Tuesday 23 October 2012

8+: School of Fear and School of Fear 2: Class is Not Dismissed - Gitty Daneshavari

Release Date: 02/08/12

Book Blurb: 
Madeleine Masterson is deathly afraid of bugs, especially spiders. Theodore Bartholomew is petrified of dying. Lulu Punchalower is scared of confined spaces. Garrison Feldman is terrified of deep water. Which is why this may be the scariest summer of their lives. Worse than detention or summer school. Worse even than the dentist. The foursome must face their phobias head-on at the exclusive and elusive School of Fear. The school is unusual, to say the least. But 'terrifying' would be a more accurate description. The curriculum is simple: Conquer your fears in six weeks or find out just how frightening failing can be.

Review: 
To be honest I wasn’t sure what to make of this, I loved the concept, I enjoyed the delightfully deliciousness of helping children get over their fears but it felt to me like something was lacking partway through, almost as if the author had a clear idea of where she wanted the book to go but lost steam part way through but managed to pull it altogether by the final chapter. Don’t get me wrong, it was an OK read, the characters had their own quirks but overall I felt that the story was lacking especially with the head teacher who felt rather disjointed and disconnected with the tale overall. All in it is OK but personally I feel that there are other authors out there that could have given a real scare backed up with a wonderful sense of achievement by the tales end which I felt was lacking here.
 
 


Release Date: 04/10/12

Book Blurb: 
Have no fear! The frightened foursome are back in this this wickedly funny and phobia-inducing sequel to School of Fear! Everyone is (still) afraid of something...Madeleine Masterson is deathly afraid of bugs, especially spiders; Theodore Bartholomew is petrified of dying; Lulu Punchalower is terrified of confined spaces; Garrison Feldman is frightened by deep water...After discovering that each of her former students has secretly regressed, headmistress Mrs. Wellington brings Madeleine, Theo, Lulu, and Garrison back for a mandatory summer of retraining. Facing their fears is terrifying enough, but when they are joined by a fifth student things start to get even scarier.

Review: 
Whilst I didn’t enjoy Gitty’s Monster High story, I have to admit that her own School of Fear series is something that is not only unique but fun to read if you excuse the flaws as mentioned previously. The characters do feel more fleshed out this time round and whilst there’s a new one thrown into the mix in this outing, its definitely a series that will amuse as well as entertain the reader. Back that up with some solid one liners, reasonable prose with a steady pace which all in make this a book a decent enough read. Definitely an improvement on the first. 



 
 

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