Review: A gentle and entertaining YA read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 17, 2014
Meet Abigail Cobble, who has just been sent to an orphanage for the naughtiest of naughty children. She was separated from her twin following the death of their mother, and has deliberately gotten herself sent to St Winnifreds in order to be nearer to where she knows her sister is. What she doesn't plan for is The Bagman. He thrives on fear and despair, and is as cunning as they come. Abigail is unwittingly pulled into his sinister game, and quickly discovers that you have to be VERY careful what you wish for.The narrative pulled me in immediately, and held my attention to the end. Although there are a few loose ends by the end of the book, the plot was well presented with no gaping holes. I could identify with many of the characters, especially The Bagman, and yet--somehow--Abigail herself fell rather flat. There is a need for further proofreading to weed out errors such as using 'too' instead of 'to' and innapropriately placed apostrophes. The editing needs revisiting too, as the writing style has passive elements, and hyphens have been used where en or em dashes are needed and would make the separations much clearer. Normally, with a work that includes a lot of 'was' 'were' and 'ing' constructions, I would rate it at three stars. However, the rest of the writing was such that I felt it deserves a soft four stars.This is a book aimed at YA, and is a gentle and entertaining read. I would recommend this author.