What do you think?
Rate this book
The Book of Secrets #1
The Book of Secrets
The door flew open, and Granny stared out at Cat with wild eyes.
‘So,’ she said, almost in a whisper, ‘they’re back.’
For the first time in over fifty years, the Trooping Fairies are in the small town of Clonbridge for their annual Revels. Their arrival awakens other creatures, who have mischief and chaos in mind.
Eleven-year-old Cat is in more danger than most. She has the Sight, like her Granny before her, and that makes her a magnet for all things supernatural. But when the wild magic hurts her family, she needs to find a friend she can really trust. Together they face real danger and must use all their wits and bravery to save those they love, before the sun rises …
‘So,’ she said, almost in a whisper, ‘they’re back.’
For the first time in over fifty years, the Trooping Fairies are in the small town of Clonbridge for their annual Revels. Their arrival awakens other creatures, who have mischief and chaos in mind.
Eleven-year-old Cat is in more danger than most. She has the Sight, like her Granny before her, and that makes her a magnet for all things supernatural. But when the wild magic hurts her family, she needs to find a friend she can really trust. Together they face real danger and must use all their wits and bravery to save those they love, before the sun rises …
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2022
5 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
About the author
Alex Dunne
2 books21 followersAlex Dunne is an Irish author living in Canada. She spends her time thinking up fantastical tales for children, teens, and adults and drinking far too much tea. Alex has a BA in English & History from the University of Limerick and an MA in Literature & Publishing from NUI Galway. She is a co-founder of Silver Apples Magazine, an online literary journal dedicated to showcasing the best of Irish and international writing. Her first children's novel is being published by The O'Brien Press in September 2022. You can follow Alex on Twitter and Instagram @alexdunnewrites.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Read
May 31, 2022I wrote this book so am obviously biased, but I'm proud of it. I think you'll enjoy it if you're a kid (or a big kid) who likes stories of friendship, adventure, Halloween, and the idea that our world may be a little more magical than we think.
September 11, 2022
I absolutely loved this fairy tale story set in Ireland in modern day times. The story sees Cat and Shane overcome obstacles to get back their siblings that the Fae has taken. It weaves in all the old stories and Irish mythical creatures I grew up hearing about. I especially loved the Labyrinth type vibes I was getting from the book and it would be a fab book for 10+ to read as in an intro to fantasy books. I highly recommend this book and beautifully written. I struggled to put it down.
May 30, 2022
The Book of Secrets is an absolute MUST read for anyone who is look for magic, adventure, friendship, escapism and mystery and intrigue. So literally every human being on the planet should read this book. LITERALLY EVERY ONE!
May 30, 2022
Full of adventure, folklore, and wonderful nostalgic memories of an Irish Halloween. This is a fantastic book that will no doubt enjoy time on our on the home, school, and library bookshelves for years to come. Such an enjoyable and heartwarming read!
September 18, 2022
This book inspired so much nostalgia for my Trick or Treating days! I could nearly smell the chimney smoke. Autumn and Halloween are still my favourite time of year. It's packed with Irish myth and folklore and lots of spookiness! Not only that, it's a beautiful story about family and friendship, about loss and the love we have for those we hold dear. A wonderfully heartfelt and magical story.
September 16, 2022
After staring at this amazing cover, illustrated by Shona Shirley MacDonald, for a good ten minutes, I finally launched into this book of adventure featuring Ireland’s most twisted mythical creatures.
I really enjoyed the premise of the book. Two kids, Cat and Shane, go on an adventure to save their siblings from the mischievous fairies. They meet some of Ireland’s most fearsome monsters where the book pays homage to the nation’s folklore.
I didn’t know much about Clurichauns before reading this book and I would’ve considered myself to be well up on Irish folklore. It’s great to pick up a book and learn something new.
Halloween would be the perfect time to read this book but can be enjoyed anytime of the year.
Definitely something to recommend to the young person in your life but I enjoyed this story as an adult. If Irish folklore is your thing then this book won’t disappoint.
I really enjoyed the premise of the book. Two kids, Cat and Shane, go on an adventure to save their siblings from the mischievous fairies. They meet some of Ireland’s most fearsome monsters where the book pays homage to the nation’s folklore.
I didn’t know much about Clurichauns before reading this book and I would’ve considered myself to be well up on Irish folklore. It’s great to pick up a book and learn something new.
Halloween would be the perfect time to read this book but can be enjoyed anytime of the year.
Definitely something to recommend to the young person in your life but I enjoyed this story as an adult. If Irish folklore is your thing then this book won’t disappoint.
May 30, 2022
Absolutely fantastic book full of magic and adventure!
