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St. Clare's #8
The Sixth Form at St. Clare's
Sixth Form at St. Clares 9
160 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2000
53 people are currently reading
1026 people want to read
About the author
Pamela Cox
37 books64 followersAfter Enid Blyton's death, author Pamela Cox was asked to continue two of the author's series, St. Clare's and Malory Towers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
July 27, 2021
Although I have unfortunately found there to be a number of what I would call both time/place and vernacular based anachronisms in Pamela Cox’s third continuance of Enid Blyton’s St. Clare’s series, in her The Sixth Form at St. Clare’s (with for example the girls often drinking coffee instead of tea and using modern era slang words such as cuppa and bushed) and while the entire Priscilla Parsons scenario is really much much too one-sided and Priscilla just too annoyingly and stereotypically horridly vicious (although with this, Pamela Cox is actually following rather closely in Enid Blyton’s own footsteps, as in the original St. Clare’s novels there actually also do exist quite a number of totally vile and unredeemable school girls, villains so disgustingly terrible that they are indeed more like eponymous monsters), from the three Pamela Cox St. Clare’s continuations, The Sixth Form at St. Clare’s has definitely been the most personally enjoyable and also the most realistic, as for the most part, Pamela Cox has successfully captured the personalities of the recurring St. Clare’s characters, has depicted the O’Sullivan twins (who are now joint head girls), as well as Hilary, Janet, Carlotta, Claudine, Doris (and yes, even Angela and Alison) as they have been shown under and from Enid Blyton’s pen.
And albeit that the scenario with the first form having another set of identical twins does feel just a trifle too forced and tacked on (and really for no good reason in my opinion either, as the first form twins and their exploits and antics really do nothing much to actually move along the plot line of The Sixth Form at St. Clare’s), for the most part I have rather enjoyed Pamela Cox’s narrative as a generally pretty decent and successful conclusion to the St. Clare’s series (with Pat, Isabel and their classmates in the sixth form and with Hilary then leaving after the first term to meet up with her parents in India). And yes indeed, I am also and equally so so so glad that unlike in Germany (where there have been at least 30 odd anonymous, read ghost written and often also really quite strange and flabbergasting St. Clare’s perpetuations), in the United Kingdom, in the English speaking world, there have thankfully only been three (authored by Pamela Cox) continuances, and also realistically ending when the St. Clare’s girls are in their last terms of school, are in the sixth and as such the final form.
And albeit that the scenario with the first form having another set of identical twins does feel just a trifle too forced and tacked on (and really for no good reason in my opinion either, as the first form twins and their exploits and antics really do nothing much to actually move along the plot line of The Sixth Form at St. Clare’s), for the most part I have rather enjoyed Pamela Cox’s narrative as a generally pretty decent and successful conclusion to the St. Clare’s series (with Pat, Isabel and their classmates in the sixth form and with Hilary then leaving after the first term to meet up with her parents in India). And yes indeed, I am also and equally so so so glad that unlike in Germany (where there have been at least 30 odd anonymous, read ghost written and often also really quite strange and flabbergasting St. Clare’s perpetuations), in the United Kingdom, in the English speaking world, there have thankfully only been three (authored by Pamela Cox) continuances, and also realistically ending when the St. Clare’s girls are in their last terms of school, are in the sixth and as such the final form.
December 17, 2020
The final book was written again by Pamela Cox, completing the St Clare's series. Now technically, I have no objection to completing this series which always felt a little incomplete. There were also interesting things I would have liked to know - how exactly would Pat and Isabel handle authority as head girls? In this book, Cox introduces a couple of interesting ideas, which could have led to a very good ending to the series.
But as with the other two books in the series, Cox messes it all up. The main problem I have with The Sixth Form at St. Clare's is the anachronisms. The girls use terms such as agony aunts, go to coffee shops (they went to tea shops in the original books). They got grounded too. That word is simply non-existent in Blyton canon, despite so many girls having been forbidden to go out of the school. These girls also use slang words such as 'mug'. I simply can't imagine St Clare's girls speaking like that! And it goes on and on. I simply couldn't capture the feel of the original books.
