Nine lives with a gang of pickpockets. Indebted to a ragged gangmaster named Pockets, Nine throws caution to the wind to bring back ‘pretty shinies’ and plunges into deep magic when she steals a charmed ornament from a mysterious red-cloaked lady. The tiny ornament miraculously transforms into an eleven-storey building filled with enchanted creatures and all sorts of magical mayhem. Nine, never one to shy away from a challenge, begins a quest for the shiny-to-beat-all-shinies in exchange for breaking the spell that holds the curious inhabitants hostage.

The story is as charming as its characters, headed by the hopscotch champion wizard Flabberghast. There are anthropomorphic kitchen utensils, a Troll with questionable culinary skills, enchanted cupboards and a skeleton with abandonment issues. And what is that orange ooze dripping from ceiling? Nine is a hard-headed go-getter, unafraid of a challenge. When life gives her caustic bat poo, she springs to action with cat-like precision. She is smart and kind and, best of all, loves a library.

This is a comic fantasy for middle-grade readers, full of action and intensity in all the right places. It has all the sass of Roald Dahl, the charm of Disney’s Beauty and the beast and the wit and wickedness of the world of Harry Potter. The house at the end of magic would be fun to share at bedtimes with younger children, or as a chapter book for confident readers.

What a great name for an author of children's magical realism! Amy Sparkes is intuitive and funny and definitely knows how to spin a yarn! This is her debut middle-grade book and a brilliant one. Ms Sparkes's characters are loveable and imaginable and the plot flies like a magic carpet. She has certainly built a world of imagination to delight many readers.

‘Sometimes you are a whisper away from magic without even realising it,’ Nine wisely observes. And lucky for us, there’s a sequel brewing!

Brilliantly funny!

I read this book with my son at bedtime and he loved it! His favourite character is definitely Eric, the troll who loves his feather duster! Mine was Dr Spoon!

The story follows Nine, an orphan girl who is looking for her freedom. After stealing an ornament she discovers it is actually an enchanted house. Nine must choose whether to help the inhabitants - a hopscotch loving wizard, a housekeeping troll, and a wooden spoon who loves inventing - break the curse put on the house.

The story is hysterically funny and will bring a smile to your face!

First of all, the cover! How awesome is the cover? I love all things magical and wonderful and this cover is certainly both of those things. I love filling my bookshelf with books that one day my kids will enjoy and these are definitely the type of books I want to share with them. Fingers crossed they will be bookworms like me!

My first thought after, 'how amazing is the cover?' once I'd read the book was, 'WOW! How creative is Amy Sparkes?' In fact I'm pretty sure I said that after very chapter! This book is quirky, imaginative, spooky, magical, fun and emotional. I really want to be able to write like this one day!!! Seriously, it's such a wonderful concept with so much incredible detail. The characters, the plot, the house, the world, everything just came to life on the pages and it was simply Magic! I can definitely imagine young readers gobbling this story up like I did with Harry Potter when I was eight or nine.

As I go through Amy's list of books, I'm making a list for my school, as I feel our library needs a new dose of books and I think the older year groups would love this. It's funny, with just the right amount of creepy that will keep them entertained and spooked, which I feel like kids love these days! I used to be scared of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas,' but that's just me! :p

The message of finding a place to call home and letting your guard down to let people in was very well done. Not to mention that Nine was a very, very strong female lead that I think girls will feel quite empowered by. The idea of getting more kids into books and them finding that first one that makes them love to read is so special to me. I can definitely see a lot of kids doing that with 'The House At The Edge Of Magic!'

Dive in, laugh, discover a new world and be one step closer to magic, in this gorgeous book from Amy Sparkes!

This was such a lovely, fun read. I absolutely loved the little illustrations above each chapter and the front cover is lovely. This is full of silly, ridiculous magical moments with sweet characters. I absolutely loved the opening page and it ties in so lovely with the end. The only thing I did miss was the building of character relationships as this was a little thin. I think a little more time could have been spent on this as it did drag slightly on occasions. However it was a lot of fun.

This was a really lovely book. The plot doesn’t go stale, it just keeps going and going, with some excellent twists!

