Reviews for The Ravenmaster's Secret: Escape from the Tower of London

The average rating for The Ravenmaster's Secret: Escape from the Tower of London based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-12-29 00:00:00 Brian Cunningham Ok, I enjoyed this story. It had heart, it had a message, it had the ability to stir my emotions. I also like my kid lit to end the way the stories should end (for me, that usually means don't kill off any characters I like, and generally give me happily ever after--I cannot abide sad stories, especially in kid lit), and this book does give me the ending I wanted. I do sort of have questions in my mind about this book, though. It appealed to me, but I'm an adult. I found the imaginings of the main character to be sweet--I found peace in reading about the daydreams and flights of fancy of childhood. The thing is, the story didn't really move quickly, and there wasn't really anything captivating about it. It was just a good story. As such, I wonder how much it would really speak to or grab the kids it's aimed at (upper elementary aged kids, I believe). I honestly can't imagine too many kids in that age range sticking with this past the first chapter or two. It starts out sedately, and it does ask readers to be a little bit patient while it moves into the main plot. I just don't know how patient young readers are likely to be with their stories. Like Tuck, the raven in this story, today's kids are easily distracted by shiny objects, there are multiple blinking, flashing, noise-making things demanding their attention. Will a good, but quiet story really hold them amongst all that glitz? Hmm... I'm not so sure. Honestly, while I liked the book I can't really imagine myself recommending it to too many kids. Maybe to kids who happen to love anything to do with English history, or to kids who had been on a tour of the Tower of London, but that is just about it. Now, that said, adults who like kid lit, and who like a little sweetness in those stories could do worse than The Ravenmaster's Secret.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-03-30 00:00:00 Chris Nordness This may be a good read and educational, but I can't make myself read it because of one HUGE blunder: it mixes Gaelic with the totally different Lowland Scots language (basically an dialect of English) and calls them both Gaelic. That is so wrong. Here's the beginning of the Lord's Prayer in Lowland Scots (aka "Lallans") "Our Father, wha art in heaven, hallowet be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be dune in yirth as it is in heaven." - you can more or less understand it, if you speak English. Gaelic is a whole different ballgame, derived from Irish Gaelic. Here's the beginning of the same prayer in Gaelic, "Ar n-Athair a tha air nèamh, Gu naomhaichear d' ainm. Thigeadh do rìoghachd. Dèanar do thoil air an talamh, mar a nithear air nèamh." The people who speak these different tongues as natives are different, too, and even have different accents in English.