Cox made shit up as well. Things that didn't exist in the original books suddenly happened. There were order marks for sixth formers if they didn't keep their studies neat. Never happened! If you are going to introduce new things, make sure they are consistent with the existing books.
There are three new girls: Phyllis, Priscilla and Morag. Priscilla's story has already been done in previous books, so it really didn't add anything. Cox certainly seems fond of the spiteful older girls targetting younger girls theme. Fizz speaks cockney half the time and everyone seems to accept it instead of trying to correct her. It's like some alien St Clare's where people have forgotten that the class system was a thing in the 40s. Probably because Cox couldn't be bothered to do basic research. Morag has a more interesting story, but really, it's been done before and done better. There are also a couple of identical twins in the second form, which is yet more of the same. There isn't much originality with these stories.
The one plot that had potential was that Miss Theobald asks the sixth formers to hold weekly meetings to help the younger kids with any problems. This is a good idea but for some reason, Pat and Isabel simply couldn't shine through as head girls in the same way as Hilary did. Hilary still gave the good advice and the twins merely followed along. I never saw them as leaders. I think Cox most wanted to make Carlotta a more central character. She is the only one who ever gets good plots and Cox actually seems interested in her plots enough to write them interestingly. In this book too, she was given leadership opportunities. It just made the twins even more useless than ever. The one time they give advice, it's really horrible. It was also another rehash of a previous plot.
This book might have just as well not been written for the minimum effort Cox put into it.
But as with the other two books in the series, Cox messes it all up. The main problem I have with The Sixth Form at St. Clare's is the anachronisms. The girls use terms such as agony aunts, go to coffee shops (they went to tea shops in the original books). They got grounded too. That word is simply non-existent in Blyton canon, despite so many girls having been forbidden to go out of the school. These girls also use slang words such as 'mug'. I simply can't imagine St Clare's girls speaking like that! And it goes on and on. I simply couldn't capture the feel of the original books.
Cox made shit up as well. Things that didn't exist in the original books suddenly happened. There were order marks for sixth formers if they didn't keep their studies neat. Never happened! If you are going to introduce new things, make sure they are consistent with the existing books.
There are three new girls: Phyllis, Priscilla and Morag. Priscilla's story has already been done in previous books, so it really didn't add anything. Cox certainly seems fond of the spiteful older girls targetting younger girls theme. Fizz speaks cockney half the time and everyone seems to accept it instead of trying to correct her. It's like some alien St Clare's where people have forgotten that the class system was a thing in the 40s. Probably because Cox couldn't be bothered to do basic research. Morag has a more interesting story, but really, it's been done before and done better. There are also a couple of identical twins in the second form, which is yet more of the same. There isn't much originality with these stories.
The one plot that had potential was that Miss Theobald asks the sixth formers to hold weekly meetings to help the younger kids with any problems. This is a good idea but for some reason, Pat and Isabel simply couldn't shine through as head girls in the same way as Hilary did. Hilary still gave the good advice and the twins merely followed along. I never saw them as leaders. I think Cox most wanted to make Carlotta a more central character. She is the only one who ever gets good plots and Cox actually seems interested in her plots enough to write them interestingly. In this book too, she was given leadership opportunities. It just made the twins even more useless than ever. The one time they give advice, it's really horrible. It was also another rehash of a previous plot.
This book might have just as well not been written for the minimum effort Cox put into it.
Read
June 11, 2021I loved this series, it’s one of my childhood favourites. This was one of the first books I read set in a boarding school, and this series holds a special place in my heart. Would highly recommend it, it’s a fun read. ❤️
March 29, 2020
Underwhelming; Cox might shine -or at least not stand out- as the writer, or filler in, of some of Enid Blyton's books, but over here the results were somewhat underwhelming.
