it was a bit rambling, but still an easy, enjoyable read about old skool witches, boggarts, shamans, and other creatures of the dark! =) can't wait to read book 8 and see G again. ( )

They have left the county due to the war that is taking place there. The Spook's home and library are destroyed & his Boggart is gone. They go to Mona Island (UK) along with other refuges but they meet and must "sort out" an old enemy from the county. There are a couple of "red shirts" that were a nice addition but of course they are killed off. This story doesn't deal too much with the thread that binds these stories but it ends on a note which does set up the progression of the main thread.

I don't think any of that is a spoiler. It's hard to leave a review & not give spoilers. The review becomes so cryptic.

I love the master / apprentice relationship. The master has wisdom and this apprentice is trying to learn it. Maybe it's the mother in me that appreciates it.

Alice and Tom must stay together or the fiend will claim Tom's soul. The blood jar will only work once so if that is destroyed the Fiend will be there to claim Tom's soul & punish Alice. We all know what the Spook thinks about using dark magic. We know he will eventually find out about the blood jar. What tension! ( )

The County is invaded by soldiers, who are slaughering innocents and whose wanton destruction destroys the Spook's home and frees the dangerous witch, Bony Lizzie. Tom, Alice, and the Spook flee across the ocean to the small island of Mona, where Bony Lizzie is intent to be queen, by use of force and dark magic. Battling new evils (bugganes and shamans), Bony is narrowly defeated, but Tom has to reveal his deal with the Fiend to the Spook, whose power seems to be ebbing. ( )

The Last Apprentice/ Wardstone Chronicles Series-Book #7...

I'm on the 7th of 13 books in this series and so far it hasn't gotten old yet. In this installment, the war is in progress and enemy soldiers have been ransacking the counties. When Tom, Alice & the Spook return home from Greece they find the Spook's home, including his massive library of priceless books, burnt down, the bogart has fled & the witches have escaped. They end up fleeing to an island that they think we'll be a safe haven but from the moment they disembark they encounter even more problems including the bone witch, Bony Lizzie. 
 
This series never lacks adventure and I really like the characters and enjoy seeing how they develop. The audio narrator is also fantastic so until the stories get old or I run out of books I'm going to keep on listening...

*I read this for my 2016 Halloween Book Bingo: ~Witches~ square


( )

I guess it is hard to write a book that is a sequel to one in which the world almost ends. While I loved Alice as always and enjoyed the story of the escape and rise of the horrid Bony Lizzie (who actually wrung some sympathy from me a few times), I felt the author wasted his own new characters terribly and that for once my idea of what was going to happen at the end was actually much more interesting than what did. There is much more scope in the series for Horn and Adriana than they were given. This was a lighter read than a Spook's Apprentice novel usually is, or at least, a less gory one, so that was good. I don't like much gore, especially in a book aimed at kids. But it also felt overall less substantial than its predecessors, with way too much reliance on the "now we're captured, now we've miraculously escaped, now we're captured again," etc. motif. That got old pretty fast. Finally, there were a few loose ends that were not tied up and no hint that they will be taken care of in the next volume, though I'm sure something will happen eventually. Despite all of this, I am looking forward to reading the next book because it will feature Grimalkin the Witch Assassin who wants to destroy the Fiend. Having her and the Spook in the same room and even fighting on the same side should be interesting. Finally, I want to make sure I mention the illustrations, which are very good and really set the tone for the series. ( )