Read
March 13, 2024A stellar adventure story for middlegrade readers! Eerie, haunting and action packed, this'd make the perfect book for anyone that believes Halloween is a state of mind.
July 1, 2022
Every so often you read a book as an adult and think, ‘I wish this was around when I was a kid.’ The Book of Secrets is one such book. Blending Irish folklore with a contemporary adventure story, The Book of Secrets takes the reader on a fantastic journey with main character Cat, through hidden realms of fairy magic on Halloween night. When her little brother is stolen by the Trooping Fairies it’s up to Cat to save him before it’s too late. Along with reluctant former friend Shane, the two children have to face off against some terrifying fairy guardians before they can rescue their loved ones. A magical tale that will sit comfortably on the shelf with fantasy classics like The Hounds of the Morrigan, The Hunters Moon and The Dark is Rising, The Book of Secrets is sparkling, enchanting and very difficult to put down.
October 31, 2022
This is a book with a nice idea.
That's all it is tho.
I feel like this is a first draft.
Where to begin?
First of all, the scene when the grandmother is in intensive care this is absolute fabrication.
She talks about several rooms in an ICU.
I'm from Dublin and have frequented ICUs in big hospitals and this doesn't happen.
There are no rooms.
It's open plan.
Granted maybe internationally it is different.
Also, what doctor tells a family who are waiting outside and mourning and wanting to see their mother...
Nah.. Go home she's grand. She needs rest.
Also the nurse who shoos our hero out has little to no awareness of the situation.
Your grandmother has almost died.
Shoo shoo. She needs rest.
What?
Also, the whole premise of the book and indeed the title is about 'the book of secrets'
A title that really means nothing.
Our hero has written this, has it hidden away in her hidden desk that has remained secret and this is
her only connection to her grandmother. (along with the sight)
In the next scene....
Hey mam our grandmother told me this secret and its crazy....
No. Just no. It makes no sense. Surely the hero would keep it all 'secret'.
Instead nahhhh..
A lack of consistency.
Throw the woman under the bus and write it that the hero appears to think her grandmother is crazy.
Second.
All of the creatures introduced do not feel organic.
Scene with the Dullahan.
I knew it was the Dullahan. Granny talked about him before. What?
Granny randomly just mentioned all these stories.
Scene with Merrow.
I didn't know it was a Merrow. It hasn't been spoken before but a character I've only met just mentioned it all in exposition.
There is a rule in writing show don't tell.
This book tells.
Also what hero and sidekick who have never witnessed a headless horseman would be able to stay still for minutes in silence and then just start yknow when confronted begin to start kicking his head?
There is little world building and alot of....
Hey this new thing showed up....
I remember granny once said....
Give me a break...
Thirdly.
All the characters feel the same.
Same dialogue.
Same structure.
And for a book bashing the Americanisation of Oíche Shamhna, why would the kids play tag half way through.
It's not called tag.
It's called chasing.
Perhaps if an editor went through this and pointed out all the exposition, the lack of world building and just how every character talks the same.
Maybe it would be better.
That's all it is tho.
I feel like this is a first draft.
Where to begin?
First of all, the scene when the grandmother is in intensive care this is absolute fabrication.
She talks about several rooms in an ICU.
I'm from Dublin and have frequented ICUs in big hospitals and this doesn't happen.
There are no rooms.
It's open plan.
Granted maybe internationally it is different.
Also, what doctor tells a family who are waiting outside and mourning and wanting to see their mother...
Nah.. Go home she's grand. She needs rest.
Also the nurse who shoos our hero out has little to no awareness of the situation.
Your grandmother has almost died.
Shoo shoo. She needs rest.
What?
Also, the whole premise of the book and indeed the title is about 'the book of secrets'
A title that really means nothing.
Our hero has written this, has it hidden away in her hidden desk that has remained secret and this is
her only connection to her grandmother. (along with the sight)
In the next scene....
Hey mam our grandmother told me this secret and its crazy....
No. Just no. It makes no sense. Surely the hero would keep it all 'secret'.
Instead nahhhh..
A lack of consistency.
Throw the woman under the bus and write it that the hero appears to think her grandmother is crazy.
Second.
All of the creatures introduced do not feel organic.
Scene with the Dullahan.
I knew it was the Dullahan. Granny talked about him before. What?
Granny randomly just mentioned all these stories.
Scene with Merrow.
I didn't know it was a Merrow. It hasn't been spoken before but a character I've only met just mentioned it all in exposition.
There is a rule in writing show don't tell.
This book tells.
Also what hero and sidekick who have never witnessed a headless horseman would be able to stay still for minutes in silence and then just start yknow when confronted begin to start kicking his head?