The plot, with the two younger twins being introduced feels like a rehash of what's already been done; quite literally so. It's a bad version of the first book of the series -- repeated in the same (short) series! Enid Blyton would not have stooped so low as to reuse her own ideas so blatantly in the same collection. Sticks out for being bad.
The plot, with the two younger twins being introduced feels like a rehash of what's already been done; quite literally so. It's a bad version of the first book of the series -- repeated in the same (short) series! Enid Blyton would not have stooped so low as to reuse her own ideas so blatantly in the same collection. Sticks out for being bad.
October 20, 2009
This book was lovely. Even though I was practically asleep when I read this book, I noticed how Pat and Isabel have changed so much from their first days at St. Clares. A marvelous ending to a pretty good series.
Read
February 10, 2015من آخرین بار کی خونده بودم اینو که انقدر یادم بوده؟ :))
و بالاخره باید بگم که بعد از هفت سال٫ دیگه پیر شدم واسه این کتابا! :-"
ولی خب.. دلیل نمیشه که ایشون دوست داشتنی نباشه.
بهترین قسمتش؟
اینکه هیلاری بگه خداحافظ سنت کلر. :}
+ اسم کارلوتا رو می دیدم٫ قیافه ستاره می اومد جلو چشام. :))))
و بالاخره باید بگم که بعد از هفت سال٫ دیگه پیر شدم واسه این کتابا! :-"
ولی خب.. دلیل نمیشه که ایشون دوست داشتنی نباشه.
بهترین قسمتش؟
اینکه هیلاری بگه خداحافظ سنت کلر. :}
+ اسم کارلوتا رو می دیدم٫ قیافه ستاره می اومد جلو چشام. :))))
February 22, 2009
An ok book but is recomender to people at around 8-10 years.
September 16, 2014
Thanks to my local charity shop, I recently picked up a batch of the Pamela Cox fill-in titles for both St Clare's and Malory Towers and was a bit fascinated to see what I thought of them. I'd registered that they existed but had never, quite, wanted to read them. It's hard to quantify why I didn't but I think it had something to do with the whole fact that, well, Enid Blyton is so resolutely Enid Blyton that thought of somebody else trying to be Enid Blyton blew my mind a little bit.
And these books do feel like they are undercover Enid Blyton titles. There's something interesting in how Cox's name doesn't appear on the front and instead we see that familiar signature of Blyton's on the cover. It feels a little like these are packaged as Blyton books rather than, say, a book written in the St Clare's series but by another author. And that's interesting to me. Do we buy these books as St Clare's books, or Blyton, or Cox? What sort of pre-reading do we come to these books with; these books that both fit and don't fit into the Blyton school story canon?
The Sixth Form at St Clare's is one of the books that I felt a greater affinity with and that was primarily because I was already acquainted with the characters. I already loved them, really. My reading of the Malory Towers fill-ins (they're the story of Felicity Rivers and her journey through the school) have been substantially different in that I have had to let go of the fact that I want them to be about Darrell and Sally and Alicia. I want that story. And there's a necessary reading process of grieving for that.
So here we are with Pat and Isobel, the don't care O'Sullivan twins, and it's all rather lovely. There were a few plot twists which felt far too modern and a little off-canon (I found the 'coming to the sixth form with your problems' plot, very problematic), and certain of the new girls didn't quite gel with the context of the series as a whole.
But I did enjoy it. I enjoyed it because I've always wanted this story. I've always wanted to know what happened - and Cox is very good at delivering that. She knows her series and she knows the motifs of it so well, Mam'zelle Dupot and Mam'zelle Rougier, Miss Potts, midnight feasts, Miss Theobald being awesome (Carlotta being awesome...). It's a lovely book. And I think the key for my enjoyment of it was to acknowledge what it wasn't, and understanding why it wasn't that, and then appreciating what it was.
And these books do feel like they are undercover Enid Blyton titles. There's something interesting in how Cox's name doesn't appear on the front and instead we see that familiar signature of Blyton's on the cover. It feels a little like these are packaged as Blyton books rather than, say, a book written in the St Clare's series but by another author. And that's interesting to me. Do we buy these books as St Clare's books, or Blyton, or Cox? What sort of pre-reading do we come to these books with; these books that both fit and don't fit into the Blyton school story canon?
