Okay...first let give a sort of introduction. I liked this book, and that's a relief as the last several YA books I've read have been, disappointing. Since I read the Harry Potter books (each as it came out) "with" my own children (though they were grown by the time the series completed) I've continued occasionally reading a YA book as some of them are excellent and not to be missed...even if "we" are old, grown-up, and decrepit. LOLNow as to this book. I considered giving it a lower rating, and after this I'll say why. First I want to say I like the book. It's a good idea, it's handled well, and well told. I wanted to say all that as some might wonder why I'd rate a book 4 stars and then spend a lot of time on it's failings. Well, it's because a lot of what "I" found wanting here "may" be because I am an adult and have read literally thousands of books. What I find predictable or even a little trite may not be so to others, especially younger readers... So, here goes.Yes, this is a good book. BUT I would be sure that the "youth" reading it has a good "reality concept". In spite of my own local public library calling it or rating it "juvenile" I'd say the description "young adult" would be more apt. There are a lot of fairly "creepy" scenes including danger to children and reference to the death of children. There is the slightly negative view of religion here that has become so prevalent of late, but it's mild and left open to later interpretation/reinterpretation in later books. The view seems to be based on the kind of negative impression that can be left by "religious" folk of an overly legalistic or judgmental mindset. And some parents may share those views, so to them it may not seem as much of a problem. I'd say these and any other "drawbacks" could be handled by a parent/guardian/responsible adult who loves the young person in question reading the book either with or before the youth and being ready to explain, discuss and otherwise guide the said youth. ***Possible Spoiler Below ***(view spoiler)[There are times in this book when I think anyone who has done any reading at all will see what's coming a proverbial mile away. Tom is told "whatever you do don't EVER do this". Of course we know that things will transpire so that Tom finds himself doing exactly that. This kind of thing happens several times in the book. But as I said, to younger readers this may not be as big a deal as it will be to adults. It's still a good read and enjoyable.As to being sure that a young person is mature enough or has a good enough reality concept to read the book, remember the movie Hocus Pocus? While it cleared pretty good money world-wide it didn't do nearly as well as expected. Why? In my opinion it's because the movie opens with the murder of a little girl by the witches... no it's not graphic, we only see the witches "sucking" the life from a child who's back is turned to the camera, but it was something that parents weren't thrilled with. I always wondered who at Disney studios missed that little detail... oh well. Anyway, here in this novel, there is mention of "infant's blood cakes" and there is a child at one point being drained of life by an evil witch (we're told all witches aren't necessarily evil in the book's text lest this concern some)... so be aware.There are a few of these scenes. Among the plot points are not only child endangering evils but also possession and of course, hauntings, etc. So, be aware. I don't think these reasons necessarily to avoid this book, just something to be considered in choosing who reads what. It's well written and well told just be aware and tailor the reading to the young person. I have sent for the next 2 from the library and plan to see how they go... (hide spoiler)]
Warning: my long and boring rants follow. There are some things that bug me and this review happened to be a good place for them. Sorry.If you own a farm you never split it between your children, otherwise several generations later there will be nothing left to split. You give the farm to the oldest child which leaves you a very tough problem to find a place in life for the rest of your kids. Now imagine you have seven sons - and you yourself were the seventh son, but managed to come up with some money to buy a farm. This was exactly the problem the father of young Tom Ward was facing. Tom was the last son and as such his father was at loss at what to do with him.Fortunately being a seventh son of a seventh son made a good Spook material out of Tom, so the local Spook took his as an apprentice. Spook's job is to deal with all kind of supernatural troublemakers: ghosts, ghasts, bogarts, evil witches, and such. Spooks do not possess any magic; they do their job using only their wits, brains, and experience. The whole nature of the work makes them, well, spooky and as such they do not have any friends and people while being glad to be rid of supernatural troubles, make their best to avoid Spooks in everyday life. This is the life which awaits Tom is he manages to be good enough to enter the full apprenticeship. This is a young adult horror novel. I would not say it is very scary, but it does have quite a few really spooky (sorry, I seems to overuse the word) moments. Thus the rant moment came. It seems to me the US writers and publishers are busy writing and publishing angst romance novel calling them young adult (YA) literature to the point where it is impossible to find any non-romance centered YA book. I have nothing against angst-ridden romances and they have their place in literature, but I really do not understand why this is considered to be the only type of YA genre. At the same time British writers still remember the distinction between YA and romance. For the good example of YA without too much romance look no further than Harry Potter. This series is another example of this. This is a fairly short, fast and easy read with some horror elements. I was not completely satisfied with some characters as they seem to be two-dimensional, but this is the first book of the series, so there is still hope for them. My rating would be something between 3.5 stars and 4, but I will round it up and reserve my right to change it after I read other books of the series - and I will most definitely continue reading them. Another rant is coming. Why oh why do US publishers consider changing the titles of the books published in GB to be their first and foremost duty? We were lucky with Harry Potter as only the first book suffered this fate, but in case of this series I think all the titles were butchered. UK title: The Spook's Apprentice. US title: Revenge of the Witch. What was so exotic and hard to understand about the UK - original - title so it had to be changed? Does US publishing industry consider its readers to be complete retards unable to understand some local UK terms? I think they do add flavor and color to the tale. Luckily it is possible for Canadians to find books published in UK in local bookstores and this is what I will do for this series. Rant off. For a good example of US YA horror take a look at Nightfall Gardens trilogy by Allen Houston.
