Spoiler-Free Review: Toby Gentle and the Winter Assassin by C.G.Hickling Hey! I've had so many reviews to do in the past weeks and I'm finally catching up now, so this one is a bit late. I received a copy of Toby Gentle and the Winter Assassin by C.G.Hickling from Burst Publishing for review. A big thank you to Burst Publishing! *I received a free copy of the book in trade for an honest review.* I'm really excited to get into this review and tell you all about Toby Gentle because as you can probably guess, I really enjoyed it. Carry on reading! Toby Gentle and the Winter Assassin by C.G. Hickling Genre(s) - Middle Grade, Fantasy Date Started - 28/1/2018 Date Finished - 30/1/2018 Synopsis: Toby Gentle is about to discover when the North Wind blows, it will change his life forever. An unexpected visitor arriving on Christmas Eve, a shocking revelation, and a summons to Silverbells – a mysterious military academy – is just the start. With a new danger threatening the world, Toby must uncover a dark plot, stop an assassin, and find out who he really is - all while trying to make the Mushing team! Toby Gentle and the Winter Assassin is the first book in a new children's fantasy series by debut author C.G. Hickling. Young and older readers will enjoy discovering his new world of magical snow globes, talking reindeer, blue Ye’ti, psychotic warrior penguins and Figgypud’s chocolates - all set in the wintery backdrop of the North. Review "When you hold a book, you hold a universe in your fingertips." - Toby Gentle and the Winter Assassin This is the first book of a new series, featuring our main character, Toby. Toby hasn't had the best start in life and is living on Bluebell farm with the Gentles. They're not kind people at all, but luckily for him, he's not alone and has his siblings to keep him company. The Gentles don't allow the kids to celebrate Christmas, yet Toby can't help but get excited at the time of year as he hopes maybe that year will be different. There's a surprise one night and Toby is introduced to a whole new world, better than anything he could've imagined. However, it still does have it's problems. From the start I felt a connection to Toby. I couldn't help but love and care for him, maybe that's partly because of how little love and care he gets. I felt like I was following him on his journey, cheering him on. The idea of the story was another thing that I loved. I know not everyone celebrates it, but I do love that time of year with all the festive feelings. A book all about Christmas, what else was there for me to want?! I do wish I'd read it in the run up to Christmas, like I'd originally planned because it definitely would've put me in the most festive mood. When Toby gets introduced to this magical world, the writing was so detailed that I felt all the feelings he felt. The excitement, the hope, but also the sadness he felt at leaving his siblings and the whole situation being just a bit too overwhelming. With the introduction of the new world, Toby is also introduced to a new family. This is where Donny, Dash and Declan were introduced. I loved these three brothers, especially Dash who I had a soft spot for. They welcomed Toby in and the bond between them continued to grow throughout the story, especially between Toby and Dash. The character development between these two was done amazingly well and by the end, I'd almost forgotten they hadn't known each other forever. When Silverbells Academy is introduced, the magical level doubles. It's like Hogwarts but all Christmassy! What's more to love?! I loved reading about the lessons and the new things Toby discovered as well as the new friendships he developed. The characters we met along the way were brilliantly done and they all had something different to them. I enjoyed getting to know them all. There were some huge moments in this book and I found myself on the edge of my seat, urging Toby and Dash on. The pair teamed up and the partnership was brilliant. There was so much excitement and if it wasn't for my need of sleep, I would've easily stayed up all night to finish this. One thing that I would've loved to see more of was world building. I felt that we knew all about the characters and the lessons, but we didn't get as clear details about the school and the world. You get little snippets of information here and there, but I wanted to hear more about the history, world and the school. I'm hoping more of this might be in the rest of the series. Overall, I absolutely adored this book. It took me on a magical Christmas adventure and gave me the escapism I desired. I can't wait for the rest of the series to be released, especially after the cliffhanger this book ended on. I can't wait to see what other adventures Toby and his friends will go on next. I'd definitely recommend this book to young children, but I feel it's one that a person of any age will get at least a bit of enjoyment out of. Rate - 4.5/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28117725-toby-gentle-and-the-winter-assassin?ac=1&from_search=true BD - https://www.bookdepository.com/Toby-Gentle-and-the-Winter-Assassin-C-G-Hickling/9780993511813 BYE!
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AuthorHello and welcome to Books With Beth! I'm Beth and on this blog I share a mix of all my bookish thoughts through reviews, book tours and hauls. Have fun! Categories
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