The Revenge of the Witch

The Revenge of the Witch

By: Joseph Delaney

For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty-nine apprentices have tried—some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive. Only Thomas Ward is left. He's the last hope, the last apprentice.

This is the first book of The Last Apprentice series. I think this series currently has 11 books out, with two more coming out in the next few months of this year.

I really loved this book. I have a feeling that I'm going to fall in love with this series. Tom is just so adorable and little and brave. He's a genuinely good kid. He beats an extremely dangerous witch without even a big deal. He's just like, "yeah, this is my new job. I like it." It kept making me smile.
Alice is hard to read in this book, but I know that she'll end up with some great development as the series goes on.

The spook is pretty dang awesome. He's the typical master-mentor type of character, but is it just me or does that archtype NEVER get old when done well. (I mean, think about it, Brom, Dumbledore, Chiron, and all the other greats).

Tom's Mam is interesting. You know that something is different about her because they mention it enough times. I want to keep reading to figure out what it is.

Well, that's all I've got to say about this particular book. Just that I'm excited to be starting this series because I think it's going to become something lovely.

**Side note: I'm realizing this year my deep love for middle-grade books. There is something so refreshing about them. Mostly because they're stories about young kids dealing with all kinds of stuff and learning about the world. (and partially because there is a delightful absence of angst). This book did give a distinctly Percy-Jackson-ish vibe. Not in plot or world-building or anything, just in that it's an adventure series that is all about telling kids great stories, and that's wonderful.

Quotes:

“He who never makes a mistake never makes anything. It's part of learning the job.”  

“You never know just what you can do until you try.”