The Sword of Kuromori by Jason Rohan. Reviewed by Tamsin Cooke

The Sword of Kuromori by Jason Rohan is such an adrenalin ride of a book and a fantastic introduction to Japanese culture.

15 year old Kenny Blackwood thinks he’s going to spend the summer with his father in Japan. But even before the aeroplane lands, Kenny starts seeing strange creatures that no one else seems to notice.  And once in Japan, everyone appears to be after him – wanting him dead. Not knowing who to trust, Kenny finds himself in the middle of a war. Unless he can fulfil his destiny (he never knew he had), millions might die.

No pressure then!

The reader is taken on a thrilling journey through Japan. Kenny is a funny likeable hero, but completely out of his depth. Luckily he befriends Kimoni, a biker girl who teaches him the secrets of Japan and how to fight! Their dialogue and relationship made me laugh so much, as did the Tanuki (the fat Japanese racoon dog who appears mysteriously at Kenny’s side).

Rohan’s love of Japanese culture shines through his writing. Having never been to Japan, I feel as though I have experienced the food, the land and met the utterly bizarre mythical creatures. There are demons in business suits and headless vampires!

I recommend this book to children of 9+ and above.  The adventure is past paced, very funny and terrifying all at the same time. He weaves ancient mythical monsters into contemporary life flawlessly.

The second book in the series –The Shield of Kuromori is already out, and I love it just as much as the first. I can’t wait for the final instalment in the trilogy. The Stone of Kuromori is out in January 2017 (tbc).

Tamsin's book The Scarlet Files: Cat Burglar is out now. 

Follow me on twitter: tamsincooke1

Website: tamsincooke.co.uk

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DARKMOUTH by Shane Hegarty: reviewed by Gillian Philip

He's a young apprentice in a world of dark magic, he's destined to battle world-threatening monsters, and he's not very good at it.

It's a tale-as-old-as-time, and that's as it should be. One of my favourite things in this world (and all the others) is reworked legends, and Shane Hegarty's twist on the fabulous creatures of myth is as quirky and smart and funny as you could wish.

Finn (who doesn't have a surname – yet) lives in the Blighted Village of Darkmouth, where he and his father - Hugo the Great – are just about tolerated by the inhabitants. The village itself is a kind of nightmare combination of insular rural small-town and Buffy's Sunnydale; people with any sense can't wait to leave, and that includes the local police sergeant.

For many generations, Finn's family of Legend Hunters has protected Darkmouth and the world beyond it from the monsters – the Legends – who have a habit of slipping through the barrier between the worlds. An occasional car or boat might get crushed, but the locals can live with that so long as the minotaurs, basilisks and manticores are stopped in their tracks.

Luckily, Dad Hugo is enormously good at his job: he's practically a legend himself. This is galling for poor Finn, who has to live with the stories of his father's prowess (usually told by his father) while being thoroughly incompetent himself. All Finn wants, really, is to leave Darkmouth and become a vet. He's a sweet, clumsy but very brave young hero, and enormously relatable for any young reader.

Not only is Finn expected to graduate to full-fledged Legend Hunter like yesterday; he discovers that his father will shortly be promoted to the governing body of their order, and will be leaving Darkmouth under Finn's sole protection. Of course this has to happen just as a major Legend incursion is threatened. And Finn has to deal not just with that, but with bullies, school, and intriguing newcomer Emmie – who seems to know more about Darkmouth than she's letting on.

Hegarty sets a cracking pace, but the increasing tension and the sometimes brutal scares are nicely offset by a dry and punchy humour. Stunning illustrations by James de la Rue are a gorgeous and atmospheric enhancement to the story. It's the first book in a series, and it ends on something of a cliffhanger – but not without some satisfactory resolution to the first episode.

Any child who loved Beast Quest will be thrilled to graduate to this dark, funny and complex tale of monsters and mayhem; it will enchant lovers of myth, legend and a rattling good story. I gulped it down – appropriately enough – in a single bite.


Darkmouth by Shane Hegarty: Harper Collins £6.99

www.gillianphilip.com

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THE WEIGHT OF SOULS by Bryony Pearce: reviewed by Gillian Philip

Bryony Pearce does a very good line in unstraightforward heroines. Her debut novel Angel's Fury featured the anything-but-easy Cassie Farrier, a tormented and difficult teen making what she could of a bad deal in life (and not always well); this of course is exactly what a lot of teenagers can relate to even when their lives aren't complicated by family curses, unfortunate bloodlines and tetchy gods. Pearce has pulled off the same success with Taylor Oh, the thoroughly imperfect heroine of The Weight of Souls.

Every teenager knows that there are things in life more important than school, homework or your parents' opinions. Taylor's problem is that having inherited a curse down her mother's bloodline, she's fated to avenge murder victims; this would be stressful enough in itself, but if Taylor ever fails to pass on the Mark (a kind of infectious Black Spot) within a certain time limit, the Darkness that's meant to swallow the murderer will come for her instead. (I've got three deadlines at the moment and I knew how Taylor felt.)

The book is interspersed with entries from The Diary of Oh Fah, the journal of the tomb-raiding ancestor who managed to inflict this fate on his own firstborn and every generation since. Oh Fah was the only survivor of an archaeological expedition that ended badly for everyone. What's more, Oh Fah only got away with it because the god Anubis was in need of a weapon in the mortal world. The curse seems to be all about divine vengeance; but never try to second-guess a god, because there may be mixed motives involved. This is the second time Pearce has made terrific use of mythology (Egyptian this time), in a modern context but without sacrificing any of the ancient horror.