The Sixth Form at St Clare's is one of the books that I felt a greater affinity with and that was primarily because I was already acquainted with the characters. I already loved them, really. My reading of the Malory Towers fill-ins (they're the story of Felicity Rivers and her journey through the school) have been substantially different in that I have had to let go of the fact that I want them to be about Darrell and Sally and Alicia. I want that story. And there's a necessary reading process of grieving for that.
So here we are with Pat and Isobel, the don't care O'Sullivan twins, and it's all rather lovely. There were a few plot twists which felt far too modern and a little off-canon (I found the 'coming to the sixth form with your problems' plot, very problematic), and certain of the new girls didn't quite gel with the context of the series as a whole.
But I did enjoy it. I enjoyed it because I've always wanted this story. I've always wanted to know what happened - and Cox is very good at delivering that. She knows her series and she knows the motifs of it so well, Mam'zelle Dupot and Mam'zelle Rougier, Miss Potts, midnight feasts, Miss Theobald being awesome (Carlotta being awesome...). It's a lovely book. And I think the key for my enjoyment of it was to acknowledge what it wasn't, and understanding why it wasn't that, and then appreciating what it was.
March 21, 2017
Unfortunately, Pamela Cox is still trying to find her footing in writing this. Sometimes it almost reaches the style, but it ends up failing a lot, which is really a pity.
Maybe she should be allowed to write a series set several yeast AFTER the original series.
Maybe she should be allowed to write a series set several yeast AFTER the original series.
February 2, 2015
St. Clare's series were my favourite books as child. What was my excitment to find out there are another books written by Pamela Cox. The style of writting is very similar to that of Enid Blyton and I really enjoyed this book as it was almost as a trip back to my childhood.
April 22, 2010
very nice
pat and isabel r good head girls
pat and isabel r good head girls
Read
August 16, 2018انید ماری بلایتون (زادهٔ ۱۱ اوت ۱۸۹۷ در دولویچ شرقی، لندن – درگذشتهٔ ۲۸ نوامبر ۱۹۶۸ در همپستید، لندن) از نویسندگان محبوب ادبیات کودک و نوجوان اهل انگلستان است که شماری از داستانهایش را با نام مری پولاک نوشتهاست.
زندگی
انید بلایتون در ۱۱ اوت ۱۸۷۹ به دنیا آمد.
انید پس از پایان تحصیلاتش معلم شد اما در اوقات فراغتش داستان مینوشت و شعر میسرود.
او از سال ۱۹۵۹ به سبب بیماری فعالیتهای ادبیاش را کم کرد و پس از آن نیز کمکم نوشتن مجموعه داستانهایش را کنار گذاشت. این نویسندهٔ پرکار در سالهای پایانی زندگی، حافظهاش را از دست داد.
در نهایت، انید بلایتون در سال ۱۹۶۸ از دنیا رفت. او در زمان مرگش یکی از سه نویسندهای بود که آثارشان به بیشترین زبانها ترجمه شده بود و کار ترجمه و انتشار این آثار پس از مرگش هم ادامه یافتهاست.
فعالیت ادبی
نخستین اثر او مجموعه شعری بود که در سال ۱۹۲۲ منتشر شد و بعد از انتشار این کتاب بود که او کار نوشتن را جدی گرفت.
کارهای بعدی بلایتون بازنویسی قصههای فلکلور و بعدها داستاننویسی بود و پس از گذشت سالها به یکی از پرکارترین داستاننویسان انگلیس بدل شد؛ به طوری که گفته میشود در سالهای ابتدایی دههٔ ۱۹۵۰، هر ساله به طور متوسط ۵۰ عنوان از کتابهایش منتشر میشد. داستانهای بلایتون به حدود ۹۰ زبان ترجمه شده و کودکان و نوجوانان جهان بیش از ۶۰۰ میلیون نسخه از آثارش را خواندهاند.
