The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant
My Rating: ★★★★
Born into a Maker family, Cordelia has always dreamed of the day she’d be able to make her first hat using magical ingredients. There’s a hat for everything from anxiety reducing to romance. In fact, her father was lost at sea after procuring a special ingredient for the hat being made for the king. Everyone but Cordelia is struggling with the loss and trying to go about their daily activities, but she’s about to change that. She can feel her dad’s still alive somewhere and is determined to find him… if she and her family survive the war someone is determined to start with the help of garments made from evil ingredients!
I thought this book sounded cute, fun, and full of magic and I’m excited to report that it was exactly that! We follow Cordelia, who is from a very long line of Hatmakers. By the time she is born, people have been losing magic for some time, but not any of the Maker families. These families are the last to be permitted to Make, and Cordelia has been beyond ready to finally get started on her first hat. I loved watching the Hatmaker family work and use magical ingredients to create beautiful and magical hats for just about anyone… as long as the customers only plan to do good with it, of course!
I love that this book has a bit of mystery to it, allowing readers to follow along as Cordelia and her friends work to unravel a mystery that will affect everyone if they fail. As an adult, it was very easy to work out who was doing what right away, but that didn’t bother me. This is a book for young readers who will have a lot of fun picking up the clues and working to unravel the mystery themselves as Cordelia races against the clock. I know I would’ve loved this book as a young reader just as much as I love it now. It's got everything from mystery, friendships (including bumps in the friendship road), magic, and a lot of excitement. I would say the intended audience is between late elementary school and early middle school, but I think most people will enjoy the book regardless of age.
The cover art is absolutely stunning and is actually what caught my attention while browsing newish releases last month. There’s also some artwork featured in the book as well, which it enhances the story as well as bringing extra visuals when they appear. All in all, I really enjoyed the book and am looking forward to seeing what the second installment brings to the table.
No comments:
Post a Comment