Amy Sparkes

View more details of this book at www.walkerbooks.com.au

The House at the Edge of Magic

Dee B. 

This book is adorable! Nine is determined and self-sufficient and very sassy. Flabberghast is a sneaky little tragedy! Spoon is a menace. Eric is a baby that needs protecting. I know that I would have loved reading this as a child. As it stands, I'm a bit old for the target demographic and still found it enjoyable. Credit to the author for being able to do that.

What I will say is that there came a point where I was so disappointed by the motivation behind the witch's curse and Flabberghast's stubbornness. It felt really juvenile and not worth all of the trouble and time that was invested into the feud. But then again it is clearly meant for a very young audience so I'm sure they would be better able to relate than I would. 

I kinda want to see what else Nine gets up to in her life, my little grumpy girl. HA.

Cerys

This is a super cute and fun children's fantasy book, this is more for the older child but still incredibly enjoyable for all ages. The characters are fun and all have their own personality quirks that suite them to a tee. This is a story about family and the connections that we have to those who surround us masked in a beautifully funny fantastical world. It is about how those who we grow up around might not be the best for us and sometimes even if they seem a little strange we can choose our family, and those can be the ones that make us better. But it also doesn't discourage us from the ones we grew up around, it also shows us that the family that we have may seem a certain way but did we cause those problems or was this just simple sibling rivalry.
That was definitely a more in-depth review than what I would usually give for a children's book. But, you will often find that children's books can contain the most powerful messages even though they may be hidden.

Kirsty

This story was so fun, imaginative and silly. The beginning of the book really reminded me of ‘Oliver’ which is my favourite musical so that was really fun to read, there was even a ‘Fagin’ sort of character! 

I cannot ignore the issues I had with it though, those being; I thought the reasoning for the whole curse went beyond merely being ‘silly’ and it was just ridiculous, I thought Nine was kind of a crappy person which is understandable but there was little to no development in her character – she was kind of mean and seemed to think the world owed her something, I also feel like the book could have done with being a little longer as I felt like the ending wrapped up too quickly and I feel as though the characters weren’t as fully fleshed out as I would have liked to be – we get to know next to nothing about Nine and she’s the main character.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book for what it was which is reflected in the rating but with a few tweaks it could have easily been a 5 star read for me.

* Big thank you to Netgalley and Walker Books for the digital ARC of this one *

Nickie Mohler

This was a fun story. Very quick read. Looking forward to more.

Melea Mullican

Stefie 

It’s been a long time since I read a book that made me laugh this much.
It’s chaotic. It’s funny and SO fun! ♥
Wizard? Witch? Troll? This book has it all. Including quirky characters that you’ll love!

Now, don’t go read this book expecting a deep, complicated story with a bow wow twist and ending. The wonderful thing about this book is on the journey itself. It will take you on a magical ride, laugh with you, and made you forget your problem a little bit. It’s like a good friend that will cheer you up in an instant. Okay, Imagine going a theme park with a good friend. That’s how I feel!!! 

Honestly speaking, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book this chaotic and hilarious! Please pick this one up! I think the younger readers and adult will absolutely love it! :)

Manon van Heumen

Unfortunately, this book fell a little flat for me. Where the concept really grabbed my attention, the story was okay but I didn't really have a connection with it, nor with the main character. Because of that, I found my thoughts often straying.

Lisa Beasley

This was a cute if quite simple story. I enjoyed the characters but found the plot to be a little weak at times esp the resolution. It was enjoyable though and I would read more by this author.

The House at the Edge of Magic

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