Forevermore

Forevermore by Cindy Miles (Chicken House)

PB RRP $17.99

ISBN 978-1-908435-92-7

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Ivy's mum has remarried and her new family moves from Charleston, South Carolina, the only home Ivy has ever known, to the remote Scottish Highlands. Ivy’s new stepfather is a laird and lives in a huge castle, Glenmorrag, on the rugged coastline. Ivy is expecting her life to change, but what she is not expecting is a ghost. And falling in love with someone who lived two hundred years ago was certainly not in her plans.

Forevermore is a wonderfully gothic tale with all the classic elements from this genre. From the brooding crumbly castle perched on top of a cliff high above the sea, to the evil presence trying to harm Ivy, along with a mysterious but attractive ghost, a sinister grandmother and a feisty independent heroine.

Ivy is great character. She is independent, but doesn't reject help and friendship when it's offered and has a realistic mix of bravery and caution. She is unsure if people will think she's crazy if she talks about the ghosts at the castle so is wary of mentioning them while making an effort to fit in, both at home in the castle and at her new school where she feels very different.

The use of music (Ivy is a beautiful and dedicated violinist), helps to weave an uneasy atmosphere around the castle. In my head it is always twilight at Glenmorrag and bright and sunny away from the castle, such is the skill of the creation of this eerie presence wrapping itself around the castles inhabitants.

This is a suspenseful story of ghosts and love. The mystery element is gripping, but the greatest strength is in the characters and their relationships; first love, friendships and family bonds.

This in an absorbing book and would suit thirteen to fifteen year olds.

Music School: The Grimstones 4

Music School: The Grimstones 4 by Asphyxia (Allen and Unwin)
PB RRP $14.99
ISBN 978-1-74331-625-2
Reviewed by Ann Harth 

Can music change the weather? Martha Grimstone knows it can and is determined to harness her musical skills to save her family’s home from the violent storms that plague them.

In the fourth book of The Grimstones series, Music School, Martha Grimstone attends the Queen’s Music Academy in the big city. She moves into Lady Sterling’s manor where she has her own wing and learns to live in luxury.  Although she misses her family desperately, her music lessons are critical to ensure the safety of the people she loves.

Before he died, Martha’s father could manipulate the weather with his own compositions performed on the Epithium. He left his music and instrument with his family and, to control the weather, Martha must decipher the strange symbols he has scattered throughout his work. She is convinced that she will learn all she needs to know at the Queen’s Music Academy.

Martha’s teachers are committed to developing the talents of the students so they can perform in front of huge audiences and travel the world bringing fame to themselves and the school. This doesn’t interest Martha. She studies hard and improves her technique but, instead of following the rigid rules of the academy, she finds the courage to break with strict tradition. Martha proves to herself and the school that her own brand of unique music is more powerful than anyone realised.

Martha’s resolve to uncoil whirlwinds and save her valley from destruction was inspiring and I was absorbed in her journey from the first page. Although this book is suitable for children aged 8-12, its appeal will reach all ages.

Music School is a gothic novel and one of the most impressive I have read. Asphyxia has fashioned puppets of The Grimstones and other characters and has used these for the artwork that adorns this clever book.
Asphyxia has been an Australian circus performer specialising in trapeze, double balance and hula hoops. She is now a puppeteer and has toured all over the world with Sky Works, her performing arts company. It took Asphyxia 18 months to fashion the set and develop her show, The Grimstones – Hatched. She has toured with this all over Australia. Asphyxia is deaf. For more information about The Grimstones and this fascinating creator, please visit her website www.thegrimstones.com 

Ann Harth is a published children's author, freelance editor, ghostwriter and writing tutor at Australian College of Journalism. She loves to read and is committed to creating children's literature that inspires, entertains and triggers a tiny twist in the mind. Her latest middle-grade novel, The Art of Magic, is now available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic Inc)
HB RRP $24.99
ISBN 978-0-545– 42492-9
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Maggie Stiefvater is a well known and popular YA author. She has written many books for teens with a gothic flavour, packed with paranormal activity and fantasy. The Raven Boys is the first of a new trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and is engrossing and addictive. The author’s writing is mesmerising at times, creating an uneasy atmosphere in places, drifting into events in sly tendrils, creeping around people and place with increasing intensity until you suddenly realise the storyline is being choked by it. It is easy to sink into this book and just let the enchantment of the words carry you away.

Blue Sargent is the daughter of a psychic. Although she has not inherited any of her family’s psychic abilities, her gift is to amplify the energy and magic of those near her.  And she believes wholeheartedly in her fate, that if she kisses her true love he will die. Partly because of this, Blue avoids boys in general, but she takes special care to also avoid the Raven Boys, students from the local private school Aglionby. However, after her mother specifically forbids her from becoming involved with Gansey, Ronan, Noah and Adam and their quest, she is drawn towards the foursome and their search for ley lines and Glendower, the Sleeping King.

The characters in this book are well rounded with depth and complexity. The dialogue is natural and convincing. Even some of the more elusive characters such as Persephone and Calla are tangible and intriguing.

