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Jun 21, 2011

Amelia, the pragmatic idealist rated it:

Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!
I have a very, very good feeling about the rest of the books in the Wardstone Chronicles after completing this book (it's called Revenge of the Witch in the US)...
- First of all, a very, very engaging and rather original plot! It's similar to HARRY POTTER in this: both take place in England, and both have a lot to do with folkoric creatures and legends: witches, boggarts, and the like. But there's where the similarities end. You can read the synopsis More...

6 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2011

Cillian rated it:

Joseph Delaney seems to be allergic to the literacy crappiness parasites that are going around, ruining our lives and forcing us to write nasty, caustic reviews.

Here, I present Joseph Delaney's splendorous list of big no-nos:

1. Plot holes.
2. Shitty characters.
3. Boring magic.
4. TSTLs.
5. Info dumps.
6. Blatant foreshadowing.
7. Mary Sues--males and females.
8. Slow paced writing going nowhere.
9. Lose ends.
More...

5 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jun 21, 2011

Cooper rated it:

Although clearly written as a children's book (over explanation and reminders of what has previously occurred) - it is quite dark, with bone witches and strip the flesh from fresh corpses and blood witches that drain blood from living children, eat babies and make blood cakes to increase their strength. It does a good job of watering these parts down, but they are still there, I would not recommend it for it's target audience, and it definitely would not be night time reading for that age unles More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Mar 24, 2009

Marian rated it:

Intensely scary. There was a time or two I raced up the stairs to jump into the safety of my bed after listening to this book. Thank goodness I'm left-handed which, according to the book, gives me a slight advantage over anything creepy that goes bump in the night.

One star had to go for things like coffin maggots and carnivorous hogs--gross!

Of the books I have recently listened to on CD this one has the best narration by far. It is excellent.

13 comments like (13 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2009

Dahlia rated it:

Atas request jeng Weni.

Mengherankan, putra ketujuh dari putra ketujuh selalu diangggap memiliki keistimewaan tertentu. Begitu pula yang dialami Thomas. Ketika berusia 12 tahun dia diserahkan oleh keluarganya untuk dilatih oleh Gregory seorang spook -sejenis pembasmi penyihir, hantu dan boggart- yang sudah tua. Seorang spook walaupun seberapa besar tenaganya dibutuhkan, orang-orang menganggapnya aneh dan menakutkan sehingga mereka dijauhi dan dikucilkan. Sepertinya kehidupan yang se More...

16 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 21, 2011

ChRis.t.OS rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 21, 2011

Larissa rated it:

Thomas J Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son, as such he is a natural enemy of the dark and all that dwell with it. It is because of this that Tom as been accepted as apprentice to the Spook, but there have been other apprentices before him, all of then seventh sons of seventh sons and not all of them had made it through their apprenticeships alive.

Not yet thirteen, Tom has been sent far from home and thrown into a world danger. He has been given a month to prove that he might hav More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 25, 2009

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" rated it:

I'd really rather give this one 4.5 stars, because it was an excellent book. Although a young adult book, it is definitely sophisticated enough for an adult to enjoy it (I don't consider myself sophisticated, but I still think a person who is would like it). I liked that the suspense builds. There are no cheap thrills or shock value scares. Instead, the author takes his time and builds up the menace so that you spend your time trying to prepare yourself for the scare. Even still, you won't he More...

2 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jun 21, 2011

LJ rated it:

THE SPOOK'S APPRENTICE (Fantasy-England-1600s) – VG
Delaney, Joseph – 1st of series
The Bodley Head, 2004 – UK Hardcover
Thomas Ward is the seventh son of the seventh son. His mother knew he had special talents and his father has apprenticed him to the local Spook. Thomas will learn to contain witches and bind boggerts, but he has already forgotten his first lesson; don't trust girls in pointy toed shoes. With Spook of helping another village, it is up to Thomas to undo the dam More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 31, 2012

John Paul rated it:

Plot: A young boy apprentices to the Spook and learns to defend the County and combat the growing threat from the witches.
Good: interesting plot, good illustrations
Bad: no character depth

I have decided to give this book a shot because it is being adapted into a major film. This was definitely a children's book, but the horror element may be too gory for very young kids. The writing was simple. It had an interesting plot, but the characters were under-developed. The book f More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 29, 2008

Stephanie rated it:

This book made my skin crawl! It's a gripping read, but beware, it's pretty gruesome in some parts.