There is little world building and alot of....
Hey this new thing showed up....
I remember granny once said....
Give me a break...
Thirdly.
All the characters feel the same.
Same dialogue.
Same structure.
And for a book bashing the Americanisation of Oíche Shamhna, why would the kids play tag half way through.
It's not called tag.
It's called chasing.
Perhaps if an editor went through this and pointed out all the exposition, the lack of world building and just how every character talks the same.
Maybe it would be better.
September 12, 2022
I received a review copy of the book as part of the blog tour in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
THE BOOK OF SECRETS is the natural successor to THE THIRTEEN TREASURES, a contemporary fairy story full of tricksy fairies out to make mischief by stealing children and punishing those they've held long grudges against.
These are dark fairies, not the sort who are going to help, and it makes for a deliciously spooky book to read as the days grow shorter and the nights crowd in. It is a modern fairy tale in all respects, harkening back to older tales but with nods and elements (like phones and the children's speech and midsets) that ground it firmly in today.
This is a story about reclaiming your loved ones, packed full of fairies from Irish folklore out to wreak havoc on mortals. They make for a series of challenges Cat, and her ex-friend Shane, have to pass in order to get to the "boss level" challenge of bargaining with the fairy king and queen themselves.
All of it is set on a dark, windy Halloween night, in an eerie forest, that is the perfect setting for these meddlesome fairies to loom large and dangerous. There is something about being hunted by creatures through trees that is more nerve-wracking than being hunted through open grassland!
While most of the book is told from Cat's perspective, there are some chapters here and there from the Pooka's, a fairy who loves nothing more than mischief and is pulling strings behind the scenes. His chapters give you a glimpse of what is to come and some of the challenges facing the children.
THE BOOK OF SECRETS is the natural successor to THE THIRTEEN TREASURES, a contemporary fairy story full of tricksy fairies out to make mischief by stealing children and punishing those they've held long grudges against.
These are dark fairies, not the sort who are going to help, and it makes for a deliciously spooky book to read as the days grow shorter and the nights crowd in. It is a modern fairy tale in all respects, harkening back to older tales but with nods and elements (like phones and the children's speech and midsets) that ground it firmly in today.
This is a story about reclaiming your loved ones, packed full of fairies from Irish folklore out to wreak havoc on mortals. They make for a series of challenges Cat, and her ex-friend Shane, have to pass in order to get to the "boss level" challenge of bargaining with the fairy king and queen themselves.
All of it is set on a dark, windy Halloween night, in an eerie forest, that is the perfect setting for these meddlesome fairies to loom large and dangerous. There is something about being hunted by creatures through trees that is more nerve-wracking than being hunted through open grassland!
While most of the book is told from Cat's perspective, there are some chapters here and there from the Pooka's, a fairy who loves nothing more than mischief and is pulling strings behind the scenes. His chapters give you a glimpse of what is to come and some of the challenges facing the children.
April 6, 2023
I received this book from O'Brien Press in exchange for an honest review.
Cat and her friends are looking forward to an exciting Halloween night - trick-or-treating, and then eating their sweets while watching horror movies. But things take a turn when faeries return to Clonbridge and no-one knows about it except Cat and her gran - and even worse, the little folk end up taking her little brother and exchanging him for a changeling. Now Cat teams up with her former friend Shane to save their siblings before the night is over.
This was a very fun middle grade novel - I think it was really well-paced and had some nice moments in it that you could predict thank to a poem giving to Cat at the start of the book. I liked Cat and loved her relationship with her grandmother, and her relationship with her little brother that while fraught at first, proved to be deep and loyal. Cat had a great friend group at the start of the book and it was also nice to see her make way in her life for Shane again, and understand some of the reasons behind the way he had acted in the past.
I loved the way faeries are portrayed in this book - give me evil faeries over good ones any day of the week.
Would definitely recommend this one to middle-grade readers, especially around Halloween which is the time the book is set.
Cat and her friends are looking forward to an exciting Halloween night - trick-or-treating, and then eating their sweets while watching horror movies. But things take a turn when faeries return to Clonbridge and no-one knows about it except Cat and her gran - and even worse, the little folk end up taking her little brother and exchanging him for a changeling. Now Cat teams up with her former friend Shane to save their siblings before the night is over.
This was a very fun middle grade novel - I think it was really well-paced and had some nice moments in it that you could predict thank to a poem giving to Cat at the start of the book. I liked Cat and loved her relationship with her grandmother, and her relationship with her little brother that while fraught at first, proved to be deep and loyal. Cat had a great friend group at the start of the book and it was also nice to see her make way in her life for Shane again, and understand some of the reasons behind the way he had acted in the past.
