Book Review of Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice
The Children’s Book Review
Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice
Written by Amanda Foody
Cover Art by Petur Antonsson
Ages 8-12 | 303 Pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster | ISBN: 9781534482050
What to Expect: Fantasy, humor, and adventure.
Wilderlore is a lively and humorous story filled with whimsical characters and settings. Like the very best fantasy novels, it combines the familiar with the exotic, drawing readers into a world where animals are magical, sometimes dangerous companions and adults can’t always be trusted to look out for your best interests.
After the ferocious beast of the woods kills his parents, Gravaldor, Barclay could not agree more with his town’s insistence that beasts, magic, and adventure are the worst things in the world. Despite his determination to fit in in Dullshire, Barclay can’t seem to get it right: his hair is too messy, his daydreams are too adventurous, and his whole demeanor is just too … wild.
When Barclay accidentally bonds with one of the magical beasts of the woods, it is too much for Dullshire, and Barclay is forced to flee the angry mob that was once his community. Determined to go home, Barclay does the only thing he can—he seeks out the help of Lore Masters to break his beast bond and return him to normal. The only trouble is, the more he works with the Lore Masters, the more he starts to suspect that Dullshire might have had it wrong all along. Soon Barclay will have to choose: embrace his adventurous fate or return to the life he knew before?
Barclay is an engaging, relatable character, and any reader who has ever struggled to fit in will sympathize with his frustrations and fumbles. With so much fantasy fiction already out there, it is the inventiveness of this story that really stands out: descriptions of ferocious water monsters, man-eating trees, and eerie mirror magic feel fresh and exciting, and even the ending manages to be surprising.
Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice is a riveting read, sure to be enjoyed by middle-grade readers looking for something new.
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About the Author
Amanda Foody is the author of Daughter of the Burning City, The Shadow Game series, and the Wilderlore series. Formerly an accountant preparing taxes for multinational corporations, Amanda lives in Massachusetts with Jelly Bean, a feline beastly companion. Visit her at AmandaFoody.com.
Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice, written by Amanda Foody, was reviewed by Dr. Jen Harrison. Discover more books like Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice by following our reviews and articles tagged with Adventure, Humor, and Fantasy.
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