Malamander

As a primary school teacher & parent of an avid 8 year old reader, I sometimes despair at the ubiquity of books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid which are vocabulary vacuums. Malamander is everything but. The settings in the hotel and the eerie seaside town are brilliant, the characters are lovable and the story is gripping, but most importantly, the writing is truly beautiful. Our children need this kind of rich language today more than ever & for that I want to thank Thomas Taylor - if only there were more great stories and authors like this!

This is an absolute cracker of a salty legend with shivers and scares a plenty . Don’t do what I did and read this late at night and need to read something ‘calming’ to let the Adrenaline run its course!!The writing is excellent with a sensory immersion thanks to the use of present tense in the narrative and description. This extends to the names throughout which are wonderfully inventive (S)Herbert Lemon, Miss Parma (Violet), Ambergriss and more. Many have a multi sensory factor particularly of taste and scent so you may develop a sort of synesthesia about certain characters which then transfers to the landscape where you can almost taste the salty air and petrichor.There’s something wonderful and yet quintessentially British eccentric about this seaside tale that could fit in any eerily empty seaside town in winter And I loved the whole concept of your fortune being read of the book you need like a panacea for your problems is such a beautiful metaphor for reading for pleasure.I’m so excited to see where these characters will take us in the future. Absolutely fantastic.Many thanks to Walker Books for the review copy, this has not affected my opinion

On the plus side, this book is really well written. The character names are wonderful, the location well described and it all has a lovely dark-fantasy tinge to it all. It's easy to read and engaging from the very start. However, there's a surprising amount of violence towards the characters in it (strangling, shooting, drowning, slashed with a hook, etc) - my 9-year-old, who is in the target age range of this book, was put off by some of it, so just be careful - as obviously all kids have a different tolerance level towards this. Our biggest issue, however, was that the ending is extremely unfulfilling. Nothing really gets explained and it's all a little hurried towards a conclusion that concludes very little. It wasn't that we wanted a happy ending, we just wanted some explanations, and very few were forthcoming. Perhaps this is because a sequel is planned? Who knows. Let's hope so.

Thomas Taylor’s portrayal of the aptly named Eerie-On-Sea will have you gripped from start to finish. Herbert Lemon the lost and founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel is experienced at reuniting lost item with their owners, but he wasn’t expecting to encounter a lost girl in his basement. Violet Parma is investigating the disappearance of her parents twelve years ago and believes Herbie is the only one who can help. This mystery is made more spectacular by the addition of the boat hook man, a mermonkey, a talking cat and of course the terrifying legend of the Malamander. With a diverse cast of characters, fabulous descriptive content and a fantastical plot this story is sure to delight anyone who pick it up. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait to recommend it in school.

I bought this for my 8 year old (who loves reading). He really enjoyed it so I bought the audio book version for us all to listen to in the car. We are part way through and I can see why he enjoyed it. Full of suspense and adventure, and a little dark in places, it is well written. It has good use of language and is engaging. My husband now wants to read the book too, and my 6 year old is enjoying listening to it.