I really like the main character Nine, but you can’t help but also love all of the characters (and they certainly are!) in the house.

I’d really like to discover more about Nine, and I really want to know what she gets up to next. I feel this has huge scope..

My thanks to Netgalley and Walker Books for the copy

Well, I don't know where Amy Sparkes gets all her amazing ideas, but she definitely has an incredible imagination! Just when you're surprised at the characters, events or objects that you meet & are feeling 'wow!', along comes another surprise.
With names like Nine & Flabberghast you just know there's going to be some fascinating elements in this quirky story.

An orphan, a Troll housekeeper with long toenails, a wooden spoon in a kilt, a young wizard & a notice board with fangs just to name a few definitely mind-boggling characters! They all come to life, jump off the page & weave such an adventure, beautifully wrapped in Amy Sparkes' words.

A quickly-evolving story keeps the reader hooked whilst the magic & humour makes the story move from one exciting moment to the next with a super & perfect pace.
Plum coloured hallways & a clock with 15 numbers, & indigo pyjamas with purple fluffy slippers can all be found in lovely detail in this fun story.
The cover art is very eye-catching & gives a nod to the magical ornament house that features as a huge element of the story.

Standing up for yourself is one of the messages to be found here & letting people into your world can be more than ok. It's also fantastic to have such a book with the bonus of a very strong female lead character.

There's so much detail in this story & the flowing writing style makes all the elements work together without being confusing. Even strawberries feature as a very special detail in this story but you'll have to *make yourself a tea* & read the book to find out why!

This story really reminded me of Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree books. I loved the idea of a magical house with many different rooms and was desperate to find out what lay beyond each door
This is a cute story and I enjoyed it. The characters are all quirky and fun and you warm to them really quickly. This is the kind of story where your imagination can run wild and for a couple of hours and you can escape into a world of house keeping trolls, ancient high wizards and a sword waving spoon.

Nine is a thief who loves the rush of adrenaline just before making a grab for treasure. When we meet her, she is having a bad day, not managing to steal anything, Heading “home” empty handed is not great as she is expected to bring home stolen treasure to sell for food. She must explain her empty hands to the boss, who holds her most prized possession hostage while she is under his roof and command.
When the same fate nearly befalls her again the next day, Nine becomes desperate and grasps at anything at all. Running away and hiding in an alleyway. Nine is surprised to see that her treasure is a small ornamental house. Disappointed, she knocks at the tiny door with its door knocker.
What she is unprepared for is the house growing, stretching and fitting into the alleyway where she is currently hiding.
Inside the house are some strange characters, mysteries and a curse. Nine is not sure she is the right person to help the inhabitants and so leaves. She dithers over her decision and comes back to the house. She is a tough character, one who shows little compassion or heart so perhaps she is not the person to break the curse on the house.
What she will discover is that she has a huge heart, more courage than she imagined and the power to do great things.
An entirely enchanting and imaginative book, I loved Nine and seeing the journey and adventure she goes on within the story.

It has been a while since I finished a book in a day! I couldn’t put The House at the Edge of Magic down, what a magical, lovely middle-grade novel this was!

In The House at the Edge of Magic we meet Nine, a young orphan girl thieving her way through the day. One day she steals a magic little house from someone, which quickly turns into a giant eleven-story mansion and sucks her into a quest to break the curse that has locked the wizard Flabberghast in his magical house. She now has to break the curse, together with this wizard, a walking and talking spoon called Mr. Spoon and a troll called Eric.

This book has adventure, magic, excitement and a wonderful cast of colorful characters. It’s written very well, is both funny and serious, and holds some very valuable lessons. I would definitely recommend this book to any middle-grader.

This was such a refreshing book to read! Whilst I think it was probably a little bit too young for me I cannot fault it. I love how easy it is to read. I literally devoured it within an hour sitting. Once I started I did not want to put it down! I really enjoyed the premise of a cursed house, and how it was actually cured, also the reason behind it which we discover at the end. It wasn’t anything over the top and it made for a very interesting read, even as an adult.

