Review: A Wonderful, Creepy, Quirky, Fun Story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 21, 2013
When I first started reading this, I thought of Neil Gaimon. The creepy, sinister feel to it was very similar, and one I enjoyed very much.The Bagman is a very original and fun story, well-told and with some great characters, especially the Bagman. He's evil and repulsive, yet I found myself very sympathetic to his plight, and while I wasn't rooting for him to win, I was certainly compelled by his character.I loved the despicible nuns. When I was a kid, I enjoyed reading stories about ghastly, horrid adults who abuse kids but end up getting their comeuppance (although the comeuppance here is very ambiguous, which is smart. Even the "good" nun has her issues, and she ends up with more punishment in a way than the truly horrid ones.) The orphanage setup is great. The kids are quirky, sad, strong and unique.A big strong point is that the author doesn't rush the story, she lets it unfold. Even at the end, some details about Abigail's past are left unclear, which will entice the reader into picking up the following books in the trilogy.I enjoyed the old-fashioned feel to this book (I especially liked the chapter titles) which really gave me a feel for the World War II time period.The one spot that gave me trouble was the age of the characters--this feels more like a middle grade story than a young adult one, and I think the characters would be a bit more believable as twelve or thirteen year olds than sixteen. I'm not sure why, but if I hadn't been reminded of Abigail's age during the story, I would have kept thinking she was younger. Regardless, I loved the story. Both kids and adults will enjoy this, and if you don't have any other books lined up for the Halloween weekend, I'd suggest this one. It's spooky, quirky, mysterious and fun, and will keep you spellbound from the minute you start until the last page ends.Nik's Picks Book Reviews[...](The author provided me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)