Eleven-year-old Olive finds herself drawn to the grimoire of the witches who built her house and tries to use its spells to uncover the house's magic and control the cats themselves, but the book is more wicked than it seems.
Spellbound is a very solid addition to The Books of Elsewhere series, featuring the same lovable characters as well as the newly introduced Rutherford, a rather charming brainiac who enjoys dinosaurs and the Middle Ages. The plot is nothing wild (the official summary gives the gist of it), but the book does not have to be unpredictable in order to be enjoyable. Though it does have its creepy moments, as the McMartins exercise their powers even from beyond the grave, the true draw are really the characters. Morton may be a little whinier, but he is still lovable, and it is just hilarious when Harvey insists on referring to him as Sir Pillowcase. Olive is still spunky, and Rutherford is clearly going to make a great addition to her team. Best of all, however, is how much more readers get to see of the cats, now that they are no longer hiding themselves and their talents. Horatio is brilliantly loyal, Leopold is courteous and dutiful, and Harvey is ridiculously imaginative. I will definitely be checking out the third book just to see more of them.
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14 June, 2012:
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14 June, 2012:
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