Gargantis
{The Legends of Eerie-on-Sea #2}
Thomas Taylor
12th May 2020
I really had such a great time reading this one. I read the first book in the series, Malamander, last year, and was so excited that there were going to be more books in the series. (P.s. I just noticed that the image of the cover for this one says that it was illustrated by Tom Booth - I wanted to note that my copy was not illustrated by Tom Booth, but by the author himself. On we go!)
In the interests of not spoiling anything, I will just give a brief explanation of our main character and then be extremely vague about much of the rest. So! Herbie Lemon (brilliant name) is the Lost-and-Founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel in Eerie-on-Sea. Despite being a distinct disliker of anything too adventurous, he somehow seems to keep getting caught up in mysteries and adventures, particularly since the arrival in the first book of Violet Parma, who turns herself in as a lost person, wishing to be found.
The second book is even more adventurous, even more mysterious, and had me giggling out loud quite a bit. I really did love the little illustrations and maps throughout the book, and I thought they added so much to the story and the general atmosphere of Eerie-on-Sea. Also, Erwin is my favourite character and I want lots more of him, please.
I do have to mention a couple of things that bothered me, though. First of all, there is a part of the book where one of the main characters indicates that someone 'seems like a she', which I just hated. I don't believe that you can tell what someone's gender is by looking at them, so that frustrated me. Secondly, a character that has a disability demonstrates some desperation to be able to be rid of said disability, even to the point of being willing to sell out Herbie in pursuit of it, and that upset me. Just some gentle ableism thrown into the mix spoiled things a bit for me.
Whilst I do recognise the above flaws in this story, after much thought I concluded that this story is still really brilliant. If those two things were taken out, I think this would have been a 10 star read, for sure. I just had such a great time with it otherwise. I still definitely recommend it, just as long as those reading it are aware of those issues.
8/10 gigantic storms set to destroy town.
{I received a review copy of this book from Walker Books in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.}
0 whisperings:
Post a Comment