January 24, 2017

Book Review (LXI) Will O' the Wisp




There is something evil up Bergamot Holler, and it's been targeting the Hall family for generations.
Patty Hall is fifteen years old. She loves stargazing, science fiction, and all things related to space exploration. This leaves her perfectly prepared for the wrong problem.
Patty is afraid her mother will send her to a care facility if she tells her what she's seen. If she doesn't figure things out soon, she's going to join her father in the Hall family cemetery plot.
Patty has to come to grips with her own physical handicap, face the wilderness, and an ancient evil all alone if she's going to survive.
Will O' the Wisp is suitable for young adults. It involves elements of suspense, and is set in the mid 1970s.






 My Review 

Will O' the Wisp is the story of a teenage girl, Patty Hall, told in the first person POV. I haven’t read any story with such a young main character and was curious about this one. As I read other books by Craig Boyack I hoped it wouldn’t disappoint me. And it didn’t.
The primary characters, Patty, her mother, her step father and her friends Laura and Pete are not glamorous but rather down to earth which lent a certain innocence and believability. The characters are well-drawn, and the period details are fascinating and well-researched.
Patty is tormented by the leg braces her mother forces her to wear all the time, and by an odd light, that threatens not only her  physical existence but seems to have a connection with tragedies that happened in her family along the time. I won’t reveal more as I don’t want to spoil your pleasure in reading an eerie story.
All I want to add is that I enjoyed this character,  Patty, a combination of a young Miss Marple and a young Sherlock Holmes – smart, brave and imaginative girl.
The author did a great job in highlighting the generation gap, the description of mother-daughter relationship – although Patty is clever enough to soften it and not antagonize her mother, allowing her to do the research on the supernatural manifestations that hunt her.
 Craig Boyack's books always keep me turning page after page, wanting more.
 The bottom line is, I think this is a good read and look forward to reading more from this author.

15 comments:

  1. What a wonderful surprise, Carmen. I'm so glad you enjoyed this one. I'll try to find a way to share it at my site.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would have done it sooner but life just threw some obstacles my way.
      Glad to hear you enjoyed the review.

      Delete
  2. This one has been on my TBR list for a while now. Probably time I bump it up, as I keep hearing such wonderful things about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Staci,
      Thank you for checking my post! Yes, read it. You'll enjoy Patty's way of handling the obstacles. I liked her stubborn behavior.

      Delete
  3. This is on my TBR list, because I like his work and will o' the wisps are among my favorite mysterious beings.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Carmen, is this one going to post on Amazon? I haven't spotted it yet. Sometimes things outside the US take a few days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It goes without saying. Both on Amazon and Goodreads. Only now I turned on the PC. I am glad you liked it.

      Delete
  5. Wonderful review of Craig's Will O' The Wisp, Carmen. I loved the spooky aspects of this one too, as well as the time period it was set in (1970s). That brought back a lot of memories for me :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Mae. Those were my teenage years too.

      Delete
    2. Yes, it was a spooky one, indeed. The 70s were my college years and many changes, at that time, good ones, occurred here. Not for a long time, however.

      Delete
  6. A captivating, no nonsense review. I'm intrigued. <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Teresa, for dropping by and leaving a comment!

      Delete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.