Dear bookish friends!
A few weeks ago I took part in Dave’s (you know, the wizard behind every book lovers’ favourite book blogger gang on Twitter, TheWriteReads) blog tour for The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips. It’s a middle grade book about a five hundred year old man who doesn’t want to grow old, an ever-hungry beast that starts to want human food (and I mean that in the literal sense of the word), and a young orphan girl who may not be the best behaved, but still has a big heart – even though you may not see it at first…or for a while. In short, this was a book that I absolutely adored, from the first to the final page. If you want, you can check out my review here to find out just how much I loved it!
This massive TheWriteReads blog tour is still ongoing, and since the book will be out in stores in a few days (on the 1st of October, to be precise), I thought I’d do a little spotlight for it to remind you all to mark that day in your calendars, so you can storm your nearest bookshop and get it, or preorder it now! This book (as well as the lovely and laugh-out-loud funny author) deserves all the love, so here’s another little boost! Oh, and before I forget, do you want to read an author interview I was lucky enough to do with Jack? Grab some tissues first though, because you might cry tears from laughing so much! And no, I’m not exaggerating! You can read it and see for yourself here.
Now, what’s this book about?
The most exciting new children’s book of 2020 and a modern classic in the making.The Beast and the Bethanyhas all the classic macabre humour of Roald Dahl with the warmth and charm of Despicable Me, finished off with a gleeful bite of Little Shop of Horrors! This book should be on every little monster’s birthday and Christmas list.
Ebenezer Tweezer is a youthful 511-year-old. He keeps a beast in the attic of his mansion, who he feeds all manner of things (including performing monkeys, his pet cat and the occasional cactus) and in return the beast vomits out presents for Ebenezer, as well as potions which keep him young and beautiful. But the beast grows ever greedier, and soon only a nice, juicy child will do. So when Ebenezer encounters orphan Bethany, it seems like (everlasting) life will go on as normal. But Bethany is not your average orphan…
Does this sound good or what?!
Before I leave you to preorder this book now, I just have to add how much I loved the illustrations in it, on top of everything else. They added a nice visual touch to this highly visual story (Ebenezer is such a shallow character in the beginning, it’s all about his physical beauty, and I loved seeing how the illustrations reinforce that).
Even though it is a bit darker and also macabre at times, I think every child will love this story – but so will every adult! That’s the beauty of middle grade books – they are usually for everybody!
I can really, 100%, highly recommend The Beast and the Bethany to everyone who likes reading. Check it out!
Thank you all so much for reading!
xoxo
Noly
