MIDDLE GRADE FANTASY: The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz
ABOUT THE BOOK
Dastardly deeds aren’t exactly the first things that come to mind when one hears the name “Clementine,” but as the sole heir of the infamous Dark Lord Elithor, twelve-year-old Clementine Morcerous has been groomed since birth to be the best (worst?) Evil Overlord she can be. But everything changes the day the Dark Lord Elithor is cursed by a mysterious rival.
Now, Clementine must not only search for a way to break the curse, but also take on the full responsibilities of the Dark Lord. As Clementine forms her first friendships, discovers more about her own magic than she ever dared to explore, and is called upon to break her father’s code of good and evil, she starts to question the very life she’s been fighting for. What if the Dark Lord Clementine doesn’t want to be dark after all?
REVIEW
Clementine is the daughter of the local Dark Lord. As such she has been properly trained to view the local villagers as servants to be mistreated. In addition, she's learning magic in order to perform dastardly deeds. But Clementine prefers to spend time with the nightmares (skeletal horses) in the barn, or in her secret garden. But after her father is cursed by the Whittle Witch and starts to turn into a wooden puppet for her to whittle away, Clementine is left trying to hold Castle Brack and the farm together. This leads her to do something her father would never approve of : make friends. But even with the help of Sebastian, a local village boy with aspirations of becoming a knight, and Darka, a huntress, stopping the Whittle Witch and saving her home as well as the local unicorn may be more than a reluctant young Dark Lord-in-training can achieve.
I really enjoyed this book. It's full of humor as well as some interesting twists. It's nice to have some secondary characters with plot lines of their own, whose stories meet up with Clementine's leaving all of them changed. It was easy to sympathize with Clementine as she struggled internally between what her father had taught her about being a Dark Lord, and her natural inclinations. While themes of friendship, loyalty, and revenge play out, the touches of humor that Horwitz includes makes the story an easy one to swallow. A delightful book that I can heartily recommend for middle grade fantasy lovers. Definitely a new favorite for me.
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