The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes is mystery that will be liked by anyone who loves 'magical worlds' and the mysteries within them.

This is a suitable read for children to read independently or, alternatively, be read to them perhaps as a class novel or as part of a bed time routine.

The chapters are short and each one is packed full of goings on to hold the reader's interest.

This magical place created by Amy Sparkes will be loved by children and probably adults too. Those adults will recognise some similarities to Oliver, Fagan and his band of thieves from Oliver Twist but the magic will quickly steer the reader away from further comparison.

Well, I have to say this was such a fun quick read, absolutely packed with magic.
I will definitely be recommending this title to fans of Sophie Anderson's work.

The most stand out aspect of this fantastical middle grade for me was definitely the writing style. The author keeps the story flowing and had some great descriptive scenes, especially of the magical house.
Which sounds like a very fun place to visit but perhaps not to live permanently with toilets being upside down on ceilings and what not!

Our main character is someone that you really come to feel for. She's an orphan who's been raised on the streets and by a shady character called Pockets. You can definitely see some of the inspiration for this has come from Fagan in Oliver Twist. They have very similar elements so if you enjoyed those characters I think you'll really enjoy Nine's.

She has a very tough as nails persona, as she's had to be hardened to life on the streets and fending for herself. However I loved to see her subtle character growth throughout the story and she gradually softens to letting people into her life. Which I have no doubt will continue to flourish in the next books. The found family trope to this book is something I absolutely love to read about.

The fact that she loved to read was so lovely as well. Definitely a relatable character trait for me and for many others no doubt. As well as her bravery she's also an extremely selfless person. Not that she'd admit it to you, of course. But even after she'd worked so hard for her reward to go and live a new life she gave it away to someone else who needed help. Not to mention the kind gesture she gave to Pockets, who probably didn't deserve it, but it shows the reader her true character. That while she has hatred for how he treated her she still pities him and has empathy.

However, Nine is not the only fantastic character. One of my favourites was the troll housekeeper, Eric. He was adorably funny with his feather duster and handing out sweets to cheer people up. He may be a character of few words but he definitely made the story for me.

Despite the main plot of this book being about a curse, it is surprisingly light hearted and suitable for readers on the younger side of middle grade in my opinion.

I definitely want to find out more about Nine's life and also Flabbergast, who I still think needs a bit of development. I'm certainly looking forward to whatever magical mischief and adventures the gang gets up to next.

The plot seemed rather jumpy and didn’t have a flow so I struggled to follow the thread of the story. It didn’t grip me.

The House at the Edge of Magic was a book I really enjoyed.

Nine works as a thief for Pockets but she does not like her life, she finds a house ornaments and for fun knocks on the door. Once she has done this the house grows and she is invited in a meets a range of strange characters who live there.

The occupants cannot live the house as the house is under a curse and Nine is the one who can break the spell.

Nine is fiercely independent and think she does not need anyone but as the book develops she finds a family within the house that she never knew she needed.

A magical read which draws you in would love to read more about Nine and the other characters.

My full review will appear on Film Stories in the coming weeks, but in short: how delightful! Blends a nostalgic sense of our classic British magical capers (from Lord of the Rings to Howl's Moving Castle) into a fresh and funny romp. It's Sparkes' first MG; here's to many more.

What an enjoyable book! A perfect introduction to fantasy/magic novels for confident readers aged 7-10, funny and spooky and not too silly. There were shades of Oliver Twist and Dianne Wynne Jones in this tale of a poor orphan who ends up having to help the cursed inhabitants of a strange, magical house.

There's a helpful troll who loves housework, a childish wizard, and a tea cupboard that turns people into silly things. There's also some proper peril, with a room filled with the "Sometimes Dead" and a back garden that turns into a void on Thursdays.

I love the fact she finds the answers in a library, and she is a very atypical heroine - grumpy and rude, and not really keen to help to start with!