Nothing is straight forward and simple, but the subplots add to the twists rather than distract the reader from the main storyline. There are so many delicious moments when something unexpected happens, but with hindsight all seems obvious and makes perfect sense. The relationships and bonds the teens have, both healthy and destructive, are skilfully painted as is the relationship they each have to the woods, where the seasons change as they walk through and the trees whisper in Latin.

It is easy to see why this author is a favourite with teens and young adults. The Raven Boys has all the elements of an entertaining story. It is wonderfully gothic, with the drama of adolescence, forbidden romance, mystery, psychic predictions, ghosts, obsession, compulsion, a quest and an ending that promises more to come. But with all this magic and drama, it doesn’t lose sight of the importance of family. Much of the characters motivations come from these bonds, and the family ties, or lack of, that reach out to affect their lives, decisions and fate.

The end does not resolve the story but it is satisfying.  Although not exactly a cliff hanger, it leaves many questions unanswered with the last sentence creating much anticipation for the next book in the series. It is a long book for YA reading, over 400 pages, but I found it easy and quick to read as I became so involved with the people and story.

Maggie Stiefvater is an author I have heard much about but had never read. From my first glimpse of the fabulous cover- a bold raven with wings outspread, painted in feathery brush strokes - I was intrigued, and happily followed Stiefvater’s words to see where love and death would lead the characters and me. I will definitely be reading more.

Fire Spell

Fire Spell by Laura Amy Schlitz (Bloomsbury)
PB RRP $14.99
ISBN:9781408826218
Reviewed by Hilary Smillie

Fire Spell is set in London,1860, an era well chosen for a gothic fairytale, complete with defenceless children to pity, villains to hate, and lashings of black magic. The story revolves around a wealthy young girl, Clara Wintermute, living a dreary life with parents forever mourning the deaths of her siblings through cholera.

While out with Agnes, the housemaid, Clara spies a puppet show in the park. Enchanted, she begs her parents to let the puppeteers - a weird-looking man, Grisini, a girl a little older than herself, Lizzie-Rose, and a thin younger boy, Parsefall - give a performance at her twelfth birthday celebrations. To her delight, they agree, but before her birthday is over, Clara has vanished - kidnapped and changed into a marionette by Grisini. However, before he can collect the ransom he is compelled by a witch, Cassandra, to her lair, Strachan's Ghyll near Lake Windemere, England. She has in her possession a jewel, the phoenix-stone, which is at once both dazzling and threatening and she fears for her life.

Schlitz weaves a sinister but fascinating story binding the lives of the two ragged children, taken from the orphanage by Grisini to work alongside him, with that of Clara and ultimately the witch. She is a master of suspense and lays a trail of intrigue from the opening page. What was a much younger Grisini trying to tell Cassandra about the phoenix-stone she wears in a necklace when she banished him? Will Grisini's power over Clara be broken so she can return to human form?

The story is told with great attention to detail, portraying thoroughly rounded characters and using real locations to add a significant touch of authenticity. Schlitz highlights brilliantly the conditions the poor of that era strived against and also the traditions which constrained emotions and behaviour of the upper classes. Her imagination rivals the Brothers Grimm and even the incredible parts of the story are readily accepted by the reader once immersed in the nightmare world Schlitz creates. It is, however, balanced by touches of compassion and kindness.

The author uses many lofty words, including Latin and French, which makes me doubt many nine year olds would persevere with this lengthy book, but perhaps the top end of the targeted age group, twelve, may, provided they are avid readers. Certainly most teenagers will find Fire Spell mesmerising and thoroughly entertaining.

The Midnight Palace

The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafơn (Text)

PB RRP $22.95

ISBN 9781921656941

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie

This rather dark tale for young adults is set amongst crumbling old colonial buildings in the heart of Calcutta. Set in the early 1930s, The Midnight Palace is quite Gothic in feel; the place is as much a character as any of the human ones. The Midnight Palace was first published in 1994 in Spanish and was the second in a series. The first book, The Prince of Mist, was written two years before with completely different characters and setting. There is a foreword from the author at the beginning of this 2011published translation, inviting readers of any age (not just young adult) to read his story.

Twins, Ben and Sheere, are separated at birth after the dramatic death of their mother.  Ben grows up in an orphanage, while his sister travels around the country with her grandmother. When Ben is fifteen, he  meets Sheere who tells him about their father,  a brilliant engineer who died in a fire at a grand railway station he had built. Ben introduces Sheere to his friends in the Chowbar society who  meet at an evocatively run-down old mansion called the Midnight Palace. They all become involved in the increasingly dangerous quest to find out about an evil man called Jawahal who has vowed to hunt down and kill both Ben and Sheere.  

A narration, written by one of the characters much later on in life, bookends the main story. The voice is of an elderly man reflecting on what happened. The dialogue of the teenage characters is very much needed to lift the seriousness of this tone. The many characters are sketched more by telling than showing and the lack of development of particularly the main characters could distance some of the readers. The descriptions of the Midnight Palace, the old ruined railway station and the father's castle-like house are strong and invoke a dark mood and sense of foreboding. Much of the story is set at night and the weather reflects the drama of the story.

There a sense of magic in The Midnight Palace and a surprising twist towards the end of the story leads us to an appropriate conclusion.