Review of "The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt"

Ebook: The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt
Author: Ilana Waters
<ilanabethwaters@yahoo.com>

A Review of "The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt" Book I of Hartlandia

Author: Ilana Waters

This review may contain spoilers (but I try not to).
This was submitted to me for an honest review. I received no compensation except the free book copy.

Author's synopsis/summary:
“Ten-year-old Stanley Delacourt loves his quiet life in the peaceful village of Meadowwood. At least, he does until his best friend is killed. Then the town library—where Stanley lives and works—is burned to the ground. The individuals responsible for both tragedies are a nasty group of soldiers. They work for the kingdom’s new leader: Christopher Siren.
 No one understands the rules Siren’s creating. They don’t know why breaking them means death, or why the leader is so keen to destroy books. And no one can figure out where the former queen and king disappeared to—or if they’ll ever return. With the grown-ups too fearful to take action, Stanley vows to confront Siren. He plans to get answers and demand justice. Little does he know that his journey will involve sword-wielding knights, kidnapper fairies, and dark magic.
Stanley has only two allies back home. One is an intimidated witch named Meredith. The other is a young apothecary called Sophie—who may have enchantment problems of her own. Can they help him discover the reason behind Siren’s crimes and end this terrible reign? Or is Stanley set to become the next victim in the tyrant’s evil plot?”


Review:
I like the author's bright voice in describing Stanley, his friends and their adventures and misadventures.
I enjoy it when a book is a bit slow to start for the sake of character development, because as soon as we were introduced to Stanley and his wonderful library, the story became quick paced and a swift read-through.
The magic in the story runs the gamut from magic seven-league boots to pentagrams and incantations.
Unlikely final confrontation between villain and hero, but I did enjoy the theme that, when all is said and done, you just can't go back to the way it was before.
As I already mentioned, I did enjoy the author's voice and many gems were sprinkled throughout the story such as: Oberon's comments on why fairies are unlikely to get involved in wars: "'...fairies... don’t feel things the way you do... Fairies live for centuries—sometimes thousands of years. We forget that mortals don’t have the time given to us. We know that heartache wastes their precious years until they are nothing but lonely piles of dust...Fairies live for the pleasure of the moment. We prefer not to die for noble causes. Death means an end to our merrymaking, you see. Oh, there are a few among us who pursue more than pleasure. But mainly, we’re cowards,' he said cheerfully"; scenery descriptions such as "...small pointed evergreens, sticking like nasty spikes out of the earth surrounded the castle...like Christmas trees turned mean"; and Stanley friend Sophie inventing her spell to help him: "...she wrote as fast as she could. Words leaked sideways and nearly ran off the page..."

Upon seeing Stanley Delacourt: where he came from, his friends, his loyalty, his determination.... he changed during his adventure... his friends changed, all permanently. I guess I changed, too.

Links:
http://www.ilanawaters.com/
http://www.ilanawaters.com/try-a-free...
https://twitter.com/ilanawaters
http://www.amazon.com/The-Adventures-...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-a...
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...