I cannot express how fantastic this book was! I have chuckled my way through the most amazing adventure; it has been a long time since I have found a children's book genuinely so amusing. The humour is balanced with fabulous descriptions and enough action to keep me turning the pages long after I should have stopped reading. I have bookmarked so many interesting and hilarious incidents that this review just can't do them justice.

The book has elements of Oliver Twist in it - the stereotypical, hardened orphan who just wants a home and is desperate for approval ... but there is just so much more!

Nine finds herself drawn to a strange house following an almost failed pick-pocketing incident. At this point the world is quite recognisable and tangible. The moment Nine knocks on the door of a strange house in order to make her escape, nothing as quite what she expects. Nine meets the vegetarian troll called Eric, Flabberghast (a magician with no magic), Dr Spoon, and the extraordinary pet, Wotnerth - all are trapped in the craziest, quirkiest house due to a terrible curse. The house should be able to move, powered by a toad's tongue, it has stairs the 'oof', a toilet that moves around, a tea cupboard which will no longer open and places wild magical spells on you temporarily, there is an understairs cupboard that compacts anything stored in there, and the list of oddities and crazy elements go on and on. As a librarian, I was truly worried at the idea of a library where books move around and fling themselves at you like missiles; however, none of this is too much for Nine to stand up to. The description of Nine being spat out of the walls are just ingenious. This is a house that needs to be explored and enjoyed.

Having established that the house is just a whole world of strange, which I know children will just love when they read this book, we need to turn to the occupants of the house and the purpose of this narrative. Flabberghast has to learn that to find the magic words he will need to be more humble. Nine has a vulnerable centre which is protected by a street-hardened shell. She refuses to accept help, take advice or show any sign of pain or fear. To outwit the dreadful curse which has been placed on the house, the characters must learn to listen to each other, make sacrifices, and work together.

This is just the most entertaining, rip-roaringly funny, delightful read! I know I will need several copies as this is a title that will be in demand. Just wonderful - I'd give it more stars if it was possible!

The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes is a cute magical adventure for the younger reader that will take them on a quest where they will learn the power of friendship. The book tells the story of Nine, a young pickpocket who gets more than she bargains for when she steals a house shaped ornament from a young woman's bag. While examining the trinket she knocks on the door and soon finds herself inside the house where she meets a somewhat incompetent wizard and his troll housekeeper. It seems they have been placed under a spell and need Nine's help to break it.
The book is fun and fast paced with plenty of action and humour, but it is definitely more suitable for younger readers. The characters are not very complex or developed, but I understand that this is the first book in a potential series so it may be that with more books this will improve. The writing is simple enough to be suitable for a reader just getting started on chapter books.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Okay, so this book was so adorable.

I absolutely loved Eric the troll, I cannot even begin to describe how much my heart just felt for him!!

This book was simply divine.

Nine has a great storyline and so when I put this through CAWPILE, characters came out at 8/10 because they all had a redeemable quality. Nine just wants a family! Flabby wants tea. Eric just wants to clean!! (my heartttt) and Spoon wants to find Dish!

The entire concept was brilliant and from start to finish, you couldn’t help but root for each character.

The quest Nine embarks on is quite simply so ridiculous, you’ll actually laugh your a** off.

I landed at a very high 3 for this book as it’s not one I would read again, but at that moment, it gave me the ultimate enjoyment!

I haven't read middle grade in a while... what a shame! This book was everything I was looking for! But first, can we stop and admire this wonderful cover? This cover is the very reason I've been wanted to read this book!
The house at the edge of magic is soooo immersive!

I looooved Nine, this little pickpocket so much! The story was really enjoyable! It made me think of a tale we read at bedtime! The story really begins when Nine, while stealing from an old lady, got an enchanted ornament. this ornament happens to be a house. In this house, she meet people who can't get out from the house... because of a curse. Nine will help them breaking the curse. This journey is so fast pasted and addictive! Beside, how wonderful and creative Amy Sparkes is? I really love every characters and the original story!

