Title: The demon notebook
Author: Erika McGann
Release Date: 3rd
September 2012
Publisher: O’Brien Press
Grace and her four
best friends, Jenny, Rachel, Adie and Una, are failed witches – and they have a
notebook full of useless spells to prove it.
But one night, they
stumble upon real magical powers – and their notebook takes on a diabolical
life of its own.
The girls watch,
helpless, as, one by one, their spells start to work, moving relentlessly
towards the worst one of all ...
Can Grace and her friends stem the wave of powerful magic ... before
tragedy strikes?
When Grace and her friends decide to perform a Ouija board
at school during a full moon, they are convinced that nothing will come of it
as all of their previous attempts at casting spells have been a waste of time.
However, when the spells the girls have cast begin to work, the friends realise
that they may have finally unleashed power... but at what cost? Una is behaving
strangely and it is only a matter of time before the spells get out of hand and
what started as a joke could be potentially life threatening.
I really enjoyed this book, with its mix of strong
characters and pure friendships. The girls cast spells for many silly things
and when they begin to work it causes many difficulties for them as well as lots
of fun. However, the fear they feel about the last spell working was
brilliantly captured in the urgency of the writing (read the book to find out
what the spell was for!). The four friends repeatedly attempt to save Una from
whatever has possessed her as well as trying to save their fellow class mates
from the spells. What made the book so compelling was the girls’ love for one
another and their ‘in it together’ attitude. Starting out as a laugh, the girls
still manage to stick together through their battle to save the town, with the
addition of Mrs Quinlan and Ms Lemon.
My favourite character has to be Mrs Quinlan. With her house
full of cats and her no-nonsense attitude towards the girls, I felt she was a really
strong character and was introduced in such a way as to make her loveable,
despite her aggressive and at times, scary behaviour. I liked how she was so instrumental in
helping the girls and it was interesting to see how her past is revealed.
Overall, this book is a fun read and the characters are
easily relatable to. The plot offers plenty of twists and there are many laughs
(often at the expense of the characters). I particularly loved the last chapter as it
offered Grace a happy ending and made me smile! The illustrations on the inside
of the cover pages were a lovely addition to the book and the chapter titles
often made me laugh out loud!
5/5 A feel good supernatural read.
With special thanks to O’Brien Press for sending me a copy
of the book.
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