Author: Fred Holmes
Series: -
Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Publisher: -
Source: Kindle Edition
Pages: 205
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SYNOPSIS: Fourteen-year-old Hannah Bradbury loved her father so much that she worried about him constantly. After all, he was a photographer who traveled to the most dangerous places in the world.
To allay her fears, each time he came home he brought her silly gifts, each one with supposed magical powers: the Seal of Solomon, the Ring of Gyges, even Aladdin’s Lamp. It was that lamp Hannah found the most unbelievable, for it looked like an ugly teapot. Nevertheless, her father assured her it was real, and made her promise to save her three wishes for something very special.
Then . . . six months later . . . the unthinkable happened. Her father was killed while on assignment to Baghdad. And so on the day of his funeral Hannah did something she never thought she would ever do.
She took out that teapot and gave it a rub . . .
The Ugly Teapot by Fred Holmes is a timeless tale, filled with magic and adventure. More importantly, it will make you believe in the overwhelming power of love.
I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
To be honest I didn't have any specific expectations... I knew it was a fantasy book related to Aladdin but I didn't know what to expect.
THE WORLD: It is our normal world but all the legends and myths about "magical objects" such as Aladdin's lamp are true. It takes place in Green Park, Tennessee, and the middle east.
CHARACTERS: The main character is Hannah Bradbury, whose father recently passed away and she's mourning and dealing with her loss. She has a dog which can talk called Griffer "Griff" and she doesn't think it is weird at all... her dog has always been able to telecommunicate with her so weird? nah, what does that word mean?
Anyway, Hannah's story begins when she discovers that the "ugly teapot" her father gave her from one of his journeys (he's a photographer) is actually Aladdin's lamp and that the genie can grant her 3 wishes. Of course, she wishes for her father to come back to life but she doesn't specify where and the genie takes the liberty to send her father to the middle east... therefore Hannah decides to go find her father and at the same time return Aladdin's lamp back to the cave where it belongs and use her 3rd wish to set the genie free.
Meanwhile, Hannah's mother Vivian is very worried about her but somehow misses her daughter's disappearance for a while... magic.
As every other book, what is a fantasy book without a villain? In this book we have The Magician and his evil followers trying to steal Hannah's lamp and use it to gain powers and return to Earth.
Anyway, Hannah's story begins when she discovers that the "ugly teapot" her father gave her from one of his journeys (he's a photographer) is actually Aladdin's lamp and that the genie can grant her 3 wishes. Of course, she wishes for her father to come back to life but she doesn't specify where and the genie takes the liberty to send her father to the middle east... therefore Hannah decides to go find her father and at the same time return Aladdin's lamp back to the cave where it belongs and use her 3rd wish to set the genie free.
Meanwhile, Hannah's mother Vivian is very worried about her but somehow misses her daughter's disappearance for a while... magic.
As every other book, what is a fantasy book without a villain? In this book we have The Magician and his evil followers trying to steal Hannah's lamp and use it to gain powers and return to Earth.
LOVE: There is no love in this book. There is an insta-crush though.
PLUS: The plotwist at the end. I don't know why I liked it so much... it just changed the whole book, it put the story upside down and I liked that. I also liked that there were lots of action scenes, sometimes even too rushed but they made the book lighter to read.
Another plus was the moral of the story. The message behind saying that playing with the past always brings consequences to the present and the future.
MINUS: Major minus is that this book is middle grade... no matter how good or bad it's not really my age range so it is difficult to judge because most of the times I am way ahead of the character (I always think they're quite stupid) and it is not so fun when you know what is going to happen or when the main character gets distracted mentioned how much she likes X or loves Y blah blah.
Another minus is that there were a couple of things that didn't make sense to me and although things are explain in the end it still didn't satisfy me as much as it should have. Nonetheless the plotwist was enjoyable and I must say, unexpected. I didn't think it would turn in that direction.
OVERALL: 3 stars. If it was in my age range I would give it 4 stars since I think it's a fantasy book middle graders might enjoy but anyway it wasn't too bad.
Another plus was the moral of the story. The message behind saying that playing with the past always brings consequences to the present and the future.
MINUS: Major minus is that this book is middle grade... no matter how good or bad it's not really my age range so it is difficult to judge because most of the times I am way ahead of the character (I always think they're quite stupid) and it is not so fun when you know what is going to happen or when the main character gets distracted mentioned how much she likes X or loves Y blah blah.
Another minus is that there were a couple of things that didn't make sense to me and although things are explain in the end it still didn't satisfy me as much as it should have. Nonetheless the plotwist was enjoyable and I must say, unexpected. I didn't think it would turn in that direction.
OVERALL: 3 stars. If it was in my age range I would give it 4 stars since I think it's a fantasy book middle graders might enjoy but anyway it wasn't too bad.
What did you guys think about THE UGLY TEAPOT?
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