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Blog Tour Review - Pax and the Forgotten Pincher by David Barker

 Blog Tour Review - Pax and the Forgotten Pincher by David Barker Pax has made it through the trials of his first year at Scholastic Parliament, but any hopes of a quieter second year are quickly dashed when he makes a shocking discovery in the school’s basement. A new student joins the school, acting suspiciously and muscling in on Pax’s friendship with Samuel. At least being reigning champions in the Parliamentary Polls allows Pax and his friends to explore the city at weekends. But drone raids and cyber-attacks disrupt life in New London while a paranoid mayor cracks down hard on terrorism. Unwittingly, Pax helps an innocent man get captured. Driven by guilt, he seeks out the Underground resistance movement and is given a mission to steal some codes from the mayor. In the process, Pax uncovers the shocking truth about a new factory that threatens the lives of millions of people. He is torn between stopping this latest sinister plot and focusing on schoolwork to keep alive his dream
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Review - The Midnight Swan by Catherine Fisher

 The Midnight Swan by Catherine Fisher


With an invisible girl, a parliament of owls and a pen that writes by itself, the journey to the garden of the Midnight Swan might be Seren's most dangerous adventure yet.

In this third book of the award-winning CLOCKWORK CROW series, Seren and Tomos must try to help the Crow find the way back to his human form. But why is Captain Jones enquiring about Seren's past? 

How have the sinister Fair Family gate-crashed the Midsummer Ball, and what is the one desire of the mysterious Midnight Swan?






The third part of a trilogy that started with The Clockwork Crow, and continued with The Velvet Fox, The Midnight Swan ties everything up beautifully and in a very satisfying way.

One of the things I really love about this trilogy is the feeling of dark, creepy fae magic. The Folk may be charming but their also definitely scary, and this enchanting darkness comes across so well. The tension between the attraction and the fear is increased for the final part of the trilogy, creating some incredible haunting and powerful scenes. 

There's a lot of humour too, which helps lighten the mood and keeps the book very readable. Most of it is at the expense of the poor clockwork crow, the children's tutor, trapped in the raggedy form of a crow. 

The story introduces a new mystery, a box that Seren finds in a delightfully mysterious market, and new creatures of power who can help her. The idea of a quest to seek a favour is such a fairy story classic, and it works so well here. Catherine Fisher is clearly very familiar with the older source material, and how to twist it into her own stories to create beautiful new patterns and pictures.


There's additional tension as the narrative deals headlong with the fact that Seren is an orphan, and a ward of the family, and what this might mean for her future. Watching her fret and worry about this, as she snoops around the house, really helped raise the already high emotional stakes and the novel delivers a suitably powerful emotional ending. 

I'm giving The Midnight Swan five full moons

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕


The Midnight Swan is published by Firefly Press and is available now. I was given a review copy in return for an honest review.

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