A Cocktail of Curses (By Ruth E. Glover)



Review by Nectarios Xrissos from UNIVERSE PATHWAYS magazine http://www.innerzed.com/sites/kosmic



Inside the upheaval that - for good or bad - Harry Potter stories have brought to children fantasy (and not only), many writers choose to publish stories of similar kind with the hope that they will be accepted by the vast --as was proved-- share of reader audiences that made Rowling famous. One of those writers is --at first glance-- Ruth Glover, who started a new fantasy series in 2005, called ‘Magical Mayhem’. The first book of the series is “A cocktail of Curses”. Its story is as follows (as summarized by the writer):
Mia is a 13-year-old witch who comes from a family of very powerful witches and wizards but cannot do magic herself. She is left to babysit her very talented 6-year-old cousin, Delphi, while the rest of the family go away for the weekend and is hurled into a series of adventures when in a 6-year-old temper tantrum, Delphi summons a demon to do her bidding.
The demon, a 127-year-old fire demon called Tak, is not pleased to be summoned by a child and decides to get his revenge by cursing her with a Mis-Spell curse that makes all her magic spells go wrong.
Delphi immediately tries to use her magic and succeeds in turning Mia's best friend Alastair into a cat, giving herself a tufted, golden tail and binding the Tak to her with the invisible, unbreakable bonds of magic.
Mia, Delphi, Alastair and Tak are forced to set off on a quest to find the legendary Curse-Master and convince him to break the Mis-Spell curse before the rest of Mia's family come home. During the quest, they are captured by the bloodthirsty Kanan, attacked by giant spiders, imprisoned by the evil ice sorceress Glacia and chased by an angry mob, and that's before they visit the mysterious castle Darkshine with its strange, pale-skinned inhabitants who never seem to eat.
Book One of the brand new Magical Mayhem Series, A Cocktail of Curses is a light-hearted enchanting tale of mischief and magic and is sure to delight any reader who has ever wished to be witch or whispered a spell to the stars.
As is obvious, this 150-page long story emphasizes on humor and fairytale-like fantasy. The writer knows what she’s writing, knows her target group and doesn’t disappoint, using a sharp, witty writing style, a gripping plot and an interesting narration throughout the whole story.
A Cocktail of Curses is an easy, quick read, and despite the fact that it’s directed towards young readers, I think it can be enjoyed by older ones as well. For me, this e-book was a very nice surprise; it’s a small gem, of the kind that one sometimes finds while sailing in the ocean of infinite mediocre fantasy releases that usually fill bookstores and the internet. I unconditionally suggest it to those that wish to spend 2-3 nights with a lighthearted, easy read which proves more than enjoyable. Considering its very small price (e-book form is practically free!) I will be on the lookout for its sequel.
You can buy it online from the website of the LULU print-on-demand publishing house, here:

I loved the way that it was so easy to get right into this book, almost immediately I was enchanted by the story and I thought the characters were delightful. Kids will not be able to put the book down. Lots of fun and adventure spells and magic. Brilliant.

******

I was lucky enough to read this book some time ago and was completely entranced from the very first line. The writing is smooth and fluent and polished. The characters are charming and well-rounded and bounce off the page. The pace of the story kept me reading until well into the early hours just waiting to see what imaginitive, inventive twists and turns were coming my way. I often chuckled out loud and more often than not found myself sitting with a smile on my face.

I highly recommend this book to both fans of the genre (you won't be disappointed) or non-fans, who will be thrilled that they happened along this gem of a book.

This is an excellent mythical and magical read. I really enjoyed reading it and I am sure that all children - and adults! - will enjoy reading it as well. So please buy it and give yourselves and your children a treat!!

Cocktail of curses is an excellent tale of towering imagination, humour and magical...or magicless adventure, suitable for children of all ages!! and I am a kid of 35!

A brilliant idea for Christmas!

A worthy addition to my bookshelf, and deserves to be a sure-fire hit!

Congrats on Cocktail of Curses - Ruth Glover,You have breathed magical life into its inanimate corpse, now it twitches and jerks, ready to break free and take the world by storm!

James A McVean