Updated for my stop on the #thechimeseekers blog tour 30th November 2021
If you liked last year's brilliant Midnight Guardians (I did) you'll love this. Like a creepy mix of Narnia and Rumplestiltskin with evil tower-dwelling faeries and goblins, it's a properly modern take on a Grimm-brothers style tale for a YA audience. Fans of 80s fantasy movies like Labyrinth and Never Ending Story will love this! Get on the phone to Jim Henson quick!
You'll be angry but then in admiration of Yanni, whose desire to be rid of his little sister leads to her being stolen by an evil faery who leaves a Changeling in her place. Yanni's determination to outwit the baddie after he realises his mistake will endear you to him as he battles to solve the riddles and not fall foul of Faerie trickery and wordplay in a race against time that creates a real edge of your seat page turner of a tale.
Brilliant, funny (I challenge you not to love the talking signpost!), dark and dramatic, this is another absolute cracker of a book from the brilliant Ross Montgomery, who was deservedly awarded Booksellers Book of the Month for this new release. Dare I say it...I think it's even better than Midnight Guardians!
I'm thrilled that author, Ross, has shared some of his top tips for creating a memorable baddie ( a particular strength of his, I feel!) here at whatiread.co.uk for this blog tour. Thanks, Ross!
Ross Montgomery's tips for children on creating a creepy atmosphere in their writing:
LESS IS MORE! Often, people think that scary scenes need to be filled with blood and monsters and screaming and weapons – they don’t at all. A creepy scene is all about making people think something terrible is about to happen – it’s all about making the wind sinister, making the branches twist and writhe, making the grass seem alive. If your main character walks into a room and it’s filled with dead bodies and a man waving a chainsaw, it can actually just be silly! USE HORRIBLE WORDS You don’t want to fill your scenes with blood and dead bodies and weapons – but you do want your reader to think about them. Every word should be horrible: the trees shouldn’t be wide, they should be bloated. The sun shouldn’t be hot, it should be blood red. Your characters don’t just walk – they creep, they stumble, they shudder and groan. Don’t just say things are weird or creepy or scary: show what makes them scary. SHOW YOUR PROTAGONIST IS FRIGHTENED Your main character has to be freaked out, too – if they feel confident, then the reader thinks they’re in safe hands! You have to show that they’re losing the plot – and you can’t just say they’re frightened or creeped out too. Describe the feeling of being scared: your skin puckers, your mouth dries, your heart thunders, your palms become slick with sweat. Your protagonist even starts questioning their own sanity – is that tree really staring at them? It can’t be… surely?
Find out more:
Check out the other stops on the blog tour via these links:
Walker books are on Twitter as @walkerbooksuk and their website is www.walker.co.uk/The-Chime-Seekers-9781406391190.aspx
Ross Montgomery is on Twitter as @mossmontmomery and his website is www.rossmontgomery.co.uk
Watch a trailer for the book here:
Thanks to Rebecca Oram and Walker Books for my copy of this book to review and for having me on the blog tour.
Review by Rich Simpson (@richreadalot) November 2021. All opinions are honest and my own.
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