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Spooksmiths Investigate: The Cinderman by Alex Atkinson – Blog Tour Book Review and Giveaway
Posting my blog tour spot a few days late because my book got waylaid. Now I’m not saying the Cinderman got ahold of it, and I’m not saying that didn’t happen either!!
About the Book
Discover a brilliantly spooky new horror-mystery series for fans of Dread Wood, Goosebumps and Aveline Jones…
Indigo and Rusty might live in a funeral parlour, but they don’t believe in ghosts. That is, until Indigo knocks over an old urn, accidentally releasing the Cinderman: a terrifying ash monster, who will smother their town in ashes and turn everyone into zombies, unless they can stop him by sunset.
Using their newly awakened Spooksmith skills, Indigo and Rusty set out to enlist the help of other ghosts. But can the Blasted Banshee and Chuckles the Phantom Toddler really help them find the Cinderman’s true name and put him in his grave for good before Ashmageddon strikes?
About the Author
Alex Atkinson loves scary books filled with oddball characters. She blames her idyllic North Yorkshire childhood spent playing murder-in-the-dark and listening to her dad’s blood-curdling bedtime stories. After studying English and Politics at Newcastle University, she worked as a website content editor. She now lives in a village in Hertfordshire with her husband, kids, dogs and tortoise, but dreams of abandoned buildings, ghosts and zombies. SPOOKSMITHS INVESTIGATE: THE CINDERMAN is her debut novel.
Instagram: https://instagram.com/alexatkinsonstories
Twitter: https://x.com/alatkinson
What I Thought
The story is told from Indigo’s point of view. Her twin Rusty spends all his time playing Battle Quest, her parents are working all the time and her best friend Dexter’s attention is split between Indigo and new girl Sadie. The only person who really “got”Indigo was her late grandad.
She stumbles across a secret room and breaks a creepy Urn it holds and when she wakes up, the town is covered in an Ashy haze and her parents aren’t acting like themselves at all.
A town legend about the Cinderman comes to life and Indigo and Rusty must work together – if they can stop bickering long enough – to stop him before Sunset.
The only people that can help them are dead and so their new found powers to see ghosts comes in very handy. There’s also Phrank – Indigo’s pet pheasant – if he can stop eating first!! And if you’ve ever got overwhelmed by all the bathroom smellies in the house you might be surprised by their ghostbusting powers.
This was creepy and atmospheric – a perfect read for this time of year. The Cinderman seems like an unstoppable foe, especially when a careless mistake by Rusty gives him more power.
But there are other powers that are stronger than fear and sibling love is one that Indigo and Rusty need to harness in multiple ways.
I really enjoyed the ghostly characters and their varying personalities – both helpful to and hindering our duo and I hope we get to see some of them back in again in future books.
I think my favourite part of the book though was the discussion about the name Spooksmith. There will be lots of Smith’s who read this seeing their surname in a brand new light.
Giveaway
Over the weekend I saw a call out for book donations to a children’s mental health unit so I have decided to offer up my giveaway copy to this cause.
Thanks to Bee at Kaleidoscopic Tours and the Publisher Usborne for the gifted copy for the purposes of an honest review.
Do check out what everyone else on the tour thought too.
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Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – Book Review #NinthHouse
Synopsis
For nearly two hundred years, eight secret societies of Yale University have operated from the shadows – serving the interests of the elite and shaping the course of history.
The Ninth House is tasked with policing them – until the murder of a young woman throws this carefully hidden world of privilege, power and the occult into chaos …
Publishes 1st October 2019
ISBN: 9781473227965
Author
Leigh Bardugo is a No. 1 New York Times bestselling Author of fantasy novels and short stories. She was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Los Angeles, and graduated from Yale University. These days she lives and writes in Los Angeles.
@LBardugo
What I Thought
I was super lucky to get to read this hotly anticipated adult novel by Leigh Bardugo way before its October release. Thanks go to the superstars from #Orionontour in Dorchester. What follows is my honest review.
Having enjoyed Leigh’s Grisha series and being oddly fascinated by secret societies, especially since watching the film The Skulls 19 years ago! I went in expecting to enjoy this. And I did.
Our main protagonist is Alex “not short for Alexandra” Stern, who has been invited to enter the Ninth House. Head hunted if you like, thanks to her unique ability to see Grays (ghosts) without the need to ingest toxic concoctions.
The story is based at Yale University where their real life secret societies have long been shrouded by mystery and have produced an influential person or twenty.
Bardugo imagines that the occult is behind their success (or does she 😉🤐) and the Ninth House – Lethe – is the society that polices the others. They make sure rules and rituals are followed and ensure that hopefully no one dies.
Lethe has its own hierarchy, and Alex – codename Dante, works most closely with her Virgil, Darlington and their Oculus, Dawes. There’s also Turner a member of the police who gets his eyes wide opened whilst working the murder.
The book switches forward and back in time and contains a number of mysteries that both Alex, and us as readers, must solve.
What happened at Alex’s Ground Zero? Who killed the town girl on a society ritual night? What does the murderous ghost called the Bridegroom want with Alex? Where did my favourite character go?
I found it straightforward to follow what was happening, but it is a gradual unpicking so those that like quick answers might get a little frustrated as all the different threads are weaved over the course of many years.
Alex is also a student so she has to attend classes, write papers, earn money, keep her secret life hidden from her buddies and sometimes even go to parties. Note: Trigger warning for rape and sexual assault and some fairly satisfying, if gross revenge for the latter.
I really enjoyed the relationships Alex has with those around her, in particular how her and Dawes start working together after a frosty beginning. Alex herself is complex, and is definitely hiding things. Is she a hero or an anti-hero?
My only slight complaint was the absence of a character I wanted more of in the present narrative, but hey I’m definitely up for impatiently waiting for book two’s release.
Vibes I got from this book: The Skulls, Flatliners, a much darker Ghost Whisperer, Dollhouse, Supernatural, Shadowhunters, Vicious. All things I love.
Ninth House opens up an exciting new urban fantasy world for an ongoing series full of privileged and unprincipled societies, ghosts, the occult and complex characters. I was invited. I’m staying.
kirstyes 