Anyway, Oh Fah is not the most sympathetic character, but he's downright adorable next to some of the men in the story. I've got to say it: I wanted to slap Taylor's father, hard and regularly. Left in a wheelchair by the same accident that killed Taylor's mother – an accident directly related to the family curse – he spends his life bull-headedly denying said curse, telling his daughter she's mentally ill (and so was her mother before her), drawing blood from the girl's bruised arm, and taking everyone's side but hers. It's no wonder Taylor is a snippy verbal match for the bullies who torment her at school; her father's worse. It may be realistic parenting, and he may be showing his love in the only way he knows how, but really. *SLAP*

There comes a point, however, when the bullies do cause Taylor more harm than her father. And it starts when the worst of them, Justin Hargreaves, turns up at school dead. Unintentionally he passes the Mark to Taylor, which causes worse problems than usual... because Justin insists he wasn't murdered. It's at this point that the story spirals into an absolutely nail-biting tale of lies, peer pressure, and Truth Or Dare.

There's a lovely sinister heartbeat running through the book, and it belongs more to the malevolent V Club than it does to the god Anubis. The dares Taylor has to go through at the Club's bidding – because it's her only way of getting to the truth about Justin's death – are heartstopping, and I caught myself reading much farther into the night than I should have. Gripping too was the developing relationship between Taylor and the dead Justin. I do like an antihero, but I liked this one a lot. I grew very fond as well of Hannah, Taylor's long-suffering BF-possibly-not-F (though her ex-friend Pete was another slap-magnet. Really, the men don't come out of this very well).

The Weight Of Souls ends on a satisfying climax, but it hints very strongly at a follow-up. Taylor has tried never to wonder what exactly happens to the souls who are engulfed by the Darkness, but... oh, that would be spoilers. Go and read it. I'll certainly be reading the sequel.*

The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce; Strange Chemistry £7.99

www.gillianphilip.com

*(Tell me there's a sequel?)








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Really Weird Removals.com by Daniela Sacerdoti: Reviewed by Rosalie Warren

Cover illustration by Nicola Robinson

Is your home infested with anything you would like to have removed? A stranded sea serpent, perhaps, or a smelly troll, werewolf or baby dragon?

If so, you may like to know about ReallyWeirdRemovals.com, who specialise in the safe (and, on the whole, humane) removal of such creatures to places better suited to their idiosyncratic lifestyles and eating habits. The website is a real one, and you are invited to email them with your requests for help. (I don't think they deal with more common pests such as rats and wasps' nests, though.)

Luca, aged twelve, and his sister Valentina, eleven, live on an island called Eilean, off the west coast of Scotland. They have a rather scatty and delightful Italian mother who puts homemade pasta in their lunch boxes and lives, Luca tells us, in a world of her own, venturing out every now and then to look after her children. Luca's father is a writer who spends a lot of time alone, creating a series that aims to be as successful as Harry Potter - and, meanwhile, neglecting his own family just a bit.

The story begins when Luca's Uncle Alistair turns up in a blue van, announcing the set-up of his new pest-removal company. The children soon discover, however, that the pests to be removed are not the common or garden kind but supernatural creatures like kelpies and trolls.

Once the parnaormal element is introduced, the story bounces along, throwing up creatures yet more weird and wonderful with every chapter. Not all the beasties are dangerous and some are very appealing, like the female zeuglodon and her baby, Finlay. There's also Camilla, a lonely girl ghost who has been thrown out of the home she used to haunt and is looking for a family to take her in.

I love the way that many of the creatures come from Scottish folklore and mythology. The Luh, for example, is a Scottish werewolf. Kelpies look like ordinary women but can turn into white horses and are fond of eating children. Selkies are half-seal, half-human. Even the inevitable vampires have a Scottish flavour - they are known as Baobhan Sith and, with their long red hair, chalky faces, deer hooves and blood-sucking talons, could give some of the more conventional literary vampires a run for their money.

Life on a small Scottish island comes fully alive as we follow the adventures of Luca and his family. There's a longstanding argument between Uncle Alistair and his brother Duncan, Luca's father, which centres around the disappearance many years ago of their parents - lost, it seems, in an unfortunate time-fold experiment. The family relationships are warmly and convincly portrayed and contrast nicely with the scary stuff.

There is nothing too frightening here - just enough to provide excitement and chills. Young people from around 9 upwards will enjoy this greatly. Floris Books are a thriving independent publisher based in Edinburgh and this book is one of their 'Kelpies' series. I hope it gets the wide audience and enthusiastic response it deserves. I have a feeling more will follow!

(Just a final note to the copy-editor: Please change the last word of the book from 'I' to 'me'. I don't expect the ungrammaticality will bother many children, but it stuck in my craw, coming, as it did, at the end of a tasty feast!)

Book Details:
Title: Really Weird Removals.com
Author: Daniela Sacerdoti
Cover Illustrations: Nicola Robinson
Publisher: Floris Books, Edinburgh (Kelpies imprint)
Publication Date: October 2012
ISBN: 978-0863159022
Cover Price: £6.99 UK
On Amazon UK


Review by Rosalie Warren, author of Coping with Chloe
See my blog, Rosalie Reviews
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