I finally got the two books. The last remnants of the beloved series.
When I first got hold of Spook's Apprentice, I was seriously up for some cliche adventure, cheesy romance and all the elements a fantasy young adult could possibly give. But nooooo, let's start shoving as much horror, death and gore as we can muster. Just kidding, it's not really that extreme, but compared to the conventional YA books, Wardstone is dark. It has the same pacing as the Harry Potter books, as Tom Ward too began his career with the Spook at the tender age of thirteen, then each book represents a year of adventure that soon transformed the plot that gives Tom holds the destiny of either saving or destroying the world, at the expense of his loved ones. Pretty heavy huh?
So here I am with the last two installments. We will be having our midterms next week, but my inner goddess is demanding to make time to finish these jewels. I gave in, and I'll be posting the review here the moment I'm done. Sooo excited!~
1/21/2014 MY REVIEW - Lots of spoilers naturally, so click at your own risk.
Before I decided to write my own review after finishing this series, I tried reading some by others on goodreads. Most of them talked how the book ended perfectly and everything. I'm not going to go against that idea, but I still have a few points I would like to talk about first (both positive and negative, I'm just going to be honest):
1. Introducing the Mage. This guy is supposed to be one of the greatest mage ever, as he successfully read the grimoire Doomdryte years ago. Now Alice was using the grimoire in order to defeat the Fiend, but this fucker appeared. Grimalkin the witch assassin tried fighting him off but proved to be no match agaisnt him. Then the most surprising thing took place, as Alice looked at the Mage (sorry, he showed up in this book and ruined things so I choose to forget the asshole's name) and... fell in love?
I don't know, I'm just certain that the two powerful beings had an instant connection. In fact Alice slept with the man, kissed the man and the worse part is, followed the man. Which brings us to ...
2. Alice's betrayal. Now to understand what is happening around her head, we need to go back to another Delaney book, Slither's Tale. It details the world of Kobalos, dark creatures who kills men and breeds with the women. It was once thought as a filler, like what this goodreads reviewer said "unless you're someone driven to complete every series you begin I would skip this book and move onto the actual books in the series."
Sorry darling, the things you read in this book was proven essential to the Wardstone reading list. So anyway, Alice is a girl and dreads the idea of beasts enslaving the world and constantly raping the female humans. This makes her decide that bringing back the Fiend is way better than the threat the Kobalos presented.
Her logic is understandable, but her betrayal still hurts. I remember the last part of I am Alice, where she misses Tom so much it hurts. She is hurting I know that, but her fear and her power overcomes her love and loyalty for Tom.
3. Boggarts, Skelts and all them creatures of the dark. Delaney created amazing characters ever since book one, and to be able to know mythological creatures as well as original ones are a treat! It's cool to read about their behavior and powers, makes me feel like a child again as my imagination ran wild.
4. Tom Ward became his master's mirror image. Wait not really. First let us remember Tom as a boy, he wants to be a good spook but due to his loved ones, was able to open his mind to using magic and unlikely allies. After Alice's betrayal, his heart noticeably hardens and took his master's role as the town spook. However he retained his earlier leniency towards magic and it could prove to be a good thing.
5. Apparently, it's not yet the end. At the end of the book, there is an excerpt from Delaney's newest series starring the new Spook: Tom Ward! Besides having a weird relationship with Alice, the fight against the Kobalos, there are also things to look forward to with the Spook himself. First, I'm pretty sure Tom's brothers would still play minor but essential roles as they had experience with battling the dark. Plus there was also evidence that Tom might accept a female apprentice in the future and that I believe is quite interesting. Also I would like to take note that Grimalkin is still alive!
So yeah, the book gets an 8/10 rating from me. I was really expecting an end to all things, but I guess life is that way. I'm happy for Tom but I'm still irked at Alice. She is obviously his One True Love Who Got Away. I can't say that I didn't expect it since I did, but I had hoped Delaney didn't end their togetherness in such a hasty way he did.
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