Blog Tour | The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm

Hello and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm by Karen Foxlee. Huge thanks to Pushkin Press for inviting me to take part in the tour and sending me a copy of the book to read and review.

There are those that hunt monsters to harm them and there are those that hunt monsters to help them. Which one are you? Dressed in sparkly red shoes and carrying her strawberry-scented notebook, Mary-Kate accompanies her archaeologist mother to the quiet English countryside to investigate some unusual bones found in an old well. But soon she realises that the village of Woolington is not as peaceful as it seems; the ground trembles beneath them, there are mysterious noises, and the locals are obsessed with a terrifying old legend.

Could there be any truth in the myth of the beast who lives in the ancient well? With the help of a new friend, Mary-Kate starts getting to the bottom of this monstrous mystery. -Waterstones

A huge thank you again to Pushkin Children’s Books for inviting me to take part in The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm blog tour.

I adored this gentle, warm novel so much! From the very first page when we are introduced to Mary-Kate I knew I was going to love it. We meet Mary-Kate as she is packing to travel to Woolington with her mum who is an archaeologist. Some bones have been found in the town centre, and Mary-Kate’s mum has been called in to verify the bones and possibly excavate the area, before the new shopping centre is built.

Mary-Kate is a very anxious person, which I found so refreshing to read. I love reading children’s books with adventurous and brave kids in it, but it is also so nice to read about other kids having adventures too. I also thought the depiction of anxiety was very sensitively and accurately, which I always appreciate!

Mary-Kate likes order and neatness, and when things aren’t as she expects she begins to panic. When she hears about the giant wyrm that lives in Woolington, she battles against these feelings and investigates! The way Foxlee has written about Mary-Kate and the way she talks herself out of panicking is so lovely to read.

This is a very action-packed novel from the beginning. I had a great time trying to puzzle out the mystery as I read. There are plenty twists and turns to keep the reader engaged, and loads of beautiful illustrations which only add to the novel.

In addition to the pace, I also really loved the characters a lot. The characters are a quirky lot, but all fully fleshed out and developed. Even our ‘baddies’ are given plenty of time to develop as characters and allow the reader to gain insight into their decision making and reasons for doing what they did. I really loved Arabella, who becomes Mary-Kate’s sidekick. She is the antithesis of Mary-Kate in every way, and they worked so well together. Also special shout out to Pickles the pony, a rather stubborn pony who becomes the hero of the novel and saves the day!

I really loved The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm so much. It was a lovely cosy middle grade fantasy novel, and the first in a series that I will definitely be continuing! Huge thank you to Pushkin Children’s Books for having me on The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm blog tour.

Buy the book at Waterstones or Bookshop.org (both affiliate links)

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