, but they make a world of difference. What brought this on?

Yvonne.

Melliane said...

Oh this one sounds nice! I don't read a lot of books like that but it's sweet.

Felicity Grace Terry said...

A great read. Though I'm not generally one for making comparisons Yvonne I can relate to people making the link between this and Enid Blyton's books. That said I can also see that they are very like the Spiderwick Chronicles series though I personally thought this better.

Glad that you are liking the new look to my blog. I had decided that I wanted a more grown-up look and had intended to just get rid of the paw print background but one change led to another.

Stephanie Faris said...

Old-fashioned mysteries are always a good thing.

Kelly said...

Your first paragraph under "my thoughts"....well, that wins me over. It sounds like a really fun book. Kids have enough to worry about in life - let them enjoy some old fashioned mystery/fantasy.

I like the new look, too. Of course my blog still doesn't seem to update in a timely fashion in your sidebar, but that's nothing to do with you and everything to do with Blogger.

Yanting Gueh said...

We are never too old for a good ol' story. And this sounds like one I'd love to pick up. Love the cover rightaway (though that's not the main reason why I'm placing the book on my to-read stack).

Sherry Ellis said...

I like the opening sentence! This author seems to have a way with words.

Literary Feline said...

Your fitting this book into the weather element category has me rethinking my decision that I can't count millionaire in the number written as a word category. ;-) It just so happens though I am going to be reading a book with the word thousand in the time soon, so I'll use that one instead.

Anyhow, about the book, from the description and your review, this sounds really good!

brandileigh2003 said...

The mystery sounds well done and leaving you wanting more

marinela said...

Oh this one sounds great,Tracy
Your blog looks beautiful, love it :)