Wednesday 24 October 2012

Review: School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari



Title: School of Fear
Author: Gitty Daneshvari
Publisher: Atom
Published: August 2012
ISBN: 978 1907411663

Rating: 3/5

The School of Fear is talked about only in hushed voices behind closed doors with the radio on in the background as it is very secret, and very exclusive.

Each child from the front cover has their own fear – fear of water, death, small spaces and insects & spiders.  Their parents are at their wits end, so have taken the drastic measures to enlist their children into this top secret School of Fear in the hopes that it will cure their children, just as the glossy brochure says so.

Mrs Wellington comes over as a complete loon with a radical and very specific way of dealing with fears and teaching her students to overcome them. 

<<<<spoiler>>>
A fake plot ensues, which means the children have to face their fears head on – as a parent reading this, I’m glad this book is for entertainment value only ;p  I would be horrified if my little lovelies were put through this !

I have mixed feelings about this book to be honest, I know it will cause young readers to be laughing out loud in places, and no doubt grimacing a lot.  For me, the plot was predictable although entertaining along the way.  The characters were varied, but I didn’t feel as if I really knew them individually that well.  My favourite character from this is certainly Mrs Wellington and her out of the box persona!

Book synopsis:
Madeleine Masterson is deathly afraid of bugs
Theodore Bartholomew is petrified of dying
Lulu Punchalower is scared of confined spaces
Garrison Feldman is terrified of deep water
Which is why this may be the scariest summer of their lives. The foursome must face their phobias head-on as students at the exclusive and elusive School of Fear. There is no homework and there are no exams. But if they don't conquer their fears by the end of the course, they'll find out just how frightening failing can be.

Source - Many thanks to the publisher, a copy was recieved in retunr for an honest review.

No comments: