Saturday 5 November 2016

Book Review - Falling Leaves and Fireworks by Chrissie Manby

Amazon UK
Title: Falling Leaves and Fireworks
Author: Chrissie Manby
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Purchased
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publication Date: 13th September 2016
Rating: 5 Stars


Sparklers, bonfires, trick-or-treating... autumn has arrived!

The thirty-first of October usually marks the start of the party season in the Benson Edwards household but, having recently lost his beloved cat Fishy, little Jack, aged eight, isn't ready to celebrate. When the rest of the Bensons and their neighbours decide to throw a Halloween fancy-dress bash in an attempt to cheer Jack up, however, not everything goes to plan as Mark and Ronnie play a ghostly prank which inadvertently sparks a local scandal. By the time Bonfire Night rolls around, will their neighbourhood relations be up in in smoke? And will Jack have rediscovered his sparkle?

Falling Leaves and Fireworks had me on the verge of tears right near the start of the story, and had me smiling towards the end. And during the story I was frankly slightly scared as I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween, and there was a lot of talk of ghosts and spirits.  However I am sceptical as well, so was able to take it all with a pinch of salt. 

I was delighted to be reunited with the Benson Edwards family, and as a massive fan of the series to date, I loved that Jack was the clear focus of this short story. I think this could easily be read as a standalone story, but for you to love it to its full, reading at least one of the other books in the series may help just to get a feel for all the family dynamics. 

This whole short takes place from just before Halloween until Fireworks night, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I loved the focus on the Benson's pet cat Fishy as almost everything that occurs is directly the result of something to do with Fishy. 

Falling Leaves and Fireworks is a very welcome snapshot at how the Bensons are getting on this autumn, and even for a brief time it was a pleasure to be reunited with them. 

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