"Cassandra" is your normal, average, eleven-year-old school-girl...except she has pointy ears. She carries a backpack all the time, because her motto is "be prepared".
Also, Cassandra isn't her real name.
Cassandra and her colloborator Max-Ernest (a small, hyper, non-stop-talking boy whose name really isn't Max-Ernest) are thrown into a dangerous predicament when a real-estate agent drops off the box called "Symphony of Smells" to Cassandra's surrogate uncles. Cassandra is curious about the death of the magician, to whom the Symphony belonged, and when she and Max-Ernest go to investigate the house they come face-to-face with the eerie Ms. Mauvais and strange Dr. L, who are after a certain journal that contains a dark...Secret.
Cassandra and Max-Ernest manage to keep the journal away from Ms. Mauvais and Dr. L long enough to discover the message hidden "underneath" the journal's pages. They are clever and plucky enough to rescue a classmate, Benjamin Blake, a unique boy with "synethesia" (the gift to see things as a mixture of colours, smells, and sounds), from a dismal fate.
This book started out very, very deliciously, with an intriguing twist of writing-style and a delightfully confusing plot. I felt that the end kind of got a little too weird, but I want to read the second book in the series, to see if I really do like the books.
I recommend this book at least for a one-time read. It's got a good pace and intriguing style. It wasn't until the very end that I felt a little disappointed.
My Rating:
* * * * *
I definitely agree with your review, Cat. The writing was amazing. The narrator had a personality all his own! (I especially loved those adorable little things like "THE END" filling up the entire page, and then on the next page, "NO NOT REALLY.")
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree that the end got a little weird. It did for me, too, so while I enjoyed it, I don't think I would recommend it to my little sisters.
Me and my older sister both agreed that Owen should have been in it more. He was the most fun!