Review: Superb!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 6, 2012
Well, where to start? That is the question. This book was incredible and it's hard to think what to say without spilling out a shed-load of spoilers.Chloe Masters is the daughter of a magician, or so it would seem. She's used to her father pulling off tricks that look far more simple than they are. She thinks that that's all there is to it. Little does she know how wrong she is and what an impact the truth will have on her life.Chloe's mother disappeared when she was a young girl. She feels lost and hurt that the mother that she loved would just vanish, so she loses herself in her fathers magic act where illusions are a part of her everyday life. But Chloe's world dramatically changed forever they day she learned of a whole other side to what she had once thought of as merely 'parlour tricks'.Upon touching a doorknob, Chloe's once dormant abilities are activated and becomes ensnared in a world of ancient societies, secrets, lies and more magic than she ever knew existed. One thing she knows for sure is that she's no longer the ordinary girl she once claimed to be.Whilst Chloe is busy uncovering the truth behind her shocking discovery, her father goes missing. Dismayed by the fact that another parent - the one that she knew she could rely on - has gone missing, Chloe takes it upon herself to try and find him - pulling her new found friends into what is unbeknownst to them, a race against time to find the one man that knows the truth behind the facade the societies have come to believe to be the truth.The societies believe that the stories of an ancient artifact gone missing are nothing but myth and legend. It is now up to Chloe and her not-so conventional group of friends to dispel the myth that surrounds them.As for her new found friends, well, unconventional they may be but they also come to be the best of allies and friends that a girl could wish for.Let's start with my favourite of the bunch shall we?! His name is James Nightshade. That boy is so handsome. He's also your typical bad-boy. I find myself, like many others, with an addiction to bad-boys. This time is no different. I have a deep and profound love for Nightshade. He is broken and haunted by the past and I defy anyone not to love him as much as I do by the end of the book.Nightshade is known to offend and is quick with the jibs and the sardonic smiles. His humour is akin to none other, I love how he wears his sarcasm as a badge of honour. He made me really want to dig deep into his psyche to find out exactly what it is in that past of his that has left him damaged seemingly beyond repair.Then there's Michael Slade. Oh how I love Slade. Where Nightshade is your bad-boy, Slade is the polar opposite. He's good looking, warm, kind, funny. Most of all he is sensitive to Chloe's wants and needs. Also, to what she doesn't know she needs until he provides it.Chloe herself is broken and Slade wants to help fix her. He is patient and tells her that he knows she doesn't want a boyfriend right now but he will wait for her until she is ready. Where Nightshade is infuriating and demanding, Slade is pleasing and easygoing.Then there's Chloe. She's one hell of a feisty firecracker of a character. She is definitely one of my favourite protagonists of late. She is self-confessed a broken girl. Maybe that's why her and Nightshade find themselves sparking off each other, they are so alike. It's also the reason why her and Slade get on so well because he is a soothing tonic to her soul, he helps fix her even though she doesn't realise it.I admire Chloe for the fact that she laughs in the face of danger and she packs a mean punch.There are other characters who I can't really mention right now, much as I would love to - I just know that my mouth would run away with me.I know I haven't really told you much about the story itself either, which is usually a part of my reviews. But I really feel like the journey is one you must undertake for yourself. I promise you won't be disappointed.I didn't know what to expect when I picked up TDS, but I am sure that it exceeded any pre-determined ideas I might of had.There is action aplenty and you won't be able to help getting swept along. There are some real uproarious moments, you will be laughing out loud. There were times I was literally holding my sides thinking I would fall apart at the seams.The secondary characters aren't really all that secondary in this book. MJ Fletcher has managed to write his story so that everyone plays their part and they play it well.There's Edgar, oh I love that boy. There's Val, oh how I want to punch her and hug her all at once. Then there's Jess, Mr Miller, Mr Jordan... I won't say who the good guys are, nor point out the baddie in the bunch - they are there for you to find and come to love or loathe for yourself.I love MJ Fletcher's style of writing. It immediately sucks you in and takes you on a journey of discovery, fun and camarderie - but also of sadness, loss, betrayal and hurt.The writing flows beautifully and puts me in mind of others I have read that went on to become best-sellers.If you loved the Harry Potter books and were, like me, sad they ended, then this book is for you. It really is a must-read this summer for all.There's something for everybody lying behind the covers. There's the bad-boy and the dreamy good-guy. There's the annoying best friend and the 'geeky' boy who's proficient with any and all maps. There are people you want to laugh with and would be proud to call a friend and there are the bad -guys that you really want to smack upside the head and say 'what the hell is wrong with you?' (or is that just me? You might want to do something worse than that to them but I am of the belief that there's good in everyone, you just have to find it). There's also Caleb Darker but I won't tell you where he fits in with it all.