P.O., anyone?:
The seventh son of a seventh son, Thomas Ward is told by Mr. Gregory, the man to whom his is apprenticed, that it takes more than birth order to make someone fit for the role of Spook. Thomas soon learns that it will take all his intelligence and bravery to make the right decisions, and to make correct his wrong ones. Along the way he also realizes that loneliness o More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 17, 2009

Megan rated it:

Fantastic! I couldn't put it down...started it Friday night and finished it Saturday morning. I am a wimp about horror books and movies, so there was one scene that scared the bejeezus out of me. The rest of it was pretty tame, but at the same time quite graphic and gruesome--babies' blood, torturing witches, etc. I can't wait to read the next ones...I wish I'd just checked the whole series out of the library. Ah, well.

In the reviews I've read, nobody mentioned the similarities to More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Feb 07, 2012

Kat rated it:

It's a little simplistic, in writing, plot, and characters, but appropriately so for a young adult series. The characters are interesting and colorful. The lore is thoughtful, consistent, and researched. The plot is compelling and satisfying, but leaves some loose ends that I suspect will be over-arching plots across the series. I also particularly like that the apprentice is a person of his own mind - while he may listen to the instructions and wisdom of others, he makes decisions based on an i More...

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Aug 19, 2011

Michael rated it:

Passing by the shelf in Barnes & Noble that contains book covers with spirals of fire and bony fingers reaching out of swamps, I thought to myself "Huh, these 'Last Apprentice' books look interesting. The art is certainly cool, and I have been needing a good fantasy that brushes on nostalgia with witches and ghouls. Lets try it out."

I am happy to report that nostalgia is delicious, if not youthful and not excellently written.

Coming from an era of concepts such as Sh More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 18, 2011

Sarah rated it:

This was my first experience with an audio book. I've joined an audiobook community in order to get free YA audio books all summer. I've never listened to an audio book before, and it was an interesting experience. This review may be more about that experience than it is about the book itself.

This is the story of Tom Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son who is apprenticed to "Old Gregory" the county Spook. A spook is someone who is hired to rid houses and locations of More...

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Apr 05, 2011

Saskia Marijke rated it:

Whoooo... The wind carries the cries of all those dead soldiers hung by their necks in the forested hill not too far from a farm. A creepy beginning for a creepy story. Well, that is the flavor, though not a verbatum quote. As in olden days when a farmer had more than one son, the eldest inherited the farm and the others were "farmed out" to other apprenticeships. This is the story of a seventh son of a seventh son, chosen so by the mother who suffered seven children in order to have t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 12, 2011

Ithlilian rated it:

I usually enjoy books about young people learning new skills, but Revenge of the Witch was not entertaining to me. I feel that some events were explained in too much detail, like traveling, running from the witch family, and trying to get out of the pit. While other details, details that I cared about, were cut short. I wanted more learning about the different types of baddies with a bit of hands on experience. Explaining that a boggart cleaned the house and made food would have been so much eas More...

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Dec 20, 2010

Hope rated it:

When I started reading this book I was not really sure about it. But from the first page I was drawn in and had hard time putting it down. I think it only took me a day to read this book.

This was a very original story line and very engaging. There were no parts were the story dragged, it was fast paced, action filled and mysterious. Story takes place in England and author uses a lot of folklore creatures and legends; witches, boggarts , ghosts, ghasts and others. Characters More...

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Nov 27, 2010

Melanie rated it:

Definitely a scary-spooky-horror book, at least in my definition. Not my usual cup of tea. I did have a hard time putting it down and walking away when a particular section or illustration made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Many people love that sensation. Me? Not so much. I don't read horror or scary books. But this one was great! And I'm going to have to read the rest of the series. I'll just sleep with the light on for awhile...

Tom Ward is the 13-year-old seventh son of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 12, 2010

Brian rated it:

I've always been a big fan of the dark and mysterious, and these books by Joseph Delaney are some of the best I've read for young adults. They're the first two in a series that currently numbers six and promises to keep coming, with the requisite "side" titles and other marketing gimmicks on board.

Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son who is getting old enough to be apprenticed and leave home. It comes as a surprise when his Mam announces that he'll be heading o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 05, 2009

Jane rated it:

I read this book as part of a young adult book review book. This is a valuable book that I will add to my collection. I appreciated the author's use of language, which created a landscape of people and places in rural (England? Wales? Ireland?) that grew on me gently until I felt I was right there in the villages and traveling along the roads. The story was one I made personal connections to having chosen a career, having had a mentor and knowing some of the fear and also decisions made t More...

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Jul 14, 2009

Krista (One Love) (Critical) rated it:

The only thing this book has going for it is scariness and creepiness. The characters aren't particularly likable, and they're flat, too. The plot was a bit rushed, predicatable, and unrealistic. I mean, when Tom was feeding 'blood cakes' to the witch? Firstly, how stupid could he have been, helping the evil witch? Secondly, how could he not notice what he was holding? I mean, sure it was dark, but...really? He couldn't tell or SMELL that something was up? Anyway, Tom has no distinct qualitites. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 20, 2011

Kate rated it:

Thomas is the seventh son of a seventh son, and with little else to find for Thomas to do, his father has set up an apprenticeship with a Spook. The Spook is a protector of the local people from all things that go bump in the night. Thomas has always been afraid of the dark, but his Mam tells him that the seventh son of a seventh son is special and that he will be good at being a Spook. So Thomas goes off to learn the trade.

After passing the Spook's first test (spending the night in More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2011

Emily added it

This book is about Tom Ward, a boy who has just become the Spook's apprentice. The Spook's job is to keep the creatures of the dark in line-- boggarts, witches, ghosts, ghasts, and things of that nature. Tom meets the niece of a witch, Alice, who appears to be a friend at first. But as it turns out, she tricks him into setting free one of the most wicked and evil witches of all time-- Mother Malkin. Tom has to race against time to find her and stop her before she can do any damage to anything-- More...

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Nov 16, 2011

Kevin rated it:

The book "Revenge of the Witch" by Joseph Delaney is about a boy named Thomas Ward who is the seventh son of a seventh son. He was born to be a spook;someone who rids the village of witches, boggarts, and other dangerous creatures. He is also the last apprentice left. If he dies or runs away, the village will be a very hazardous place. This is why Mr. Gregory, the current spook, is trying to get Thomas to learn how to be a spook and make the village a safe place. But will he succeed? T More...

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May 05, 2011

Casey rated it:

Our house is a reader's house. We're all into reading, including my daughter! (Who just asked for a Kindle for her birthday if that gives you an idea how big of a reader she is!) Here recently, she's been locked into a book series that really grabbed a hold of her imagination; Joseph Delaney's "The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch". Every night throughout her first reading of the first book, she's been coming out to tell us about the adventures of Tom Ward and the evil Mother More...

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Oct 20, 2011

Aparajitabasu rated it:

I'm back to the high-fantasy genre and this is my view of The Wardstone Chronicles #1 The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney, been meaning to read since I heard that they were meaning to turn this into a movie.

Here is the summary of the book:

"I was going to learn how to protect farms and villages from things that go bump in the night. Dealing with ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties would be all in a day's work. That's what the Spook did, and I was More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 12, 2011

W.H. rated it:

Tom, the youngest brother in a big family, is never going to inherit his father's farm. However, as the seventh son of a seventh son, he is qualified to become the Spook's apprentice. The Spook is a feared man who rids the County of things that go bump (and worse) in the night. Tom works hard for the Spook, learning how to bind boggarts in pits of salt and iron, the different kinds of witches (benign and malevelant) and how ghasts are mostly harmless, even if they were murderers during their liv More...

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Aug 08, 2011

Melody rated it:

It's funny. I was at the library with my 2 1/2 year old, and I was just looking around the juvenile section because that's where all the fun kid stuff at the library is. I picked up this book because it was thicker than most of the other books, and it sounded interesting, so I kept it.

Oh my. Don't think that because this was in the juvenile section that it's a fluffy book - it was actually quite scary at times!

It's about this boy named Tom. He is the seventh son of a seventh More...

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Oct 28, 2011

Zach rated it:

These are great books! These are a lot like a dark "Harry Potter", except there is some material that is probably to mature for a young kid. These books only take a couple of hours apiece to finish, and will keep you avidly reading the whole time. This is especially true if you don't have a deep understanding of some of the classic folk critters and legends from England such as bogarts and ghosts. Oh, and if you get creeped out easily. The main character is a seventh son of a seve More...

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