The Shadow of the Swarm (The Morrow Secrets #2)
Susan Mcnally
Middle grade, adventure
What will Tallitha do next? How will she escape from the sinister castle at Hellstone Tors and the grip of the Morrow Swarm? Will she ever see Winderling Spires again?
Grand Witches, Hellstone Shroves, evil relatives, strange creatures and supernatural powers abound in the second book in Tallitha Mouldson’s exciting adventures in the strange land of Breedoor.
Find out what happens in the next instalment of The Morrow Secrets and meet some exciting new characters as Tallitha and her trusted friends’ battle to free her from the Swarm and the spell of Hellstone Tors.
You can read my review of book #1 here.
The Morrow Secrets and it's sequel, The Shadow of the Swarm, were sent to me by Sweet Cherry Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you guys!
In the end of The Morrow Secrets I really started to get into the story. In this installment, Tallitha and Tyaas are stuck in Hellstone Tors, separated from Esmeralda and their friends the skinks. This made for an opportunity to play with the POVs, which I am happy to say the author took. We get chapters told by Cissie and her family who meet up with the Skinks, Esmeralda, and the Morrow Sisters back at Winderling Spires. I like the new and old characters so this method was a a refreshing change from book #1 :)
The novel is much bigger than the first, but a lot more happens so it can be excused. I also think the writing got a lot better, not colorful for the sake of being colorful like before but more natural.
The art and cover were, as always, gorgeous. Recommended for a strong young reader, or for a spooky bedtime story to read to kids a bit at a time.
As you can see, from now on I'll be posting on weekends only. School is so intense this year!
Love,
Esty
The Morrow Secrets (The Morrow Secrets #1)
Susan McNally
middle grade adventure
‘The Morrow Secrets’ is a fantasy adventure story written for readers who love delving into the world of mystery, suspense, imagination and make-believe. It is the first book in a series about Tallitha Mouldson, a headstrong girl caught up in the sinister web of her eccentric family, the powerful Morrow dynasty. This fantasy saga is set in an alternative world and begins in a strange, rambling house called Winderling Spires in the land of Wycham Elva. The Morrow Secrets is an epic tale of dark forces, with a beguiling mystery to be solved, an exciting yarn of deception with frightening twists and wicked turns. The story has weird, whimsical characters, some motivated by wicked intent. They lurk round corners... watching Tallitha and luring her further into the dreadful secret....
The Morrow Secrets and it's sequel, The Shadow of the Swarm, were sent to me by Sweet Cherry Publishing, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you guys!
So where to start? I had thoughts all over the spectrum regarding this novel. It started off VERY slow. Not much happens in the first 100 pages at Winderling Spires, and we don't get much background regarding place and it's history, nor the role of the family there. It seems Tallitha had only left the mansion once or twice in her life and doesn't know anyone outside the people (and creatures) who live there with her. Despite that, she never spares the outside world a thought before the adventure. We were also never given anyone's ages, which kinda threw me off. I was reading about characters I didn't know or understand, let alone like.
However, towards the last third of the story, the novel really picked up. The stakes were raised, more people became involved, with more complex personalities. I wasn't able to predict the events from there on, and I started to feel the desired spooky atmosphere. I even started to read a little of book #2, and I can see the momentum is kept up so I'm looking forward to it :-)
Cover + art: LOVE IT. The art was nice, but I think the cover is really spectacular.
I'd recommend this as the kind of story you read to your kid (or in my case, kid siblings:-)) before bed, two chapters at a time. Rating:
Sorry for the delay in returning comments! I'm on to it right now(: Happy reading!
