Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball

I read this book with my seven-year-old daughter, who loves to read. She was excited to read a new book, and has put together a review of her own:

"This book was amazing and wonderful! I liked the bits when Prince Tangine got Wooo's name wrong, and when Wooo got his own back. My favourite character was Squashy because he likes to jump up and down just like me! The funniest parts were when Miss Ameeelia and Grimaldi dressed up as a Mummy Maid, and when Florence said "I am not a beast, I am a Rare Breed of Yeti!" but I didn't like it when Prince Tangine called Florence a beast. That was mean. I'd really like to read the next book!"

I enjoyed reading this with my daughter, as she quickly became invested in the characters. Her reactions were lovely to watch - she roared with laughter at the jokes, and was very indignant about Tangine bullying Florence. The story itself was well-paced, and suited to the book's target age range. It managed to be mildly creepy without being scary, and the illustrations were brilliant. I also really liked the use of white text on black background on some pages, as it helped to reinforce the setting in Nocturnia. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

A funny and charming new character Amelia lives in a totally weird world; with elements of the Gothic always in evidence. The author's illustrations are superb and really reflect the content of the story. This is a truly wonderful addition to this sub-genre of story, with heroes and villains (well, horrible girls) that you can really get involved with. I am looking forward to her further adventures

A wonderfully cute book! Really enjoyed reading it and laughed out loud a few times. The illustrations are so cute and makes me want my own pet pumpkin! Perfect for children (and those young at heart) closer to Halloween time!

Set in Nocturnia, Amelia and the rest of the Fang family are preparing to host the latest Barbaric ball the only annual event in Nocturnal only this time, the king and prince are attending too.

Ahead of time Amelia has to show the prince around her school where he acts very stuffily towards them all and when he has dinner with the whole family pre barbaric ball, he acts entitled and ends up taking Amelia's Squashy, her friend!

Amelia sets off determined to retrieve Squashy away from the awful prince but can she and will she succeeded and what is wrong with the prince to make him so awful?

The book was wonderful, I hated the prince as you should and loved Amelia and her spooky friend. May I say the language and phrases in the book were genius for example a diephone and Great British Carve off for example made me laugh. The drawings were great too with a lot of detail for each character with elaborate costumes for the cast of the book. The deep issue in the book a round friends and parents worked nicely in the last half of the book when Amelia figures things out as the plot develops on and was actually a great twist as well as truthful in how we act to people as we develop relationships.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!