BOOK BLURB:
It is the 1850's, and a young boy, Thomas, leaves his family to be apprenticed to a pharmacist, at the behest of his dead grandmother. He also inherits a magical box from her, which provides him entry into a mysterious garden. But while visiting it, he sees a ghostly vision of his grandmother, who tells him she was poisoned, and warns him that he must find the person responsible, and save her precious garden. For she was one of five members of an arcane guild, each of whom cultivated an individual garden, mastering the art of poison, perfume and medicine. The guild members jostle for power as, one by one, they are murdered...can Thomas solve the mystery, before he in turn is threatened?
REVIEW:
This was a very quirky and strange offering from Sarah Singleton and whilst I was immediately gripped by the tale from the first couple of pages I did get a little upset with the ending of the tale as it really didn't seem to have any consequences or any real justice for the tale as a whole.
I felt cheated and whilst the rest of the story was beautifully put together I'm a firm believer in having a moralistic ending for a story especially when its designed for the YA market. Don't get me wrong, a lot of readers will have a lot of fun with this as they try to puzzle out the crime/thriller elements and the magic within really does work beautifully but that one niggle really did ruin the whole experience for me.
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