Reviews by Tag: magic

After surviving one curse, Samantha Mather never imagined having to combat another. She keeps having vivid dreams of being a first-class passenger aboard the Titanic. Meanwhile, strange artifacts have been appearing around town, as well as visions of spirits who went down with the ship. Even stranger, her close friends have begun acting strangely, and the spring ball has been suspiciously themed after the Titanic.

Everyone knows the story of the pied piper right? How a mysterious man came into town and lured away all the rats by playing his pipe. But the townspeople refused to pay him, so he stole away all the children that night and they were never seen again. Right? But this book tells a different story. One you never expected.

Years ago, when Meggie was just a baby, her father discovered he had a terrible and dangerous gift. He can ‘read’ fictional characters to life out of his books, but something always has to go into the book to replace them. When he reads aloud the book Inkheart, he releases angry characters into the world, but at the same time his wife disappears into the story. Later, when Meggie is 12, one of them comes back and abducts them, trying to force her father into his service.

Johanna lives in a world where nobles plot their way to the throne, willing to do anything to become ruler. They are fighting over the throne of the princess who is supposed to be dead. Nevertheless, there is a quest to find her by a race of people with magical abilities, and they are not the only ones looking for her. Bodies of dead girls are turning up at every corner, and they all look exactly like Johanna.

Alex has been forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the kings’ army. Her quick wit and fierce sword fighting skills have landed her a revered spot on the prince’s guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the castle, she can’t stop him from kidnapping her, another guard, and the prince, taking them deep into the jungle and hostile enemy territory.

Petra’s father has been summoned to Prague by the prince to build the world’s finest astronomical clock. But when he returns home blind with the prince having stolen his eyes, she knows she must steal them back. Along the way, she discovers hidden talents and finds that many people in the castle are not what they seem.

I love books with strong, spunky heroines. And The Cabinet of Wonders has one of the spunkiest heroines out there.There is a charm to her that draws you into her world and keeps you there right beside her as she has adventures through life.

Samantha Mather has just moved to Salem, Massachusetts, the site of the infamous witch trials. Sam is the descendant of Cotton Mather, the man responsible for the trials. So she almost immediately becomes the target of a group of girls called the descendants, a new generation of the witches persecuted during the trials. She soon discovers she is at the center of an ancient curse affecting anyone with ties to the trials. She must find a way to work with the descendants and an angry ghost to stop a deadly cycle and history from repeating itself.