I loved all the different mythical creatures and the premise behind them also. I’m a sucker for a mythical creature, especially a dragon which I got a small glimpse of in the book. I liked the idea that those who are stuck in the house due to the curse are guarded by different mythical creatures depending on the day of the week. I thought that this was a really unique idea! Also the idea that the house moves thanks to a toads tongue, this really gave me Terry Pratchett Discworld vibes which I am 100% here for. It took me by surprise when I first discovered this part!

I absolutely loved Nine from the moment that I met her, she is clearly going through and has been through a very hard time but her prior is still so high. I love her sarcasm, the way that she stands up for what she believes in and doesn’t take any rubbish from anybody. She is such a good role model for the target audience of this book. Eric, oh Eric I love him so so much. I need a troll housekeeper, especially one like Eric. In fact I just want Eric please. Have I used his name enough times in the last few sentences.

I loved the added extras that made me laugh throughout. The fact that nobody has had a cup of tea in 3 years because they can’t open the tea cupboard without something disastrous happening due to the curse. Or the hopscotch championship. If anybody can tell me how to play wizard hopscotch and where I can play it I would really appreciate it.

Whilst, as previously stated, this book is definitely a little bit too young for me I really did enjoy it. I liked the humour, the mystery and the characters. I would definitely recommend that people pick it up, more so those with young children.

But just remember ...

“Sometimes life does give you strawberries”

This is a fun and silly middle grade fantasy reminiscent of the Nevermoor series. The magic house and the characters who live there are wacky and ridiculous and will have young readers laughing out loud. Through the silliness of the story comes a message of belonging and resilience, which makes the reader really empathise with Nine and her life circumstances.

Unfortunately, the book focuses so much on being outrageous and quirky that the actual plot and characters are left rather undeveloped. There is nothing particularly original or striking about the characters or the plot and I think I will soon forget both.

Having said that, I can see this being a hit with middle grade readers. It is fun and fast-paced and short enough to appeal to reluctant readers. I will be purchasing a couple of copies for my library.

This one was soooo cute. I just love it. It is just perfect little read I love Nine.
Just perfect for kids.
4 stars read. 💕💕💕💕

What a really great tale of magic and mystery, set in a Victorian style setting. the main character is destitute and is a bit like a female artful dodger, complete with her own 'Fagin', called Pockets. How she tries to escape this life by helping a very flighty magician to overcome a spell that has trapped him in his home, makes for a funny and at times quite tense story. this is highly recommended and I look forward to the promised sequel..

A fun and lively read, bursting with magic and originality.

Nine is an orphan living a miserable life as a pickpocket. Without family or friends, she must steal to survive. A chance encounter with a mysterious woman leaves her with a stolen ornament, which transforms into the most random and eclectic house filled with a bizarre bunch of creatures. Can Nine help defeat the curse that is holding the house hostage or will she lose herself along the way?

The House on the Edge of Magic is an enjoyable read, brimming with creativity and imagination. It is short and relatively simple and would be a perfect read for fans of The Nothing to See Here Hotel. It’s a fantasy story, packed with adventure and comedy. I would recommend it for readers aged 7 upwards.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Magical, really quick read, super fun and really funny! Hope there's going to be another like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

||THE HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF MAGIC||
This is about an independent, steel-hearted, thieving girl, who goes by Nine, as she stumbles across a stolen good that unbelievably transforms into the most mystifying of houses. This definitely reminded me of Howls Moving Castle and little aspects of Oliver twist.
In this strange house lives a lively group of eccentric characters including a housekeeping troll. a talking wooden spoon and an enthusiastic wizard all cursed to never step out of the blasphemous house.
A fast-paced middle grade book for young readers, especially for beginners, as the writing is supremely easy to get pulled into, about an exciting adventure where nine and her (she would never admit it) friends race against time to get rid of the curse before the witch catches them and shrinks them into non-existence.
This was so exciting and fun to read, I read it in one day ad truly loved how it ended. Throughout the story is the realization of fighting for the life you deserve and learning to accept people for their quirkiness. I cant to wait to read the next book

||THANK YOU NETGALLEY AND PUBLISHER FOR GIVING ME THE CHANCE TO READ AND REVIEW THIS BOOK||