یکی از ویژگیهای آثار انید بلایتون این است که قهرمانان کودک و نوجوان داستانهایش با کمترین کمک از سوی بزرگسالان به ماجراجویی میپردازند و افرادی شایسته و متکی به خود به شمار میروند. تخیل یکی دیگر از ویژگیهای داستانهای بلایتون است.
آثار
برخی از موفقترین آثار بلایتون عبارتند از:
پنج دنبالگرد (به انگلیسی: The Five Find-Outers) همچنین مشهور است به مجموعهٔ اسرار انید بلایتون (به انگلیسی: Enid Blyton's Mystery series)
مجموعهٔ پنج مشهور (به انگلیسی: The Famous Five series)
مجموعهٔ ماجرا (به انگلیسی: The Adventure series)
کتابهای نادی (به انگلیسی: The Noddy books)
مجموعهٔ هفت رازدار (به انگلیسی: The Secret Seven series)
مجموعهٔ برجهای مالوری (به انگلیسی: The Malory Towers series)
مجموعهٔ سنتکلر (به انگلیسی: The St. Clare's series)
مجموعهٔ صندلی آرزوها (به انگلیسی: The Wishing-Chair series)
مجموعهٔ درخت جادوی خیلیدور (به انگلیسی: The Magic Faraway Tree series)
مجموعهٔ اسرار بارنی (به انگلیسی: The Barney Mystery series)
مجموعهٔ سیرک (به انگلیسی: The Circus series)
مجموعهٔ مزرعهٔ میستلتو (به انگلیسی: The Mistletoe Farm series)
مجموعهٔ شیطونترین دختر (به انگلیسی: The Naughtiest Girl series)
مجموعهٔ ماجراجویان جوان (به انگلیسی: The Young Adventurers Series)
مجموعهٔ چهار ماجراجو (به انگلیسی: The Adventurous Four Series)
مجموعهٔ خانواده (به انگلیسی: The Family Series)
مجموعهٔ ماجرای خانواده (به انگلیسی: The Family Adventure Series)
مجموعهٔ راز (به انگلیسی: The Secret Series)
کتاب داستان قرمز (به انگلیسی: The Red Story Book)
کتاب داستان سبز (به انگلیسی: The Green Story Book)
کتاب داستان آبی (به انگلیسی: The Blue Story Book)
داستانهای وقتخواب (به انگلیسی: Bedtime Stories)
زندگی
انید بلایتون در ۱۱ اوت ۱۸۷۹ به دنیا آمد.
انید پس از پایان تحصیلاتش معلم شد اما در اوقات فراغتش داستان مینوشت و شعر میسرود.
او از سال ۱۹۵۹ به سبب بیماری فعالیتهای ادبیاش را کم کرد و پس از آن نیز کمکم نوشتن مجموعه داستانهایش را کنار گذاشت. این نویسندهٔ پرکار در سالهای پایانی زندگی، حافظهاش را از دست داد.
در نهایت، انید بلایتون در سال ۱۹۶۸ از دنیا رفت. او در زمان مرگش یکی از سه نویسندهای بود که آثارشان به بیشترین زبانها ترجمه شده بود و کار ترجمه و انتشار این آثار پس از مرگش هم ادامه یافتهاست.
فعالیت ادبی
نخستین اثر او مجموعه شعری بود که در سال ۱۹۲۲ منتشر شد و بعد از انتشار این کتاب بود که او کار نوشتن را جدی گرفت.
کارهای بعدی بلایتون بازنویسی قصههای فلکلور و بعدها داستاننویسی بود و پس از گذشت سالها به یکی از پرکارترین داستاننویسان انگلیس بدل شد؛ به طوری که گفته میشود در سالهای ابتدایی دههٔ ۱۹۵۰، هر ساله به طور متوسط ۵۰ عنوان از کتابهایش منتشر میشد. داستانهای بلایتون به حدود ۹۰ زبان ترجمه شده و کودکان و نوجوانان جهان بیش از ۶۰۰ میلیون نسخه از آثارش را خواندهاند.
