Pure Dead Wicked

Pure Dead #2

by Debi Gliori

With the slates of the StregaSchloss roof crumbling round their ears, the Strega-Borgia family, complete with staff and dungeon-dwelling beasts, is forced to decamp to a local hotel for Christmas. Bored of being cooped up with only his laptop for entertainment, Titus tries his own experiment in cyber-cloning, only to end up besieged by 500 miniature versions of himself and sister Pandora. The beasts too are fed up at the hotel. Determined to return to StregaSchloss, Ffup the dragon, Sab the gryphon and friends set off cross-country only occasionally distracted by the call of the wild...A superbly labyrinthine plot weaves together clones, kids, beasts and dodgy roofers with great humour and a touch of magic in this highly acclaimed second novel.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Humor, Middle Grade, Comedy

253 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 2002

About the author

Debi Gliori (born 1959) is a Scottish author and illustrator of children's books.
She grew up as an only child in Glasgow, and when young began drawing and writing stories. She started writing children's books in 1976, and attended art school in Edinburgh from 1979 to 1984. She then received a travelling scholarship award to go to Milan, and worked as a freelance from 1984 onwards.
She is the author/illustrator of many books for children including Mr Bear, the winner of a Children's Book Award. She is best known for her black comedy Pure Dead series for older children, which display strong elements of family lives amid dark and fantasy-based plots.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that I am not the target audience (or am I) for this book but there is something highly entertaining about escaping in to a book when real life gets too stressful. So yes I did enjoy this read and yes I am not ashamed of it.

But seriously there were some interesting nods to "older readers" after all how many children would know and understand who DEFRA are. And this gets me on to an interesting side topic of adult jokes (or at least those recognised by adults) in childrens books.

Its an interesting idea that authors understand that at some point (either for their own entertainment or to accompany others) these books will be read but someone who may not be their target audience - and so sneak the odd side joke - almost as if to check to see if anyone is paying attention.

[La La · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just found out there are now three more Pure Dead books!! My son is 21 now, but I am going to buy them, read them for myself, and then save them for the grandchildren!!

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was hilarious and actually had me laughing out loud. The plot was gripping the whole way through and there were so many twists and turns in the book. It definitely isn't a sequel to Pure Dead Magic, so you don't have to read it before reading this book.

I would recommend it to people of any age, but is aimed at younger people (7-9 year olds). However anyone can enjoy it, even if it is just a simple read during a slump.

[E.A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*
Too randomly silly for my taste.
It makes Terry Pratchett's work look serious and coherent.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I preferred it to the first one and looking forward to the rest of the series.

[Christy · Rating 1 out of 5]

-1 star for language, -1 star for nudity

This would have made it to 3 stars accept for the unnecessary additions of language and the unfortunate descriptions of the nude mini pink clones.

This series is written in a funny candor and we enjoyed the first book. This one was odd.

[Asia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another installation of Pandora and Titus causing mischief, however they aren't the only ones this time! An adventure that takes place outside the walls of StregaSchloss involving a crooked businessman, missing slate tiles and a lot of mini people.

[Morvling Bookink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strangely relatable.....

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one didn't really float my boat. Although at times I thought there was real wit, the delivery was lacking. It seemed like one of the problems was the lack of purpose to the book. Who was it really pitched at? Adults? Then it needed more content and complexity (or just to be a lot funnier). Kids? Then the jokes needed to be pitched better.

All the characters seemed to be stereotypes which even in a "romp" is unsatisfying and even though sort of unexpected things happened, they happened in a predictably zany way so that nothing really surprised us. There were no boundaries in this two-dimensional playworld so that boundaries could not really be challenged so it was just "oh look this suddenly happened" without any real impact.

I was a bit shocked how casually deaths were scattered throughout a book and how characters were contradictory between at times seeming compassionate and ethical to an extreme (more development of this theme would have interested me whether it was done straight-forwardly or critically) and then the same characters would just accept deaths really casually with no real emotion. It was hard to care for anyone in the story anyway- the Strega-Borgia family seem to do nothing (no sort of work) for a living and have servants to even do housework for them so they literally don't have to do a thing.

Apart from the pointlessness of the plot, the selfish irrelevancy of the characters and the sexism inherent in the stereotypes this was a harmless enough book. In my opinion Colin Thompson does this sort of stuff better (only because he is funnier) but some people might like the silliness of it I suppose.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in Middle School. I think I still have it at home in storage! I remember there was something about French Fries being crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside, which is the perfect french fry. But that might not be this series...

[Chels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun book. Though dark at times (for a children's novel) I found myself chuckling along as I read.  A cross between Addams Family and Lemony Snicket, it was a great read.  

[Sherry Mackay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Clever funny and different.

[Permittivité du Vide · Rating 1 out of 5]

A boring followup to a perfect book

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5

[Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

again! is every chance I’m viewing it through nostalgia tinted glasses but I really enjoyed the silliness of this still

[Books And Chocaholic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this one possibly even more than the first one. Ffup becoming female, the indignant animals being left at Stregascholss, the way they live in the hotel... it was all brilliant!!!

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this one more than the first. Though I was kind of hoping for it to go in a different direction, since the spider knew what happened and she never said anything. I thought she might have found her way to the hotel. But oh well. Great read either way!

