Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
Released: 1st of September 2022
Amy and Liam Bell have been packed off to stay at Gran's house in the wilds of Connemara for the summer. Out for a walk on the first morning of their holiday, they trace the flight of a hawk to waterfall only to watch the bird disappear through it. Intrigued, the children follow and soon realise they've discovered the entrance to Tír na nÓg, the legendary land of eternal youth.
But they've been tricked. Almost immediately Liam is captured by a troop of headless horsemen who take him to Tarlock, the ruling sorcerer of Tír na nÓg, who is seeking the bones of a human child for a sinister new spell.
What I Have to Say
I was really disappointed in this book, especially because I loved The Stormkeeper's Island so much. I was really looking forward to see Catherine Doyle's take on Tir na nÓg, but it just fell flat for me. It was also really predictable.
There wasn't enough fae in it for me. Tir na nÓg just felt like a not very thoroughly built fantasy world to me. The citizen's were exactly like a medieval society of us would be like, except they had pointed ears and were allergic to a six pence taken from this world. I was looking forward to exploring a new take on a faery world full of rules and tricks, but what I got was a poorly made fantasy world.
I also really hated Liam. His sibling squabbles with Amy were too real and really annoyed me and I didn't see enough of them actually getting on before he was captured to really care if she got him back or not. I get theoretically that they love each other really, but I really just didn't see that in the book. Before he was captured her was mean, condescending and just plain annoying.
I am just so disappointed. This book could have been something really good and it just wasn't. I really hope other people can get something out of it, because I really didn't.
2 Stars
My thanks go to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Children's Books for providing me with this copy for review.
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