Monday, July 14, 2008

The Robe of Skulls by Vivan French

Just above the town of Fracture lies a ghastly castle with an even ghastlier occupant Lady Lamorna, who is just plain freaky. Her latest wish is a magnificent black velvet gown that is studded with skulls. When she goes to pay for it she finds that her treasure chest is empty. Instead of canceling her order, Lady Lamorna concocts a plan to pay for that dress. Her plan includes a couple of members of the royal party, some frogs, and blackmail.


Then there is Gracie Gillypot. I shy girl who spends most of her days locked up in the cellar under the stairs of her house. When she's not spending time with the spiders under the stairs she is running after her step-father and complying with his every wish. When a talking bat finds her one day he promises her a better life and takes off. Days later he returns and helps Gracie escape. He's taking her to see the Ancient Crones who will hopefully be able to help her with her wicked step-sister and step-father problem.


Last but not least there is the prince that scoots under Lady Lamorna's radar. Marcus is a rather curious prince who really doesn't want anything to do with royalty. When his brother is turned into a frog he is determined to find the person who committed this heinous crime. Through a twist of fate he is paired up with Gracie and they set off to put Lady Lamorna in her rightful place.


This book was an absolute riot. While it is a super fast read you will find yourself enthralled with the quirkiness of the characters and loving the story. The illustrations are very comical too! While this is definitely a middle grade novel it is definitely suited for older and younger readers alike. While I didn't find the characters too well developed, I really enjoyed the quick moving plot that keeps taking twists and turns. I loved how the author connected everything in a way that wasn't predictable and added to the hilarity of the book. Overall I really liked this book and recommend it.


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Don't forget today is one of those lucky days where if you comment you get an extra entry in my birthday contest!! (There's even two chances!!)

11 comments:

Carolina said...

Sounds good. I'll check it out!

Anonymous said...

This book sounds like a great read! Thanks for the review :)

Meredith said...

Sounds like an... interesting read. I'll have to see if my library has it.

~Meredith
rosesaremyfavorite@hotmail.com

Lenore Appelhans said...

I am definitely going to buy this one!!

Breanna said...

Oooh this book sounds really good. Plus I love the cover, lol. I'll have to check it out sometime. Thanks for the great review. =)

-Breanna

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a Cinderella-type kind of story. But with a bit more of scary twist. Might find some time to get to it. =)

Carmen T
carmenalexistsang@gmail.com

Shooting Stars Mag said...

nice review. it does seem like an interesting book to read. i'll have to check it out sometime.
-Lauren

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Test said...

Sounds like a good book. I'll have to look for it when I go to barnes and Noble this weekend.

Lauren
Pot17ter@aol.com

Abby O. said...

That sounds interesting!

Anonymous said...

my schoolmate advised me to read this, as i LOVE reading,so, i did and...

this book is amasing!cool!wierd!funny! {=)and not the only one...

no.2 is called the bag of bones, by the way. so you know. ;)

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