Something Wicked Returns: Review of The Real Boy by Anne Ursu & Giveaway

Today is the first day of Something Wicked Returns!  Be sure to stop by Rainy Day Ramblings for Heather Hildenbrand and Dirty Blood. You can also find the Something Wicked Blog Hop HERE where we're giving away a $50 Gift Card! You can find all the Something Wicked information and learn how you can take part on the Something Wicked page.

Today I'm reviewing the middle grade fantasy, The Real Boy by Anne Ursu.  Walden Pond Press is generously giving away a signed hardcover copy to one lucky person as well! 

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published: September 24, 2013 by Walden Pond Press

Source: Publisher

On an island on the edge of an immense sea there is a city, a forest, and a boy. The city is called Asteri, a perfect city that was saved by the magic woven into its walls from a devastating plague that swept through the world over a hundred years before. The forest is called the Barrow, a vast wood of ancient trees that encircles the city and feeds the earth with magic. And the boy is called Oscar, a shop boy for the most powerful magician in the Barrow. Oscar spends his days in a small room in the dark cellar of his master's shop, grinding herbs and dreaming of the wizards who once lived on the island generations ago. Oscar's world is small, but he likes it that way. The real world is vast, strange, and unpredictable. And Oscar does not quite fit in it.

But it's been a long time since anyone who could call himself a wizard walked the world, and now that world is changing. Children in the city are falling ill, and something sinister lurks in the forest. Oscar has long been content to stay in his small room in the cellar, comforted in the knowledge that the magic that flows from the trees will keep his island safe. Now, even magic may not be enough to save it.

 Anne Ursu writes simply poetically.  Not with a ton of fancy words or lengthy descriptions, but by keeping things simple and somehow piecing things together in a way that is astounding and stunning.

We are introduced to Oscar and this world with magic.  Oscar is only a hand to the greatest magician, he's not even an apprentice.  Oscar is use to his job and he likes it. He likes his routine, he likes being alone, he likes working with the plants and he likes having only his cats as company.  But in this book everything changes.  His routine is thrown off when he suddenly is thrust in charge of everything, even if temporarily.  And at the same time strange things suddenly start happening.  With help from a new friend Oscar may be the only one who can fix things, or even discover what is 'broken'.

Oscar is a child that reminded me of maybe an autistic child. He doesn't do well with people.  He doesn't know how to lie, or twist things to sound nice. He sees things literally so dealing with people is not his forte. He comes across as rude.  Because we are with Oscar we know this isn't his intention though and I felt for him right away.  He really just wants to be with his cats and not have anything to do the village folk nor the city folk.  And he's very, very smart.  He secretly reads and he knows all this magic.  He's secretly brilliant.

In this book we discover that maybe magic isn't the cure to everything. That maybe people shouldn't rely on it quite so much.  I liked this message a lot, and I liked how it came about slowly.  We not only get a different sort of character, one that children who may be be considered 'odd' can relate to, but we get a subtle message along with an unbelievably gorgeous story.  On top of that, you'll never even guess the twists that sneak in there!

I highly recommend this one! While I think it's perfect for ages 8-12 as recommended, it does have parts that are a bit scarier.  So my daughter, who is very sensitive to scary, won't read it until she's 10 or so (I'm guessing).  So those sensitive to scary things should keep that in mind.

Disclosure: I received this book for review purposes, all opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

Walden Pond Press is generously giving away a signed hardcover copy of The Real Boy to one lucky person! 

This is open to US only.

You must be 13 or older to enter

Ends October 31st.

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