I'll reread it to review it more before its release and I'll get myself a physical copy for sure!

This book was particularly enjoyable and definitely what I needed! It was full to the brim, in fact overflowing, with the joyous magic that I grew up wishing for! It was ridiculous and fun and hilarious, but it goes deeper than that too! The darker aspects of Nine’s life juxtaposed with this new magic is wonderful and really ignites the imagination.

The wacky characters and wonky magic really make this book! Dr Spoon is absolutely hilarious and I want to meet him and I have the biggest soft spot for Eric! Also I really want a pair of Flabberghast (or Flabby) inspired indigo pyjamas.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience this book as it was truly delightful to read! I can't wait for this to be published to buy a copy for my cousin!

IGNORE THE STARS!

I'm so sorry but I can't give a review of this book. For some reason I can't access it on my kindle-- which is really disappointing considering how much I was looking forward to reading this.

But, if you guys can read this book, I hope you enjoy it!

Read. Stay safe. Be happy.

Loved this story! Such an interesting concept and a wonderfully immersive middle grade novel. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a fun, emotional children's novel.

An interesting book for kids, but I had troubles really getting into it at the beginning. Overall okay.

Every now and then, I love to read a children's book, because their fantasy has a simple but very beautiful magic that more often than not work their charm for adult readers as well. However, 'The House at the Edge of Magic' was not exactly one of them. The story was original and funny with a lot of unpredictable surprising twists. The characters were adorable with their quirky and expressive mannerisms, making it easy to relate to them and share their excitement in the adventure.
But the whole time I felt too old to be reading this book, and wondering whether I would have loved it better if I was still a child. But even then I may have had the same feeling. Though the volume is definitely aimed at readers reaching middle grade, the writing felt more fitting for a book you would read your child. Only towards the end the book seemed to outgrow its silliness and show its true potential. Therefore, I'm still unsure what exactly bothered me so much about the book, but in the end I decide to like the magical story and blame the rest on a case of some personal incompatibility.

This was a fun, whimsical, and very silly middle grade book. I enjoyed the concept of the house and the dynamics of the characters, I especially liked Eric the troll. Nine was ok if a little frustrating as a protagonist, but she did have an old head on her young shoulders given her time on the streets. I just found it all a little too silly, and maybe aimed a bit younger than the middle grade I usually read. Overall, I did enjoy it but doubt it'll stick with me for long.

Nine is an orphan and a pickpocket. When she comes across a small house ornament she knocks on the door and finds herself inside. Nine meets people she never would have normally met, and develops trust and kindness. This truly is a magical tale of friendship and problem solving, and has a delicious moral to its story.
If you're looking for a bedtme story, or a tale to read to a class then this is it. You will find yourself transported to another place and become lost in the story and enjoy in the sharing of magic and wonder.


Thank you for allowing me to read this EArc.

Over the past few months, there have been a few books which I have stated here that I would not have read had they not been recommended to me because I hadn’t found the covers appealing. This book, however, is the total opposite – one I read simply because I thought the cover was absolutely gorgeous. After seeing it on Net Galley, I then read the blurb and, thinking it sounded interesting, requested and read it this week.

Not due out until January next year, there has not been much of a buzz about this book yet on Twitter but I suspect that will change in the new year because this is a great story, packed full of magic and with some brilliant moments of humour, which has kept me a very happy reader over the past few evenings.

Petty thief Nine is almost caught as she tries to steal a handbag from a wealthy lady dressed in scarlet at the busy market place. Fleeing the scene, she seeks sanctuary in her safe place: the town library. Here, Nine calms down and is just about to take a book from the shelf when she is discovered by the librarian who reminds her that, as a child without either an address or a guardian, she is not permitted to borrow books before relenting and allowing her to take it.

