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Wickedness #1
Wickedness
A powerful and charismatic man. An Egyptian mummy and twenty spells written in hieroglyphics on parchment. An emerald casket, a French ropewalker and two red-haired girls, fourteen years old and living in London, but four hundred years apart - All united by blood and by a prophecy...
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 1, 2011
As a lover of all things fantasy, British History and Egyptology, I was rather intrigued by this book when it first arrived in the post. I'd previously devoured 'VIII' by HM Castor which had come in the same parcel and had high expectations of this other fiction title published by Templar. Having literally just finished it, I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed. This book was fab!
The use of the two voices, one modern and one 17th Century gave the book a real distinct voice and both combined to bring a fascinating story to life. There's quite literally everything you want in this book- lots of mystery, intrigue, plotting, romance, murder and magic thrown in for good measure, whilst having an anchor of modern day family life. I was quite literally hooked and kept guessing until the last page. Brilliant! I eagerly await a sequel...
The use of the two voices, one modern and one 17th Century gave the book a real distinct voice and both combined to bring a fascinating story to life. There's quite literally everything you want in this book- lots of mystery, intrigue, plotting, romance, murder and magic thrown in for good measure, whilst having an anchor of modern day family life. I was quite literally hooked and kept guessing until the last page. Brilliant! I eagerly await a sequel...
June 24, 2020
First and foremost, this is targeted for a young adult audience - the protagonists are both 13. With this in mind, I found a lot of the content (both language and plot points) within the book to be wildly inappropriate.
It was dual perspective, I found the modern day segments to be not only poorly written but very jumpy in terms of plot. I think I would’ve enjoyed the book more if it was all written from the historical perspective.
It was just disappointing. The idea was good but poorly executed. Didn’t really enjoy it and only finished it because it was short.
It was dual perspective, I found the modern day segments to be not only poorly written but very jumpy in terms of plot. I think I would’ve enjoyed the book more if it was all written from the historical perspective.
It was just disappointing. The idea was good but poorly executed. Didn’t really enjoy it and only finished it because it was short.
September 7, 2017
Eh. The ending felt a bit too hand-wavey for me. I was not impressed.
July 26, 2011
I have some issues
I will be completely honest with you and tell you I had issues with this book. I know that some of the incidents portrayed were acceptable for the era in which the book is set but I still found aspects disturbing, this is partly due to the fact that I am a complete wuss and partly because I have three girls and am over-protective of them.
The story is told in alternating narrative spanning centuries. Claire and Margaret are connected via the ring that Claire finds in her Grandmothers belongings following her death. The use of different fonts for each narrative voice help to differentiate the characters visually. The portrayal of grief at the beginning was quite poignant. Overlapping elements between Claire and Margaret added depth to the story. Repetition of certain phrases re-enforces the storyline. The use of both third and first person narration aided the differentiation of narrator but I did feel it was a little disconcerting at times.
The writing was beautifully descriptive and I really liked the additional facts interwoven into the narrative adding to the realism of the story. I did find the plot built slowly and would be very interested to know how many books there are going to be in the series. The ending left an opening for further development.
Interesting details regarding the lifestyle at certain periods throughout history woven together with alchemy and romance provided an intriguing plot. I would point out that I really did not think this book was suitable for Middle Grade Level - due to some of the incidents (brain washed, drugged, controlled physically and mentally) I really think it is more suitable for an older audience.Further to this point is the issue of how young the girls were when undertaking a physical relationship resulting in pregnancy. Yes I do know that it was a 'different' time and it was probably the 'norm' but I did not like it. In fact I think it is this that has swayed my overall opinion of the book. I felt that it could have been handled differently.
There is a very, very clever plot twist at he end of the story and as I said earlier there is development for further books.
I will be completely honest with you and tell you I had issues with this book. I know that some of the incidents portrayed were acceptable for the era in which the book is set but I still found aspects disturbing, this is partly due to the fact that I am a complete wuss and partly because I have three girls and am over-protective of them.
The story is told in alternating narrative spanning centuries. Claire and Margaret are connected via the ring that Claire finds in her Grandmothers belongings following her death. The use of different fonts for each narrative voice help to differentiate the characters visually. The portrayal of grief at the beginning was quite poignant. Overlapping elements between Claire and Margaret added depth to the story. Repetition of certain phrases re-enforces the storyline. The use of both third and first person narration aided the differentiation of narrator but I did feel it was a little disconcerting at times.
The writing was beautifully descriptive and I really liked the additional facts interwoven into the narrative adding to the realism of the story. I did find the plot built slowly and would be very interested to know how many books there are going to be in the series. The ending left an opening for further development.
Interesting details regarding the lifestyle at certain periods throughout history woven together with alchemy and romance provided an intriguing plot. I would point out that I really did not think this book was suitable for Middle Grade Level - due to some of the incidents (brain washed, drugged, controlled physically and mentally) I really think it is more suitable for an older audience.Further to this point is the issue of how young the girls were when undertaking a physical relationship resulting in pregnancy. Yes I do know that it was a 'different' time and it was probably the 'norm' but I did not like it. In fact I think it is this that has swayed my overall opinion of the book. I felt that it could have been handled differently.
There is a very, very clever plot twist at he end of the story and as I said earlier there is development for further books.
March 28, 2013
Dark, strange and captivating. I was drawn into the book from the beginning. I loved the back-and forth between Claire's story, set in the present, and Margret's, in the 17th century. Many mysteries kept me turning pages: Who is Robert exactly? What about the ring? What happened to Margrat? What will happen to Claire?
Unfortunately, the ending was disappointing and didn't do the rest of the book justice. Think of a nice fireworks display with little or no finale.
Unfortunately, the ending was disappointing and didn't do the rest of the book justice. Think of a nice fireworks display with little or no finale.
August 28, 2013
I quite enjoyed this. I liked the two different perspectives, each in their own time, with echoes of words/concepts linking them. I found the writing style to be a little less self conscious than a lot of the "popular" YA stuff out there.
December 26, 2015
It was decent. Child-like characters (well, they are 14...) and their immature thoughts and actions that I do not like very much. The plot was okay I guess, and I like the way the chapters alternated between the two girls.
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April 14, 2012I liked the book
January 14, 2013
Compelling strange and a little disturbing.
October 7, 2014
Though the concept was great and it was full of potential. I found the story slow and predictable. Which are two things I can't stand.
November 15, 2014
awesome i haven't finished it yet but i think its good
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews