Guest Review: The Book of Dead Days (Book of Dead Days #1) by Marcus Sedgwick

Reviewed by: Millie
Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
Published: 3rd May 2004
Publisher: Orion Childrens
Source: Bought
Genre: YA Fantasy
Buy: Amazon UK I Amazon US I Book Depository

Description:
The days between 27 December and New Year's Eve are dead days - days when spirits roam and magic shifts restlessly just beneath the surface of our everyday lives. There is a man, Valerian, whose time is running out, who must pay the price for the pact he made with evil so many years ago. His servant is Boy, a child with no name and no past; a child he treats with contempt, but who serves his master well and finds solace in the company of his only friend, Willow. Unknown to any of them it is Boy who holds the key to their destiny. Set in dark threatening cities and the frozen countryside in a distant time and place of the author's making, 'The Book of Dead Days' conjures a spell-binding story of sorcery and desperate magic as Valerian, Boy and Willow battle to stop time and cling to life. Beautifully evoked, dramatic and emotionally powerful, this is a real page turner.

I wasn’t too keen on The Book of Dead Days what I first started to read it as nothing grabbed my attention, but I decided to power through and after the first few chapters I was rewarded for my effort. Suddenly there was something that I could enjoy unfolding on the pages inform of me and I didn’t want it to end. Boy begins as a naïve child who only knows of the things around him and nothing else but he grows through the book learning of the good and evil in everything. Willow knows what she is doing with her life but does not enjoy it and jumps at the chance of adventure, she is the slight love interest of the book but because Boy does not know of real love he has no idea. They both follow Boy’s master dutifully and do not ask questions as to what the real purpose of their journey is until it’s too late for them to back out. Though the beginning is a bit slow The Book of Dead Days is a novel with many twists to keep you entertained.