Spellbinder

Twelve year old Belladonna can see ghosts. Despite the fact that her parents were killed in an accident two years before, she still sees them everyday and her mother still prepares Belladonna's meals. But something strange is beginning to happen. Her parents suddenly disappear one day and her father's last words send her on a quest to figure out what is happening and see if she can bring them back. Unfortunately, none of the adults involved take her seriously and systematically shut her out of all deliberations. She is frustrated by this and with the help of her friend Steve and one of the few remaining ghosts, Elsie, she discovers much about herself, her family and the fact that there exist other worlds outside of hers. This tale was extremely engaging and I read with anticipation as I delved into this new world of wonder and magic. The language though extremely accessible to young teens is still very engaging for an adult. Though the book has elements of magic, this is not its central focus. Creatures of old populate this book. There are dragons, night hounds, ravens and there is even a wild pack of creatures straight out of hell. I doubt that this book is meant to conclude with just this book cause the end left many unanswered questions. As much as I enjoyed this book, it definitely had its problems. It was very slow at certain points and seemed to meander with pointless happenings. I began to lose focus because of this but luckily things began to get interesting again. I think this would be an excellent read both for adults and teens.

This is a cute story involving a girl, her friend, and a bunch of ghosts including her parents who had died in a car accident the previous year. The ghosts start disappearing and she's finds out the doors to other dimensions are closing and it's up to her and a few zany characters to stop it. See in her world ghosts give you your dreams at night and without the ghosts you don't dream and if you don't dream you eventually die. So her job is to figure out how to get the ghosts back and set the worlds straight. I enjoyed characters. The adults at times annoyed me but I'm sure that was the intent. We all know how parents and adults alike can drive kids nuts and same goes for kids driving us adults nuts. This is definitely a book for the younger age groups, not that adults won't enjoy it because I did. It was a quick, enjoyable read. I would have no qualms recommending this book to people especially the younger crowd. I think they would really enjoy the fantasy aspect of the book. Received from Shelf Awarness/Publisher for review.

This is a very entertaining book filled with delightful characters engrossed in unstoppable action. Belladonna Johnson sits down to breakfast everyday with the spirits of her dead parents. Unlike her friends, she can see all the dead spirits in her town. That is until they start to disappear before her eyes. She will need all the help she can get from her classmate, Steve, who's major accomplishment so far is his penchant for getting in trouble. They follow the lost souls to the Land of the Dead, where Belladonna and Steve must master new found skills in magic and find new depths of courage to free the imprisoned spirits. The book is very well written. The action scenes and the dialogue flow smoothly and naturally, being well suited to hold the interest of older children and young adults. A great ghost tale for Halloween.

I think this is a smart and entertaining story with the same kind of appeal as the Harry Potter adventures. I'm a guy and I enjoyed it totally. I was plunged into a vivid alternative reality of ghosts and creepy dangers of all kinds. The characters are likeable and very real, and I cared about them as they were lured deeper and deeper into a realm with its own clever rules and threats that made me want to keep turning the pages. It's sometimes funny, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, and always surprising. The writer really seems to know her history and ghost lore, and she uses it to create an exciting and realistic adventure into a fantastical world. I hope there are more to come.

When I first read the description of this, I thought 'So...Lydia got her wish?' (Lydia, from Beetlejuice, I sincerely hope you knew that), which was ridiculous of course. Spellbinder is an adventure as well as a magical story with a character who I thought was charming, but it didn't creep me out thankfully. Actually this is more like The Ghost Whisperer (which I love to death-haha). Belladonna knows something is off lately, the stars are blinking out, there's less ghosts around and the ghosts who are around are making vague references to things she doesn't understand. You see, even though Belladonna has a support network (even before her parents die) that understands and has gone through it all before, they choose not to tell her. For various reasons. And even when she begins to show them that she knows more than they are letting on, they try to keep her in the dark. And so she does what any normal twelve year old with a heroic urge would do--she seeks out answers. Along for the fun is the class delinquent, Steve, who is really less of a delinquent and more of a disaffected youngster with too much time and energy and too little attention. Elsie, a ghost that is haunting their school (Dullworth Academy), also pops up from time to time in an effort to be both helpful and hindering. From what I've gathered from other reviewers, this reminds them of what Harry Potter was like in the first few books. I haven't (and will never) read the Harry Potter books, so I can't attest to that one way or the other, but it does have a charm to it that would appeal to most people. Belladonna is a likable character who makes some interesting remarks throughout the book (the 'adventure' angle was considerably dulled for her when it turned out the puzzle was more like an English Test then anything exciting) and she doesn't seem too mature for her age. She's more solemn then her classmates, but then her parents just died in a tragic accident a year ago, disappeared from her life as ghosts a few days ago and she can see just how wrong things are in the world. Steve supplies much of the comic relief--especially in regards to his various skills in breaking and entering, sneaking around and his complete lack of ability to lie properly--but he also has some of the more creative ideas. Such as where to find the Red Door everyone is looking for. His interactions with Belladonna are part chummy/part why did I ever get involved. As a mystery this works, sometimes better then others. The cryptic remarks of the Sibyl (oracle) are rather...cryptic and take a little working to fit exactly, but then oracles aren't known for being crystal clear. In the end, I hope for another adventure from Belladonna. Stringer captures just the right amount of youthful excitement and adult practicality in Belladonna and the ending certainly suggests a new adventure is in the offing.