Today is my stop on the tour for The Whistlers in The Dark by Victoria Williamson. The story is 229 Pages long with quite the adventure set within it, its aimed at young readers but I really enjoyed it as an adult so if you’re interested in the concept then don’t shy away from it just because its suitable for Children.
Firstly, I really liked the artwork on the cover, I think it captures the essence of the book very nicely.
Secondly I liked the writing style. Normally I’m not really one for writing in dialect because I tend to think telling me where a person is from is generally enough for me, but this didn’t feel like it was written to keep reminding the reader that there’s an accent. It’s more there to accommodate the difference between the characters accents and give you more of a feel of the different worlds they come from. It also helps to differentiate which point of view you’re reading from as the character changes each chapter. Especially for young readers I think its important to help them follow the point of view thing because there’s quite a lot of books where its easy to lose the plot of who it is that’s telling you the story and it could be pretty off putting to young readers if they think they’ll get lost each time they pick up a book.
What I really liked here were the characters. The firey Jinny with her rambunctious attitude and inability to live within the lines of what her society deems appropriate, the adventurous but milder mannered Bram and the young Roman Boy born of a Tribal Mother who isn’t quite sure which side of the fence he belongs, Felix.
The set up of characters is really nice, and the story flows extremely well. Once I got the opportunity to sit uninterrupted and enjoy it, I couldn’t put it down. Each of these characters is tested in their own way and each one has their bit of an arc.
I absolutely loved one particular bit but it’s a huge spoiler so I’ll not mention it but I will note this, the description in parts of this book is extremely well written and enough to make a seasoned horror reader like me have the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Don’t worry, its not too scary for the young reader but it is something that really grabbed my attention and I would’ve loved just as much when I was reading as a child. I would definitely recommend this book to readers of all ages, and particularly if you’re a parent you could have story time and enjoy it with your kids!
I definitely would like to check out more Victoria Williamson books in the future as it explores more of the culture and mythology of the highlands than I’ve ever known and its nice to see that part of the world getting some focus.
Rebbie Reviews 