[Marike]

Pure dead wicked by Debi Gliori

Pure fun. Probably aimed at about 10-year olds – and those older who can enjoy the light touch. It is the second one in a series, but each can be read separately. The stories concern a very eccentric Strega-Borgia family, living in an ancient run-down castle StregaSchloss in Scotland. In this adventure the family home is threatened by demolition. The roof is collapsing. The family moves into the local hotel over Christmas time while repairs are to be done. Unfortunately the builders are corrupt – Hugh Pylum Haight’s plan is to destroy the house to the extent that the family will be forced to sell it so that he can then build new developments on the site. He is in cahoots with a lazy pair of estate-developers – Vinnie and Vadette. Some of the highlights are: Damp accidentally changing Titus’ clone programme; the dragon-teeth soldiers; the beasts’ escape from the hotel quarters; Ffup discovering she’s a female dragon; and of course the great denouement...

Let me rather give you a summary of the characters:
Signor Luciano Strega-Borgia: father of the household. Attempting to keep the house together.
Signora Baci Strega-Borgia: apprentice witch. Very touchy about comments on her spells working (or not)
Titus: 12-year old hero, computer besotted. Attempts to create clones using a rotten geese carcass and some other unmentionables. Plan goes rather not as planned.
Pandora: 10-year old heroine. She has some unconventional pets who need rescuing from Strega-Borgia. Saves various sticky situations
Damp: 18 month old sister. Causes unwitting trouble, esp. when, well, damp.
Strega-Nonna: great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother cryogenically preserved in the freezer, occasionally appearing to save the day.
Mrs Flora McLachlan: nanny, the good help that was hard to find. generally appearing with wonderful baking and hardly anyone (esp. not Signora Baci) noticing her magic.
Latch – the butler. drinks a bit too much whiskey on occasion.
Sab, Ffup and Knot – mythical beasts living in the Schloss dungeon (dragon, gryphon, yeti)
Tock – crocodile living in the Schloss moat, a vegetarian (though when faced with possibility of surviving on the wild road he realised it would be rude to refuse food offered to him by his companions on the basis of it being a lamb)
Tarantella: one of Pandora’s pets – a spider with lipstick and attitude
Multitudina: another of the pets: rat, mother to multitudes

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I preferred it to the first one and looking forward to the rest of the series.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I preferred it to the first one and looking forward to the rest of the series.

[Anneliese · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of 6 books which are great.
They combine the idea of magic and technology (try shrinking you baby sister and then losing her on the internet) in a really interesting and strange way. They feature an Italian family living in their ancestral home in Scotland, the mother aspiring to be a witch (yet failing spectacularly in later books), the father trying to establish some normality in his life (despite having being kidnapped by his half-brother, a mafia don).

However the children (Titus, Pandora and their baby sister Damp) have their own problems, namely resisting all attempts at getting them a nanny, finding a tribe of missing rats (also lost on the internet) and coping with the mysterious disappearance of their father.

I found it hilarious.

[stephanie]

just when the Strega-Borgia think its safe to relax in their ancestral castle.... it isn't. first their roof collapses, forcing them into the Auchenlochtermunchty Arms- the local hotel that will accommodate three mystical beasts and a crocodile. then Titus accidentally creates five hundred tiny naked pink clones. but thats not all. There are also a few evil contractors plotting to destroy their home. Perhaps the miniature kilted warriors arising from the spilled magic potion can help....
i really liked the book it was a total page turner and just when you think there is going to be a slow part it gets so exciting i would recomend this book to people who like twists and turns and never would have put it together.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely my favourite out of the Strega-Borgia books. To cut a long story short, the roof of old the ancestral home begins to leak, forcing the Strega-Borgias to move out into a hotel in the nearby village of Auchenlochtermuchty (I think that's how you spell it) at great expense, while the roof gets repaired by a rather dodgy building company. Meanwhile, Titus and Pandora try to create their own clones.

Absolute mayhem ensues, and quite a few people get eaten.

My favourite scene in the book absolutely has to be when Ffup realises something very important...

[Miss Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful, comical follow-up to Pure Dead Magic Between 500 miniature pink clones, an evil real estate developer stealthily destroying their home, and sundry other inconveniences, the Strega-Borgias are muddling on with the help of Flora, right up until the surprise in store for Titus at the end when he receives a letter informing him that he has inherited his grandfather's fortune, setting him at odds with Pandora.

[The Flooze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wacky and wonderful adventure with the Strega-Borgias. Running afoul of some nasty, greedy contractors and developers, the family holes up in the local hotel.

But being away from home doesn't prevent children, parents and beasties from getting into all sorts of trouble.

Gliori's writing is whimsical and her characters are lovable and strange. Pure Dead Wicked is a quick read, but a thoroughly amusing one.

[Tegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great little book even though i am not the intended audience i could still appreciate that it was a great read. It had drama family mythical creatures everything a child could want in a story. I found myself loving the characters especially the kids as i could relate to the siblings bickering with one another and having younger siblings than myself. IT was well written for a children's book and had great detail i could picture everything i was reading in my mind.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a young adult audio and it was weird. Maybe it would've been better to read the book, but I couldn't wait until it was over. The content was similar to Harry Potter - magical etc. but I just couldn't get into it.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the vegetarian carnavore part (a stay-over from the first book) was pretty funny, but the book kind of lost me as far as interest goes. Some weird parts. Don't plan to read the next 4 books in the series.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of 2 Pure Dead books on tape that I got at a library sale. Pleasant to listen to in the car. If I didn't have so many other things to read and listen to, I would possibly check out the rest of the series.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are cute children's novels.

I love kid's books. I read a lot of them. Expect to see more of them here. :)