I loved the way faeries are portrayed in this book - give me evil faeries over good ones any day of the week.
Would definitely recommend this one to middle-grade readers, especially around Halloween which is the time the book is set.
Read
February 21, 2024Abandoned
July 1, 2024
Absolutely loved this. A perfect middle-grade adventure with well-researched Irish myths and characters that you’ll care about.
July 18, 2024
I didn't realise when I saw this book in the library that it was for kids 😅.
Still I enjoyed reading a book with so much Irish mythology.
Totally recommend for kids
Still I enjoyed reading a book with so much Irish mythology.
Totally recommend for kids
March 14, 2025
Was good would recommend for children age 10-13
May 30, 2023
Cover by Shona Shirley Macdonald.
Fairies may sometimes be pretty but are never to be trusted and are downright dangerous. Cat Donnelly learned that from her grandmother and her many tales while growing up in Clonbridge. She knows that there are things beyond the normal, everyday.
But Cat longs to just be with her friends, especially as Halloween approaches. After a couple of scary encounters and a sudden illness within the family, Cat realises that her grandmother's tales are more than truth, they are survival tricks. Teaming up with her neighbour Shane, Cat must draw on her knowledge and courage to find and rescue those emeshed in the Fairies' schemes.
However, other creatures of legend are awake and plotting. Cat and Shane have little time and few friends but if they want to stay free and survive to rescue those they hold dear, they have little choice but to confront the fairies.
Cleverly weaving Irish myths and fairy tales with mystery and a creeping sense of threat, this is a wonderful adventure story. Cat, especially is a strong character with a solid backstop that only enhances the story itself. Highly recommend for young readers .
Fairies may sometimes be pretty but are never to be trusted and are downright dangerous. Cat Donnelly learned that from her grandmother and her many tales while growing up in Clonbridge. She knows that there are things beyond the normal, everyday.
But Cat longs to just be with her friends, especially as Halloween approaches. After a couple of scary encounters and a sudden illness within the family, Cat realises that her grandmother's tales are more than truth, they are survival tricks. Teaming up with her neighbour Shane, Cat must draw on her knowledge and courage to find and rescue those emeshed in the Fairies' schemes.
However, other creatures of legend are awake and plotting. Cat and Shane have little time and few friends but if they want to stay free and survive to rescue those they hold dear, they have little choice but to confront the fairies.
Cleverly weaving Irish myths and fairy tales with mystery and a creeping sense of threat, this is a wonderful adventure story. Cat, especially is a strong character with a solid backstop that only enhances the story itself. Highly recommend for young readers .
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2022
The Book of Secrets by Alex Dunne
Cat’s granny has always told her about the fairies and other creatures lurking in the shadows in Ireland, much to Cat’s mother’s chagrin. Cat compiles these stories into her Book of Secrets. When the Trooping Fairies return to Clonbridge on Halloween and take Cat’s baby brother, she must use this book to rescue him. Can Cat make her way to the fairy festival before time runs out?
This is such a fun book, for kids and adults. I loved all the Irish mythology and magic woven throughout the book, such as the fairies, the Dullahan and the Pooka. Some of them were new to me & there’s a glossary at the back of the book too which was great
Cat is a great protagonist, smart and plucky. And between all the action, the book explores themes of grief, single parent families and changes in friendship. Her friend Shane had stopped talking to her but he joins her on the quest as his sister was also taken by the fairies
This book reminds me of something I would have read as a child and it made me so happy to read! It’s like Labyrinth, Hocus Pocus and Artemis Fowl were blended together. A perfect read for Halloween!
Cat’s granny has always told her about the fairies and other creatures lurking in the shadows in Ireland, much to Cat’s mother’s chagrin. Cat compiles these stories into her Book of Secrets. When the Trooping Fairies return to Clonbridge on Halloween and take Cat’s baby brother, she must use this book to rescue him. Can Cat make her way to the fairy festival before time runs out?
This is such a fun book, for kids and adults. I loved all the Irish mythology and magic woven throughout the book, such as the fairies, the Dullahan and the Pooka. Some of them were new to me & there’s a glossary at the back of the book too which was great
Cat is a great protagonist, smart and plucky. And between all the action, the book explores themes of grief, single parent families and changes in friendship. Her friend Shane had stopped talking to her but he joins her on the quest as his sister was also taken by the fairies
This book reminds me of something I would have read as a child and it made me so happy to read! It’s like Labyrinth, Hocus Pocus and Artemis Fowl were blended together. A perfect read for Halloween!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews