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A review by mehsi
Dead Man's Cove by Lauren St. John
5.0
An orphaned girl with a big love for detectives finds herself thrown into mystery when she moves in to live with her uncle.
I bought this one during my vacation in 2018, so almost 6 months ago, but never was in the mood to read this one. Oh boy, past me, why why? Because as soon as I started this one I was totally in the story. I wanted to read on and on and on.
Meet Laura, an orphaned girl with a bit of a case of pickiness. She has had so many chances with new families and none of them worked. And while I understand a new family is scary, she has to be a bit less picky about things. And then when she is with her uncle she has all the freedom, and I was just kind of eh about that. Because she kept reminding us, the reader, HOW MUCH SHE loved the freedom and how the other families didn't trust her that much. Um, um, sorry, but it is quite normal that a 11/12 year old doesn't have the full free rein of anything they want. I am sorry, but it is normal to have bedtimes. To have to eat healthy. To get up at a normal time. To listen to their caretakers. To not just go outside without letting people know.
But aside that I did love Laura and how smart she was, and that she had a dream, to become a detective. And that she didn't let anything stand between her and that dream. Plus, I just love a girl who loves books and reading.
What was up with her uncle? I knew it very fast, and then it was fun reading to see how long it took Laura to figure it all out. I did think it took her quite some time, and it was mostly due to her stalking her uncle in the night and overhearing a conversation. :P
Tariq? I loved that guy, though I did feel sorry for what was happening to him. As for what was going on with him? It took me a bit longer to find out all the details, sure, I had some suspicions but I hadn't expected the story to take that turn.
The town of Cornwall? It was quite a lovely place, going by the descriptions. Quiet, small, it has a beach (I would love to live near the beach), there are all kind of fun shops and foodplaces. And then there are the mysterious things that are going on in the town. I was highly curious about Deadman's Cove.
At first I was wondering if Laura went to school, but then it was mentioned. I do have to say that I wasn't a fan of the people there. The teacher who apparently had his dreams shattered (at least that is how it felt to me) and so was enormously discouraging these young kids. The way he talked when Laura told her dreamjob? Man, that is just too much. Way to throw a dream out of the window. I get that you have to stay realistic, but let a kid dream, so much is possible these days that dreams can be fulfilled. I am glad that Laura stood her ground though. *cheers*
The ending, oh boy, the story was already fast-paced, but with this we totally sped up. The last part of the book was one that had me totally immersed in the book, I just had to know if Tariq and Laura would be all right.
Oh, oh, and thank you author for writing a girl character with short hair. It doesn't happen that often that girls have short hair. And I know that as a kid I would have loved this book. Because when I was a kid (and quite some time afterwards again) I had supershort hair. However so many girl characters have long/semi-long hair. :(
I loved that each new chapter had an illustration to accompany it. The style was very nicely done.
All in all, a fantastic book, and yes, I agree with the review on my cover. I am a fan of Enid Blyton and I was delighted by this book, as it did remind me quite a bit of Enid Blyton's stories. I would recommend this one, and I will be looking around to see if I can buy the next book in this series. Let's see what Laura's next adventures will be.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I bought this one during my vacation in 2018, so almost 6 months ago, but never was in the mood to read this one. Oh boy, past me, why why? Because as soon as I started this one I was totally in the story. I wanted to read on and on and on.
Meet Laura, an orphaned girl with a bit of a case of pickiness. She has had so many chances with new families and none of them worked. And while I understand a new family is scary, she has to be a bit less picky about things. And then when she is with her uncle she has all the freedom, and I was just kind of eh about that. Because she kept reminding us, the reader, HOW MUCH SHE loved the freedom and how the other families didn't trust her that much. Um, um, sorry, but it is quite normal that a 11/12 year old doesn't have the full free rein of anything they want. I am sorry, but it is normal to have bedtimes. To have to eat healthy. To get up at a normal time. To listen to their caretakers. To not just go outside without letting people know.
But aside that I did love Laura and how smart she was, and that she had a dream, to become a detective. And that she didn't let anything stand between her and that dream. Plus, I just love a girl who loves books and reading.
What was up with her uncle? I knew it very fast, and then it was fun reading to see how long it took Laura to figure it all out. I did think it took her quite some time, and it was mostly due to her stalking her uncle in the night and overhearing a conversation. :P
Tariq? I loved that guy, though I did feel sorry for what was happening to him. As for what was going on with him? It took me a bit longer to find out all the details, sure, I had some suspicions but I hadn't expected the story to take that turn.
The town of Cornwall? It was quite a lovely place, going by the descriptions. Quiet, small, it has a beach (I would love to live near the beach), there are all kind of fun shops and foodplaces. And then there are the mysterious things that are going on in the town. I was highly curious about Deadman's Cove.
At first I was wondering if Laura went to school, but then it was mentioned. I do have to say that I wasn't a fan of the people there. The teacher who apparently had his dreams shattered (at least that is how it felt to me) and so was enormously discouraging these young kids. The way he talked when Laura told her dreamjob? Man, that is just too much. Way to throw a dream out of the window. I get that you have to stay realistic, but let a kid dream, so much is possible these days that dreams can be fulfilled. I am glad that Laura stood her ground though. *cheers*
The ending, oh boy, the story was already fast-paced, but with this we totally sped up. The last part of the book was one that had me totally immersed in the book, I just had to know if Tariq and Laura would be all right.
Oh, oh, and thank you author for writing a girl character with short hair. It doesn't happen that often that girls have short hair. And I know that as a kid I would have loved this book. Because when I was a kid (and quite some time afterwards again) I had supershort hair. However so many girl characters have long/semi-long hair. :(
I loved that each new chapter had an illustration to accompany it. The style was very nicely done.
All in all, a fantastic book, and yes, I agree with the review on my cover. I am a fan of Enid Blyton and I was delighted by this book, as it did remind me quite a bit of Enid Blyton's stories. I would recommend this one, and I will be looking around to see if I can buy the next book in this series. Let's see what Laura's next adventures will be.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/