Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Book Review: The Maloneys' Magical Weatherbox

The Maloneys' Magical Weatherbox
by Nigel Quinlan
Publisher: Roaring Book Press, July 28, 2015
Source:  ARC from Netgally in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This summer seems to be an appropriate time for me to read this as we sit here in the midwest, surrounded by rain and rain and more rain during the month of June. In The Maloneys' Magical Weatherbox, Nigel Quinlan has created a magical and interesting explanation for the changing of seasons and the weather that comes with each season.  Neil and Liz's father is the Weatherman--the person who ushers in the new season four times a year.  It is a sacred agreement that has been kept for ages--until the phone never rings and Summer stays.  Add to that an evil force and a mysterious Tourist who brings along two hags and a bog beast, and Liz and Neil have their hands full.

Told in both Liz and Neil's perspectives, I was more interested in Liz's chapters than Neil's.  Mostly I found that during the chapters when Neil was narrating, especially at the beginning, there was a lot of background and story filling that dragged on a bit more.  He definitely had his moments of adventure and excitement, but I found myself skimming through a few of his chapters a bit more than reading them.  I really liked Liz, though.  I liked how outspoken she was and that even though she understands that she won't be Weatherman because it always passes down to the male heir, Liz has plans of her own and they're just as adventurous.  She's a strong character, quick and smart, thoughtful and a great heroine.

The story itself is adventurous and there are so many magical elements that I would never have thought of, that I enjoyed reading it.  The hardest part was getting into the book and motivating myself to read it because of so much world building that occurred at the beginning.  I wanted things to get moving a bit more earlier on.

Overall, The Maloneys' Magical Weatherbox was exciting to read, though.  I definitely recommend this to kids who enjoy fantasy stories full of magical and mythical creatures.  However, if you're not okay working through the first few chapters to get to the more exciting parts, then you may struggle with this one a bit.

This book is set to come out July 28, 2015.

Image Source: Goodreads


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