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Spellbinder (2009)

by Helen Stringer(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0312387636 (ISBN13: 9780312387631)

languge

English

genre

Paranormal Fantasy

publisher

Feiwel & Friends

series

Spellbinder

review 1: Four stars because I absolutely loved the way the author described everything; sometimes, her writing reminded me of J.K. Rowling's. I love sophisticated writing in children's literature.Belladonna Johnson sees ghosts. It's a gift that she wished she didn't have and sees it as more of a curse. The plus side is that she can still see her parents, who still live with her in their home. They go about their everyday lives--Dad watches TV, Mum cooks dinner, until one night, they suddenly disappear. In fact, all of the ghosts disappear except for the school ghost, Elsie. Belladonna has been told that she's the Spellbinder; the one who arrives when the nine worlds are in peril, but she doesn't believe it. She and her friends Steve and Elsie discover that an alchemist is behind th... moree ghost disappearances and have to find a way to stop him in order to bring all of the ghosts back, especially Belladonna's parents. The reader learns that ghosts are fundamental to the human world as they send them dreams to keep them alive. Apparently, they also control the number of accidents and deaths in the human world. I wished that the author added more to this because it's a great element to the story, but I'd really like to know why humans wouldn't be able to live in a dreamless world. What significance do dreams hold to life?My favourite element is obviously the mythology placed in a modern world. It's always interesting to see how characters react to figures who were once revered and/or feared back when the world had other things to believe in other than organised religious figures. What I really liked about the writing was the treatment of children during a time of strange circumstances. The adults in this novel treated Belladonna as if she were a child, which, by definition, she is, but once a child is confronted with a problem such as losing her parents twice, the child naturally steps on the borderline of childhood and adulthood. Instead of allowing the adults, her grandmother and her aunt Deidre, control all of her actions, she takes matters in her own hands and in effect, sees the evil that can be manifested in people.I think it's important for adults to see that children are filled with complex curiosities and emotions, and are most of the time, more interesting than adults themselves. I've read other reviews for this book and honestly, they are mostly crybaby complaints--the book is too scary, I'm a grammar freak, oh my god ghosts! So scary! Bad writing!Honestly? There are plenty of bad writing out in the world. It's all in the manner of the author's storytelling. And I completely disagree about the 'bad writing' in this book. The descriptions were vivid and the Stringer's take on sentences was brilliant--she goes against convention and writes creatively, which is the whole point, isn't it?
review 2: Belladonna Johnson is a tad unusual. She can see (and communicate) with ghosts and family dinners at her house include her two recently deceased parents. That is, until the ghosts in town start disappearing as if they were being wrenched right out of the world. With her abilities to commune with the other side, Belladonna might be able to get to the bottom of the mystery if she can only figure out whom to trust.Although there are interesting ideas the story here isn't really conveyed in a satisfying manner. The confusing details and logistics of Belladonna's quest mostly get unloaded in clunky, rushed explanation by other characters instead of being revealed organically. Meanwhile far too much time is spent in generating eerie ambience. Belladonna's scrappy friend and sidekick Steve and her ghostly pal Elsie outshine the protagonist herself in terms of personality and the adult characters are given short shrift to a puzzling degree...Belladonna's aunt and grandmother in particular. The ending--such as it is--leaves a wide berth for sequels, but there doesn't feel like there is a sufficient enough foundation for readers to be invested enough (or even clear enough) on what's going on. less

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