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Jump to navigationJump to searchMonstrous Maud: Spooky Sports Day by A B Saddlewick (view source)
Revision as of 10:21, 14 September 2020
, 10:21, 14 September 2020no edit summary
It won't be a secret however that this example of the series doesn't go nearly as far along the inventive route of the opener. There is a relish to the plot, as more and more human interest interferes with the plans for the sports day, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't mean we get surprises. We don't get the entertaining switch of the human girl in the school of monsters forced to be more monstrous than the current intake. That in a sentence sounds fun, and in book form, was. This just highlights Maud's ongoing dilemma, of being a human in an island of monsters in a human world yet not allowed to be known as such.
Still, while we have less to empathise with the heroine over, and less wish to take our place in her shoes, we do get a comical look at the life of the PE teacher in a school for monsters – a ghostly knight, using his own disembodied head as a ball. Maud's school still remains a quirky place to pass the time, but if this series dials back on the genre inventiveness, and just sets its main character on a razor edge between the two worlds, it could well fail. I did say at the time the first book showed a great level of cleverness in setting up the scenario and surprising people at the same time, but this surprised in the lack of depth to the monster world, and if anything had too much of the pesky human to be quite as successful.
I must still thank the publishers for my review copy. We also have a review of [[Monstrous Maud: Scary Show by A B Saddlewick]].
[[I'm Dougal Trump... and it's not my fault! by Dougal Trump]] is a longer, but very enjoyable read for members of this age bracket.