Do You like book Revenge Of The Witch (2006)?
Carry on my wayWARD seventh son. (Nein, Tom Ward ist nicht wie die Winchesters, obwohl er auch mit Eisen und Salz umgehen kann.)Es ist halb 4 Uhr morgens und ich konnte nicht aufhören zu lesen, ehe ich es beendet habe! Über die Warnung zu Beginn des Buches (Not to be read after dark) musste ich einst noch schmunzeln, aber, ernsthaft, wenn man es wie ich nur bei Kerzenschein auf dem Kindle liest, zieht man sich dann doch ein paar Mal die Decke fester um Schulter und über den Kopf. Es liest sich unglaublich angenehm und schnell (weil man halt nicht aufhören kann, ha). Einerseits merkt man total, dass es aus dem (very) Young Adult Genre ist, andererseits rief ich zwischendrin ein paar Mal laut "DAS IST VOLL GRUSELIG UND BRUTAL, DAS IST DOCH NICHT YOUNG ADULT" unter meiner Bettdecke hervor. Ich musste bei Tom Ward ein bisschen an Jon Snow denken und, ach, all the feels. Also von mir kriegt ihr eine Leseempfehlung. Und schön nach Einbruch der Nacht lesen!
—Lisa Lockhart
How Much can u love a book? Weird way to begin...Nuh..The Spook's Apprentice...Nuhuh...Should it start like:OMG I AM SO FUCKING EXCITED I READ IT or....ti was nothing new but another great howling story....Fuck it's late and i need to sleep....SO i'll start like this...The Spook's Apprentice is everything i mentioned before,a mixture of horror,guilt,suspicion,joy of life,ghouls,trolls,Ugly over-aged bitc...ehm.... witches with bad breath issues(i guess listerine is not an option),midnight haunti
—CHris.T.o.S
>>Diese Rezension und viele mehr findet ihr auch hier: http://wort-welten.blogspot.de/ ZUSAMMENFASSUNG:Schon von klein auf hat Thomas Ward den unheimlichen Geschichten über den Spook gelauscht. Den Mann, den man stets dann ruft, wenn etwas Unheimliches vorgeht, wenn eine Hexe ihr Unwesen treibt oder auch Geister einfach keine Ruhe finden. Als er als siebter und letzter in seiner Familie seine Lehre ausgerechnet bei dem Spook antreten soll, ist es also vorgewarnt. Doch in die Fußstapfen des unheimlichen alten Mannes zu treten wird alsbald schwerer, als er es sich je ausgemalt hätte ...FAZIT:Ja, ich gestehe - dieses Buch war ein absoluter Coverkauf. Oh - und ein Sparkauf. Immerhin ist das Buch für diesen Preis doch schon ein kleines Schnäppchen, wie ich finde. Was den Inhalt allerdings angeht, so bin ich davon nun nicht so wirklich begeistert. Irgendwie wirkte der Schreibstil ein bisschen flach und oberflächlich auf mich. Und alles in allem habe ich so das Gefühl, dass dieses Buch oder viel mehr die ganze Reihe eher was für jüngere Leser ist als mich. Dennoch werde ich die Buchreihe bei Gelegenheit wohl fortführen, schließlich kann es ja noch besser werden. Aber bis dahin ...
—Tanja