یکی از ویژگیهای آثار انید بلایتون این است که قهرمانان کودک و نوجوان داستانهایش با کمترین کمک از سوی بزرگسالان به ماجراجویی میپردازند و افرادی شایسته و متکی به خود به شمار میروند. تخیل یکی دیگر از ویژگیهای داستانهای بلایتون است.
آثار
برخی از موفقترین آثار بلایتون عبارتند از:
پنج دنبالگرد (به انگلیسی: The Five Find-Outers) همچنین مشهور است به مجموعهٔ اسرار انید بلایتون (به انگلیسی: Enid Blyton's Mystery series)
مجموعهٔ پنج مشهور (به انگلیسی: The Famous Five series)
مجموعهٔ ماجرا (به انگلیسی: The Adventure series)
کتابهای نادی (به انگلیسی: The Noddy books)
مجموعهٔ هفت رازدار (به انگلیسی: The Secret Seven series)
مجموعهٔ برجهای مالوری (به انگلیسی: The Malory Towers series)
مجموعهٔ سنتکلر (به انگلیسی: The St. Clare's series)
مجموعهٔ صندلی آرزوها (به انگلیسی: The Wishing-Chair series)
مجموعهٔ درخت جادوی خیلیدور (به انگلیسی: The Magic Faraway Tree series)
مجموعهٔ اسرار بارنی (به انگلیسی: The Barney Mystery series)
مجموعهٔ سیرک (به انگلیسی: The Circus series)
مجموعهٔ مزرعهٔ میستلتو (به انگلیسی: The Mistletoe Farm series)
مجموعهٔ شیطونترین دختر (به انگلیسی: The Naughtiest Girl series)
مجموعهٔ ماجراجویان جوان (به انگلیسی: The Young Adventurers Series)
مجموعهٔ چهار ماجراجو (به انگلیسی: The Adventurous Four Series)
مجموعهٔ خانواده (به انگلیسی: The Family Series)
مجموعهٔ ماجرای خانواده (به انگلیسی: The Family Adventure Series)
مجموعهٔ راز (به انگلیسی: The Secret Series)
کتاب داستان قرمز (به انگلیسی: The Red Story Book)
کتاب داستان سبز (به انگلیسی: The Green Story Book)
کتاب داستان آبی (به انگلیسی: The Blue Story Book)
داستانهای وقتخواب (به انگلیسی: Bedtime Stories)
December 22, 2022
This book felt short in comparison to the others. Not only is it way shorter than the others, but i feel like the plots it had could have been exploited way more. You have a new set of twins playing mischief, but they only seem to appear at the beginning and the end. Antoinette has vanished in this booked and it would have been a good addition! I feel we don't really get to know much about what the girls of the sixth form are up no: no mention of what they do in their studies, of what they want to do in the future, of games and walks and parties.... and its sad considering it's the last book!
I liked the agony aunt kind of deal, but i feel it could have been exploited more.
And Morag and Fizz? Yes, they have their little arcs, but they didn't bring much to the story, when they could have. Did Morag make up with her dad? And i was expecting Fizz's secret to ve revealed in a more surprising way!
Lastly, the ending felt too rushed. All of a sudden the term is over? and they rush and do a party for Hillary, who is leaving. While that's a lovely idea- why not make a midnight feast as well? i feel it would have been the perfect way to say goodbye, one more little adventure, even if they are on the last form. After all, there were no pranks in this book either! Nothing to make school life more lively.
And the fact is, that its not the twins ' last term at St. Clare's. I really wish we could see them saying goodbye!
I feel Pamela Cox did a better job in the Malory Towers series. Her ending for that was awesome and very satisfying!!! And this falls short in comparison.
I liked the agony aunt kind of deal, but i feel it could have been exploited more.
And Morag and Fizz? Yes, they have their little arcs, but they didn't bring much to the story, when they could have. Did Morag make up with her dad? And i was expecting Fizz's secret to ve revealed in a more surprising way!
