- Reading level: Ages 9-12
- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Mirrorstone (June 8, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0786955023
- ISBN-13: 978-0786955022
Flannery Lane is tired of being protected by her Uncle Anatole. After years of studying magic in the back of his bookshop, she's ready for an adventure of her own. Then one day, strange things start happening. A burglar breaks into the butcher's shop, stealing nothing, but leaving the floors sparkling clean.
Soon the seamstress's apprentice vanishes on her way home, leaving behind only a shoe still laced at the top. And then worst of all, Uncle Anatole disappears. That night, a young vampire hunter named Pascoe knocks urgently on the bookshop door. Pascoe insists there is a vampire lurking in nearby Blakely Hall. Flannery looks deep into Pascoe's gorgeous eyes and finds herself agreeing to help him.
As Flannery tracks the vampire, her feelings for Pascoe grow until she stumbles upon a secret that turns everything she thought she knew about Pascoe--and herself--upside down.
Flannery was a a sweet girl, who I rooted for, but she seemed kind of slow on the uptake. The storyline was pretty obvious from the beginning, but she couldn't seem to figure anything out without it being spelled out for her in black and white. And she seemed completely unconcerned with the fact that her uncle spent days on end passed out from sickness while she flirted with Pascoe.
Pascoe was dark and mysterious and interesting, and the one character that I really liked. Unfortunately, he was hardly in the story. I definitely would have liked to have read more interaction between Pascoe and Flannery and enjoyed the scenes they shared together. The "person" that was in the story a lot was the townsfolk. I clump them together as one person because that's how they were presented in this book. They moved as one, spoke as one, decided as one....it reminded me of a Disney movie. All I could think of were the townsfolk storming the castle in Beauty and the Beast singing and finishing each other's sentences. It seemed kind of comical.
Nocturne is a companion novel to A Practical Guide to Vampires
but it is more about magic than vampires. It may appeal more to middle graders who want a fantasy book that is clean and simple without all the gore and sexual content of a lot of YA books. It was a sweet story and an interesting concept and it has an old-worldy fairy tale feel to it, but overall was forgettable for me. I suggest that if you read it....you read it with a British accent! ; )
Parents should know: Other than a slightly scary scene at the end of this book, and the presence of vampires, this is a perfectly clean book. For more information go to Nocturne on Parental Book Reviews.
Flannery was a a sweet girl, who I rooted for, but she seemed kind of slow on the uptake. The storyline was pretty obvious from the beginning, but she couldn't seem to figure anything out without it being spelled out for her in black and white. And she seemed completely unconcerned with the fact that her uncle spent days on end passed out from sickness while she flirted with Pascoe.
Pascoe was dark and mysterious and interesting, and the one character that I really liked. Unfortunately, he was hardly in the story. I definitely would have liked to have read more interaction between Pascoe and Flannery and enjoyed the scenes they shared together. The "person" that was in the story a lot was the townsfolk. I clump them together as one person because that's how they were presented in this book. They moved as one, spoke as one, decided as one....it reminded me of a Disney movie. All I could think of were the townsfolk storming the castle in Beauty and the Beast singing and finishing each other's sentences. It seemed kind of comical.
Nocturne is a companion novel to A Practical Guide to Vampires
but it is more about magic than vampires. It may appeal more to middle graders who want a fantasy book that is clean and simple without all the gore and sexual content of a lot of YA books. It was a sweet story and an interesting concept and it has an old-worldy fairy tale feel to it, but overall was forgettable for me. I suggest that if you read it....you read it with a British accent! ; )* Oh, yeah! I forgot to mention the cover....UGH! I think it might be the most awful cover I've ever seen, and why on earth is there a guy on the cover of a book that is almost entirely about a girl???
Reagan and Bransen's mom,
Parents should know: Other than a slightly scary scene at the end of this book, and the presence of vampires, this is a perfectly clean book. For more information go to Nocturne on Parental Book Reviews.
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