Returning to the market, she spies the scarlet lady again and on her second attempt at parting the handbag from its owner, spies an ornament falling from it, which she grabs and stows in her satchel before escaping again. On stopping once it is safe to catch her breath, Nine removes the ornament from her bag to examine it more closely and finds that it is a small, very odd-looking house and while playing with it knocks on the front door. At this point, the house bizarrely starts to buzz and shake before growing into a curious, full-sized building. Stunned, Nine is then even more surprised by the house when the door on which she knocked opens and the creature standing there tells her she is late before grabbing her and pulling her inside.

The creature, who Nine discovers is named Eric, is shortly joined by High Wizard Flabberghast and a spoon – appropriately named Dr Spoon – with spindly limbs, dressed in a kilt and brandishing a sword. The house’s strange occupants explain to Nine that they are trapped there by a curse and have been waiting for someone to open the door who will then go on to break the curse and set them free.

While being shown around part of the equally curious interior of the house, Nine comes across a tiny room inside which there is a jewel of immense monetary value, encased within a glowing orb and beyond anyone’s reach. Hoping desperately that Nine will lift the curse, Flabberghast tells her that the jewel will be accessible once everything has been restored to normality and will be hers to do with as she pleases.

Nine, however, decides she wants nothing more to do with the house and leaves, returning to the only home she has ever known – one she shares with Pockets – a Fagin-type gang-master -and an assortment of other thieves. After a run-in with Pockets, and unable to rid herself of thoughts of the cursed house and its occupants, Nine is stunned to find herself manhandled out of the thieves’ den and realises that the only path left open to her is to return to Flabberghast and the others to try to obtain the jewel and try to use it to buy herself a brighter future.

On reaching the house, Nine starts to see the enormity of the task ahead of her and, as the full effect of the curse on both the house and its inhabitants is revealed, is faced with the prospect of the very real possibility of not only being left penniless and homeless but the house being destroyed together with all of those inside…

Nine is a great character – one who has known great hardship and pain in her young life and who longs for freedom from her misery: freedom which she initially only finds in the solace provided by the books she acquires through the sympathetic librarian. Realising that the house offers her the opportunity for a more permanent escape, she battles against the curse at first through entirely selfish motives but as the story progresses she starts to realise that by lifting it, she will be able to help the others as well as herself.

The other players are wonderful too – especially the delightful Eric of whom I grew very fond as the story progressed with his very simplistic way of looking at things and his insistence on calling Nine ‘lady’ throughout. Together with Flabberghast and Spoon, he provides a stark contrast to the characters of Nine and Pockets and together the three residents of the magical house act as one to prompt and support Nine in her quest to remove the curse.

Although I wouldn’t call this a funny book, there are many laughs along the way. I particularly enjoyed the idea of the house’s toilet being ‘missing’ within the confines of the building and the responses of the curse when Nine tries and fails on several occasions to access the tea cupboard. As someone who has a reputation for drinking copious amounts of tea, I fully understood Flabberghast’s distress at being deprived of a brew for three years since the curse was placed but it didn’t stop me chuckling at the importance he placed on this particular aspect of the misfortune visited upon the house’s occupants.

This is such a fun read – one which is eccentric and fast-paced and which will be a hit with confident readers in Year 4 and above. I am certain that a great many of my current Year 5 class and the Year 6s will enjoy reading this but it would also make a great bedtime story to be shared between adults and younger children in Year 4 and even down into Year 3. Huge thanks must go to Net Galley and Walker Books for allowing me to read this ahead of publication

What a wonderful, fast paced and action packed story. It had everything you could want in a children’s story - including a moving toilet!

Nine is an orphan who lives with the particularly mean Pockets. She finds a little house, knocks on the door and it suddenly becomes a full sized house. This is not just any house,though. It’s a magical house with some wonderful inhabitants and they are trapped inside hoping that someone will come along to break the curse.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. It was riotous.

A quirky magical adventure that fizzes with energy and fun. Middle grade readers will love all the house's mischievous tricks, especially the hiding toilet! Nine is a fabulously feisty character and I also have a big soft spot for Mr Downes, the librarian, and Eric the troll..