Lastly, the ending felt too rushed. All of a sudden the term is over? and they rush and do a party for Hillary, who is leaving. While that's a lovely idea- why not make a midnight feast as well? i feel it would have been the perfect way to say goodbye, one more little adventure, even if they are on the last form. After all, there were no pranks in this book either! Nothing to make school life more lively.
And the fact is, that its not the twins ' last term at St. Clare's. I really wish we could see them saying goodbye!
I feel Pamela Cox did a better job in the Malory Towers series. Her ending for that was awesome and very satisfying!!! And this falls short in comparison.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2025
What a book! I can't believe I've come to the end of the series already. This book brings such a thrill to the series and I'm glad I was part of it. I still feel I've missed a ton out of the whole series though given where each book starts. Never mind. Looking forward to my next adventure though
November 8, 2024
Gostei muto deste livro e quero continuar a colesão😃🤩
July 19, 2021
INCRÍVEL!
February 20, 2017
I loved it! I enjoyed all the midnight feasts that had and the tricks they played in the earlier books.
July 21, 2019
And this is it- the end of my rereads to this series. It's been a while, and I still enjoyed them all, though as I've said many times, I'll always love the Malory Towers books more.
The transformation of Pat and Isabel from the first book to the last is definitely obvious and warranted. Pamela Cox has done well with these characters, filling in little things in some of the others as well. Particularly with the books in this series that Enid Blyton wrote, I felt she stayed true to the heart of the characters and what the school stood for, whilst introducing new ones who were interesting as well. For instance, there's a mention of a girl from the book where the girls were in the second form and I loved that attention to detail.
Of course, I've often felt that the books Pamela Cox added to the series felt more grown up and just different in some ways. With this one, it seemed fine because it's the last book and the sixth formers are almost grown up, but earlier ones in the series also had this, which didn't always ring true to the age they were supposed to be. I'm not sure which series she added to/finished first, but I don't get those tones from the addition to the Malory Towers series.
However, all that being said, I did really enjoy this book, felt a lot of nostalgia and a bit of sadness that it was all over again, as I always do- just like when I did on reading them for the first time growing up! :) I'll definitely be rereading them more often in the future.
The transformation of Pat and Isabel from the first book to the last is definitely obvious and warranted. Pamela Cox has done well with these characters, filling in little things in some of the others as well. Particularly with the books in this series that Enid Blyton wrote, I felt she stayed true to the heart of the characters and what the school stood for, whilst introducing new ones who were interesting as well. For instance, there's a mention of a girl from the book where the girls were in the second form and I loved that attention to detail.
Of course, I've often felt that the books Pamela Cox added to the series felt more grown up and just different in some ways. With this one, it seemed fine because it's the last book and the sixth formers are almost grown up, but earlier ones in the series also had this, which didn't always ring true to the age they were supposed to be. I'm not sure which series she added to/finished first, but I don't get those tones from the addition to the Malory Towers series.
However, all that being said, I did really enjoy this book, felt a lot of nostalgia and a bit of sadness that it was all over again, as I always do- just like when I did on reading them for the first time growing up! :) I'll definitely be rereading them more often in the future.
November 14, 2014
I must give Pamela Cox the credit for really putting her best foot forward. But she is not Enid Blyton. Period. She has really managed to go into all the previous books and tried to make the book semalessly integrate with Enid Blyton's book. But it just does not have the feel. I don't know if fan fiction will be succesful as a concept. I often feel intense desire to write them. But I have always been disappointed with other authors trying to don my the mantle of my favorite authors and trying to carry on their legacy.
May 2, 2009
Not bad for completion's sake, so I am glad I read it, but obviously not as good as the original Blytons. Pamela Cox did a FAR better job with her Malory Towers fill-ins, I reckon. 'Fizz', really??
