Wednesday 10 October 2007

***GUEST REVIEW *** MUNGO***

We are honoured to have the following guest review from Mungo


Lottie the Half Vampire by Valinora Troy

A review, by Mungo, DNOTY 2006


It is strange to see Valinora Troy’s name associated with something other than The Lucky Diamond, but it is true, your eyes have not deceived you. Lottie the Half Vampire is the first book in her new children’s series and, like those annoying wood preservative ads on the television; it does exactly what it says on the tin. This book introduces Lottie, a preteen human girl who lives with her widowed mother, older sister and West Highland White terrier, a perfectly ordinary girl it would seem, except that her father is a vampire. Not that Lottie knows that. This book is well written, as you might expect, and there are plenty of genuinely scary and suspenseful moments. Lottie is likeable, for a girl, and while it is a human-centric tale, the animals are represented in the form of her dog, Mac, and a large white cat that stalks her.

Now, this leads to the only gripe I have with this novel, and it is a big one. This massive white cat has magical powers, is malevolent and is pretty cool, except for his name. He is called Ungom. Now, any one with any sense will realise that only a creature of light could have a name with such a delightful choice of letters, no matter what the arrangement. This must mean that Ungom is either 1. An agent for good in disguise or 2. Valinora Troy made a serious mistake in naming the character. Of course, it couldn’t be the latter, in which case I look forward to future titles to discover how Ungom’s secret scheme unfolds.

3 comments:

Mungo said...

Brilliant review, excellent, excellent, lovely picture too.

Valpot said...

Thank you for the lovely review, Mungs - and I also love the photo of you.

One point I would like to raise re the name of the cat. Take the following 5 letters - g m n o u - there is one perfect arrangement of them: MUNGO. All other arrangements of the letters are meaningless, or so I believe.

Mango said...

What a wonderful fantastic absolutely great photo! Mungo you're the best ever!!