The Sword of Light, a review

The Sword of Light by Caroline Logan is the third book of four in the Four Treasures series. A Scottish YA Fantasy series that I absolutely adore. I was lucky enough to be gifted this book by Cranachan Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

With where Logan left off at the end of book two there was a lot to live up to, and boy did she manage it! There is even more (amazing) character development here, not only from those that we’ve been following in books one and two, but also from the new characters we’re introduced to.

We explore the world even further in this book, travelling around via submarine (yes, submarine) to so many different locations and meeting so many people through the Isles of Ossiana.

As you know, I’m writing this review a while after I actually read the book (I read this at the start of October 21) and it’s being published only a day after my review of book two (which you can find here) so there isn’t too much more that I can say without delving into spoiler territory.

For My CAWPILE rating I gave this book: Characters: 10, Atmosphere: 9, Writing: 9, Plot: 9, Intrigue: 9, Logic: 9, and Enjoyment: 10 which gives a 9.29 rating and a 5* read!

This book was amazing. The cliffhanger has left me on the edge of my seat, I adored all of the character development (I stg if Maalik and Angus don’t stop being absolute imbeciles), and I am ridiculously excited for book four and absolutely furious that I’ve got to wait until October! Although I guess that’s my 26th Birthday present sorted!!

Artwork on every page

This book. This book. What a first read of the year, and the decade! The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse by Charlie Mackesy was gifted to me by a long time friend and I am so so grateful to her for it. I had seen this book floating around, but hadn’t planned on picking it up for myself unless it popped up somewhere secondhand.

I’m so happy that this wasn’t the case. The artwork for this book is absolutely gorgeous, it’s deceptively detailed despite the “rough” appearance and Mackesy’s skill is undeniable. On top of this beautiful artwork, which I would happily hang on my walls, is the wonderful messages on each page.

When people say that this book is good for 8 to 80, they are accurate. These home truths are a good lesson for the younger readers amongst us, but they’re also a good reminder for older readers and their charm is in their simplicity and their honesty.

 

 

I really do recommend picking this book up. It will be a quick read, due to its nature, and you have nothing to lose ;). Have I persuaded you yet? I hope so!

 

From the eyes of a pilot, the Battle of Britain

 

My wonderful boyfriend bought me this book around two and a half years ago now, as a small present, and I’ve finally gotten around to reading it! I picked it up on Remembrance Day (11th November) and finished it a little while later as the text was a lot smaller than I had anticipated!! I still did really enjoy this book, however, with the insight from Flight Officer Tom Neil who brought down 19 enemy planes during the Battle of Britain and survived to tell his story.

This is not a somber book. There are of course moments of death and mourning, but Neil chooses not to linger on them, and in all it is quite a positive attitude that prevails throughout. Learning more about the contributions that the RAF (Royal Air Force) made at that time was incredibly interesting as despite being a self confessed lover of WWII based books, I haven’t read much from the RAF point of view and therefore was quite lacking in knowledge about the topic. Thanks to this book, I now know a lot more, and it keeps you interested and hooked.

Neil writes well, and that of course is a main component, but also, the personal touches that are shown. The little habits of the boys, how they lived each day, what they worried about and joked about. Knowing that those were real, they weren’t fabricated from knowledge of the time, they were what Tom and his friends were really talking and thinking about. It makes it all so much more real. Despite how long ago this was, it really brought me right there with them in a way that I haven’t really experienced before.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone British, to learn more about the contributions of the RAF to the Battle of Britain in a more personal manner than a textbook could portray, and also to anyone interested in the era. This is definitely a good book to add to your repertoire and one which will provide you with much information. I gave it 4.5*