May 5, 2011
For my full review please visit my blog: http://shadowsireview.blogspot.com/
2.5 stars
2.5 stars
January 4, 2013
You can tell it's not Blyton, and it feels a lot more recent than the rest of the series as a result. A fun read though, and I'm always a sucker for stories with my namesakes as main characters!
March 8, 2014
I think the book was really good..:D
April 11, 2016
Its Nice.
It just Reminds me alot of the naughtiest girl in school.
It just talks about normal school problems and how The Head Twins Pat And Isabel Solves the Problems .
It just Reminds me alot of the naughtiest girl in school.
It just talks about normal school problems and how The Head Twins Pat And Isabel Solves the Problems .
November 7, 2016
Sixth form with the twins as Head Girls is great. And a brief (brief!) return of Will! I ship him and Carlotta and hate myself for it.
December 7, 2016
It is good
May 6, 2023
A solid end to the series. Pamela breathes life into the characters we know well and love. The twins' friends have more personality than before and for the first time, we see mentions of a life outside of the school with Pamela filling in tiny realistic details that make the girls more realistic. They like parties, they go to town to watch movies, they shop and plan for college. There's also a very quick joke by Claudine at the end of the book about marrying a lord which is perhaps the first mention of any kind of romance in the series which I thought was an interesting touch. Throughout all of the books, there was no mention of puberty, crushes or emotions at all which may cause adult readers to think that this book offers a highly sanitized view of girlhood growing up in a boarding school. I agree. Still, it was a brave effort by Pamela Cox all the same to include these small details that gave the final book lots of personality. I personally enjoyed this one the most. Although it had a lovely sendoff for Hillary, I kind of wish it ended with the twins instead. Once more the weakness or unique feature of the series is the lack of focus on any of the characters. Although the twins are supposed to be the main characters, we spend most of the novel exploring the dramas and revelations of other girls instead. Still, that's the whole point of it I think.
Thus ends my Enid Blyton reading challenge this year. I honestly think she's going to end up on my most-read authors list of 2023 and I don't know how to feel about that. I think I might need to start reading many other authors to cancel this out because reading Enid was a fun break for my stressed brain but it's time to pull my big girl pants up. I want to get back to reading darker, grittier and more complex stories again. Still, these wholesome stories of boarding school life were a lovely palate cleanser for me.
Thus ends my Enid Blyton reading challenge this year. I honestly think she's going to end up on my most-read authors list of 2023 and I don't know how to feel about that. I think I might need to start reading many other authors to cancel this out because reading Enid was a fun break for my stressed brain but it's time to pull my big girl pants up. I want to get back to reading darker, grittier and more complex stories again. Still, these wholesome stories of boarding school life were a lovely palate cleanser for me.
June 19, 2019
I read it in the bath, and splashed a lot of water about in my annoyance. I'm blaming Cox if the floorboards of the bathroom swell up. Pamela Cox's St. Clare's and Malory Towers books are a bit...well, irritating. She frequently recycles language and storylines from the original books, which I always notice because I am a loser - but also uses a lot of anachronistic language, which gets on my nerves. Also, the homosociality of the original books is lost, which is sad to me as a queer reader. Still, it scratches my itch for fluffy kidlit, so it's okay and I'm giving it two stars.
February 20, 2022
Finally we get the "ending" we want - although this isn't a Last Term at Malory Towers, except for one character - it's most of the characters' first term as sixth-formers and we see how Pat and Isabel get on as head girls. There's lots of recycling of old themes from Blyton's and Cox's other stories. While I like the familiar allusions they don't need to be almost exactly parallel. Still, glad to have read all the "St Clare's" books, whether you consider these canonical or not (I would lean towards not).
January 22, 2025
i do love this book, but ultimately prefer enid over pamela. i was reading reviews, and there's a difference between cox's & blyton's writing styles that makes you feel like you're reading almost a spinoff series. i did love the dora/daphne plot, but i felt it was resolved a little too quickly for my liking. i loved morag's character development, and how carlotta helped and shone as she truly developed from her arrival at st clare as wild and 'don't care' attitude, to a more mature version (yet still fun!)
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