Book Review: The Spook’s Secret

 

The Norwegian edition

Author: Joseph Delaney

Original Title: Night of the Soul Stealer

Series: Nr 3 in The Last Apprentice

Pages: 372

Genres: Fantasy, YA, Horror

First Published: 2007

Goodreads

“It’s going to be a long, hard, cruel winter, and there couldn’t be a worse place to spend it.”

When Morgan, one of the Spook’s former apprentices that didn’t fulfill the training, shows up in the Spook’s garden, he suddenly decides to pack up and og to his house in Anglezarke for the winter, and his current 13 year old apprentice and our hero, Tom, isn’t happy. Anglezarke is a cold, bleak, forbidding place where evil spirits roam on the nearby moors. And the Spook’s winter house holds a dark secret, Tom discovers, that must stay from the villagers at all costs. The ancient winter god, Golgoth, is moving and the Spook is getting concerned. A sudden family tragedy and the freezing weather makes this winter the worst Tom has ever experienced, and the fact that Alice can’t stay with him and the Spook makes it even gloomier.

This is my least favourite book in The Last Apprentice so far. The plot dragged a bit too long for my taste, and when it finally came to the point, it didn’t last long before it was over. Plus Tom was often unrealisticly Lucky in my opinion. This book is set in a freezing, depressing winter, and without the joyous Christmas spirit it got a bit too gray to me. Hovewer, I always enjoy the wonderful spooky, yet kind of cozy, atmosphere Delaney creates in his books, and I always find them very fitting for a cold, rainy autumn day curled up with a cup of tea. You may have noticed that I am very fond of tea. I still can’t decide if Alice is good or bad, but I like her smart, badass attitude, and my favourite character might be the Spook himself as he reminds me of Gandalf and Dumbledore who I adore. It takes up themes such as death, family, friendship and the realationship between a master and student.

The Last Apprentice series is surprisingly scary for a middle grade fantasy! Take the warning that stands on the back of the book: “Do not read after dark!”. I mean it. I recommend this series to everyone who isn’t easily scared, enjoys ghosts and magic and just want an easy halloween read!

3/5 stars

Wonderful illustrations at the beginning of each chapter

 

Book Review: History Is All You Left Me

Book: History is all you left me

Author: Adam Silvera

Pages: 294

Genre: YA, LGBT+

First Published: USA, 2017

Goodreads

“History is nothing. It can be recycled or thrown away completely. It isn’t this sacred treasure chest I mistook it to be. We were something, but history isn’t enough to keep something alive forever.” –Adam Silvera

This book follows Griffin, a teenage boy from New York that recently lost his best friend and ex-boyfriend, Theo, in a drowning accident. Suffering from grief and worsening OCD, Griffin unexpectedly turns to Theo’s New boyfriend, Jackson, for help. Jackson is the only person that Griffin feels really understands him. As they put aside their hard feelings towards each other, their realationship evolves and new, dangerous thruths begin to surface.

The story has two timelines: Today and History. Today is what happens after the accident, all the grief, sorrow and heartache, while History is before it happened and you get a glimpse of Theo and Griffin’s realationship and their friendship with Wade when everything was easier. Adam Silvera did a really great job with weaving the two timelines together, everything has a nice, even flow. I didn’t get confused by what was when because he described everything, the setting and mood, so well that I understood it right away.

The chapters were nice and short, and it made it easier to read a bit now and then, whenever I had time between school, meals and sleep. With some books I feel like I have to set off time to read, because the chapters are so long and I can’t force myself to stop right in the middle of one. With this book that wasn’t a problem. I could almost always read “just one more chapter”.

This book really makes you think, which can be good for you once in a while. And it also makes you laugh, which feels even better, but doesn’t necessarily make you any wiser. The book was sad. No doubting that. Dealing with loss and grief, first love and heartache, Silvera did a really good job in making the reader feel the emotions of the characters. I almost never cry while reading, but this time it was close! I could really feel Griffin’s pain in my chest, especially when he sacrificed himself so the person he loved could be with someone else. It was also interesting to see how Griffin’s obsession with even numbers and always walking to the left side of People was treated by his friends and how he tackled it himself. I haven’t had many experience with mental illness myself yet, but it is an important subject, and I know that a lot of people struggle with it.

History Is All You Left Me also has a lot of references to pop-culture, such as Harry Potter and Star Wars, and you can probably make a whole playlist just by using all the songs mentioned in this book! It made it much more relatable, especially for other teenagers I think. A Harry Potter fan always feels some sort of connection with another HP fan, because you have at least one thing you both love in common!

I can’t say that I always agreed with Griffin’s decisions and actions. Especially not regarding his realationship with Wade. I loved Wade, he was such a cute and wonderful character, but their realationship at the end almost seemed kind of forced? I don’t know, but it felt unnatural to me. And (SPOILER ALERT!) what’s the odds for all four boys to turn out gay? That felt a bit too unrealistic, although I know the chances might be there in real life too. Apart from that I really enjoyed the story!

I also really enjoyed reading about New York because it brought back good memories from when I was there the summer of 2015. I especially enjoyed the High Line and Central Park, and I really wished we had more time to explore Brooklyn too! I really have to go back sometime, and it’s totally understandable why Frank Sinatra sang about the City that Never Sleeps, because New York really is amazing!

I reccomend this book if you liked “Looking for Alaska” by John Green, and “Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli, if you long for New York and California, or if you really just want to feel something.

4/5 Stars

New York 2015

The High Line 2015