Book Review – Page of Buckets

So, not long ago I posted a review of Circus Tarot and said how I would just HAVE to read the sequel. Well I did 🙂

So, the second book in the trilogy is Page of Buckets

Blurb: More Clown mayhem than in the cult movie classic Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Page of Buckets, the second instalment of the Circus Tarot Trilogy, Charles W. Jones takes us back to World Circus. More than six years have passed, and unknown to Mary and Darrin, the Circus Tarot has rebuilt itself, tempting their young daughter, Susie, with the delights inside the cards. They return to World Circus to rescue Susie from the denizens of World Circus to find she is content being a Clown with no desire to leave the enchanting land.

Rating: 4/5

My thoughts:  Set six years after the first book the lives of Mary and Darrin have returned to normal and the horrors of World Circus have become a thing of the past. They have a daughter and life couldn’t be better. However when their daughter, Susie, starts to show an interest in going to the circus her parents can’t help but be fearful. Surely it’s just a normal childhood interest though rather than anything more sinister? Of course not!

Once again Mary and Darrin must venture into the terrifying world, this time to rescue their daughter. The only problem is Susie is having a wonderful time and “clown fun” is harmless… isn’t it?

While this maybe didn’t have the same unexpected impact of the first book I still really enjoyed it and another trip into a crazy, scary world of the characters from Circus Tarot.

And yes… I am looking forward to reading the next one!

 

Book Review – Circus Tarot

My oh my it appears I have another book review for you already – and this time it’s

“Circus Tarot” by Charles W Jones
You can get a copy here

Blurb: 4 Stars “This is not your typical walk in the park horror either! It is a creative twist with one of the most original settings I have seen in a long time!” – Kriss Morton

Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Stephen King’s IT, and cult movie classic Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Charles W. Jones brings the first instalment of the Circus Tarot Trilogy. In the strange land of World Circus, Mary and Darrin discover they aren’t in their safe, dull life any longer, but have taken the identity of one of the cards from the Circus Tarot. After a terrorizing encounter, resulting in death, they learn the bizarre rules of the land, and discover that the denizens of the sinister World Circus want more than to entertain them.

Rating: 5/5

My thoughts: This begins as a familiar concept – Mr and Mrs Ordinary Folk get pulled into an alternate reality – but that by no way suggests that this is a familiar or uninteresting tale. On the contrary.

When Mary buys an old packet of tarot cards and does a reading for her husband Darrin neither of them have any idea what the consequences will be as they find themselves inside the colourful world the cards portray. Each card in the tarot deck is one circus character or other, Queens and Kings, Knights and Pages, all of the tarot deck are represented – and there is even the clever inclusion of “flipped” cards.

The first challenge the couple have is finding each other, then it’s finding their way out – but even escape wont end their story as there are frightening and binding rules with this deck and World Circus.

This is a really gripping story – it was certainly a “just one more chapter” type of book for me. There are some horror type scenes but these are well written and not over the top, although depending on your tastes they may well make you wince once or twice.

The story develops well and held my interest from the first to last page… I was pleased to see there are more books in this series and I will certainly be reading them… I need to know what happens next!

A great read and thoroughly recommended.

Flame and Hope – Book Review #RRBC

This isn’t a book I would normally choose to read but as I won a copy in the recent RRBC Springtime Book and Blog Party, combined with today’s beautiful sunshine – well it just seemed the perfect combination for a relaxing afternoon read.

So today’s book is:

Flame and Hope: An African Adventure (Fauna Park Tales Book 1) by Maretha Botha
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flame-Hope-African-Adventure-Fauna-ebook/dp/B06XDRQJQX/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1494176672&sr=1-1&keywords=flame+and+hope

Blurb: “Flame and Hope: An African Adventure” is the first book of the series called “Fauna Park Tales” based on “African Adventures of Flame, Family, Furry and Feathered Friends”, a GOLD MEDAL WINNER on Authonomy, supported by HarperCollins. The following is an excerpt from the HarperCollins Children’s Editor Review:

“A vivid and engaging world of animal characters . . . the use of cleverly animalised verbs is very creative – Dolly Cat’s ‘whispurr’. The exploration of interrelationships between animals is a very successful topic in the children’s literature genre, and you have created some great personalities – the stubborn goat ‘Plump-Grump’ and the conceited ‘His Handsomeness, King Rat’ being some of my favourites . . .”

Life takes strange turns for Flame, a puppy born in the African desert. Adopted by a free-range cattle farmer, the pup faces the challenge of proving himself to more than one of his new family.

As Flame grows into a strong and brave dog, he finds friendship with many loyal furry and feathered friends who help him to keep The Promise – protecting the helpless ones in Fauna Park, a secret sanctuary within the boundaries of the farm.

One of his feathered friends is Hope, an elusive bird with strange pink eyelids who tells stories about a tall leader and his gang of villainous poachers, ups and downs of life in the bush and Flame’s ingenious plans to banish foes to the Llokodi Hills.

These stories are perfect to be read before bedtime to younger children. Preteens will enjoy escaping into an imaginary world where many bush creatures always have hope that everything ends well when the sun goes down.

Rating: 4/5

My thoughts: This is an adorable animal tale told through the eyes of the animals in question, the central characters being a dog called Flame and a brightly coloured bird, Hope. The animals act in a way that all children would like to imagine, having meetings and talking together – but they are still animals being animals, the author doesn’t try to humanise them in any way.

Flame’s sad history is revealed through Hope’s story telling as the dog brings all of the animals together to make a promise, a promise which will make Fauna Park a haven for all creatures who may need sanctuary.

I can see this being a wonderful bedtime story with younger children being able to follow along with the gentle illustrations and older ones enjoying falling in love with all the different creatures.

A lovely read set it a great animal filled world.