Customer Reviews

Clemency Pogue: Fairy Killer

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you buy this book, be prepared to spend a lot of time laughing really hard and shaking your head in disbelief that someone could write such rapid-fire, shamefully good words that are strung together like a very silly, but impressive necklace. Not the macaroni kind. The valuable, expensive kind of necklace.

I would highly recommend this book whether you're a kid or a silly adult. Or you have a fairy problem to solve. Or maybe you're trapped under something large and need something to read as you wait for help. This is a great book to read in all of life's situations. It's that funny. But, don't read it in church or at a funeral or a State of the Union address. Because you'll laugh really hard and get mean looks. Someone might even take the book away, which would totally suck and you'd regret that for the rest of your life.

If you love Monty Python, Jasper Fforde, Shel Silverstein, or are just a connossieur of clever writing, this is the book for you. It tastes good also. I prefer mine with clementine jam.

Okay, it might not actually be the best book ever, but it's hilariously funny, and it's written by my favorite multi-hyphen-ate. And maybe it is the best book ever...

I'll try to avoid spoilers, but suffice it to say this: If you like bees, avoid this book. If you like hobgoblins and think they should be allowed privacy (of their names) and freedom, avoid this book. Otherwise, read it.

And he dedicated it to his two sisters, which is really cute.

I notice that Amazon requires me to certify that "I am over the age of 13" in order to submit this review. That is probably the reason there aren't more reviews like mine, because it is written for the tweeners- I certainly would have loved it at the age of twelve.

Ah well. Buy it. Read it. Love it.

Clemency Pogue wasn't born into riches. Quite the opposit, as a matter of fact. But she was loved, and brought up on wonderful children's stories that still float around in her head. Especially the story of PETER PAN, complete with the badly behaved fairy Tinkerbell. So when Clemency finds herself being viciously attacked by a wicked, invincible fairy, she thinks back to her favorite story, and shouts "I don't believe in fairies. I don't!" But, unlike in PETER PAN, the command does not work, so Clemency continues to shout it over and over again, until the wicked fairy drops down to the ground, dead. But that isn't the end of the story. Certainly not. Soon a little hobgoblin named Chaphesmeeso appears just in time to inform Clem that not only did she kill the wicked fairy, but she also killed six other fairies around the world; all of whom were in the middle of important, life-changing tasks. Clem is now on a mission to set the world right, and bring each and every fairy back to life, including Miss Wicked herself.

I adore fairies, so CLEMENCY POGUE: FAIRY KILLER quickly caught my eye, and captured my heart. Clemency is an adorable, hard-headed, and fun character who is constantly getting herself into all sorts of mischief. Her adventures with Chaphesmeeso are entertaining, and will keep young/middle readers enthralled for hours at a time. A wonderful story. I only hope that JT Petty decides to continue Clem's adventures in the future.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Clemency Pougue: Fairy Killer, is the best book that I have read in a few years. I read this book in 2 hours. I absolutly loved it! It is a very adventurous book. Even though it is a short book, it is a great book of ages 8-14. If you liked Peter Pan you will love this book by JT Petty.

This cleverly written, captivating story will be relished by adults as well as young readers.

I smiled as the story began.....laughed out loud several times during my reading......had visual images of Clemency and her hobglobin flying together on their missions.....and chuckled as the story ended. It is so refreshing to enjoy catchy and inventive humor as well as an ingenious enchanting tale.

I was intriqued by the title, and was captivated by the funny page turner antics of the unintentional fairy killer. This book will definitely foster children to read.

The author is a skilled master, gifted in the art of story telling. I hope there are sequels to Clemency Pogue's adventures.

Clemency Pogue, an independent girl of 11, loves listening to stories. She is well-versed in many of the more familiar ones, such as PETER PAN, as her parents retell these tales and weave new ones for entertainment following dinner. So Clemency is somewhat prepared --- and not completely shocked --- to find herself one day face to face with a real live fairy! Unfortunately, this particular fairy is not a nice one. The mean little thing attacks Clemency with a stinging wand, forcing her over a cliff! Clemency might have fallen to her death if not for the life-saving roots of a nearby tree. But despite this close call, she is still in danger as the cruel fairy dives in for another attack.

Drawing on her knowledge of the world of fairies, Clemency remembers that all she has to do in order to defeat the fairy is to denounce her belief. For good measure, she denounces the fairy seven times, and the spiteful thing finally falls over dead. Immensely relieved, Clemency carefully climbs up the roots of the tree to safety and continues on her way. That is, until she is confronted by an unusual creature called a hobgoblin. This rude and quirky fellow informs her that she not only killed the fairy who had been stinging her, but also six other fairies, one for each of her announcements of disbelief. Clemency feels just awful --- so awful in fact that she decides to do something about it. With the reluctant assistance of the hobgoblin, Clemency sets out to fix her mistakes.

Author J. T. Petty tells a wonderful tale with clever dialogue, suspenseful adventure, and humorous characters. Readers will admire the intelligent and spirited heroine, and laugh at her unlikely companion, while enjoying the enlivening drawings of the talented illustrator, Will Davis. Some readers may need to keep a dictionary handy due to a few challenging words, but all will love this tale of the fairies, wanting to read it over and over --- and even save it for their own children.

   --- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author

Excellent story. Wonderful wordplay. After reading the prologue and the first chapter, I instantly decided to read it aloud to my children. Couldn't stop reading until the end. My voice was a little rough by the epilogue, but it was well worth it. We all thoroughly enjoyed this tale and its illustrations. We hope J.T. Petty is working on more delightful stories of this high caliber.

I just have to say that this is such a great fantasy story. I can't believe no one has reviewed it yet. It's a really quick read, but it's full of beautiful, fun language that feels almost like it's being narrated to you over your shoulder as you read. The hobgoblin's name just killed me everytime I read it. So clever. I could totally see this as a movie, except that they'd have to add things to make it longer, and Hollywood would more than likely screw it up.

A little about me: I'm 25 years old and I read a lot of juvenile and young adult books because I hope to write some of my own someday. I don't review often, but I couldn't let this excellent addition to juvenile fantasy literature continue being ignored and un-reviewed. :)

I think the Publisher's Weekly review was right on the mark when they said: "Though Petty works some clever wordplay and comic elements into his narrative, readers are likely to find Clemency's path to reversing the curse lengthy and laborious."

The idea behind this story is pretty good, and a lot of the elements contained within it should have been witty and hilarious. But the writing of it was poorly executed. The guy who wrote it is a scriptwriter, I've heard, and does a lot of horror movies. He is probably well suited to doing so, more so than he is to writing books that are supposed to be for kids. I say 'supposed to be for kids' because, well, when I read this book I kept seeing words and cultural references that I was pretty sure most kids of 8-12 years of age just weren't going to get, which made me wonder, was this actually written for kids, or rather for adults who like grown up fairy tales? But then, it was too childish and poorly-put-together for the adult writing market, so that theory didn't gel either. I also thought the book was trying to be funny, and occasionally it was, but most of the time it missed its mark, and instead ended up just sort of mundane and trudging and cumbersome.

Look, it's not a bad book. It tries hard, and sometimes it gets there. Some people seem to genuinely like it, and good luck to them, but I didn't like it much. All the same, I wish the writer luck in his future endeavours...he may develop into something special, given time, because he's got some really good ideas, if he can just learn to write in the style of a children's book author rather than a horror movie scriptwriter.

CLEMENCY POGUE: FAIRY KILLER BY J.T. PETTY, ILLUSTRATED BY WILL DAVIS is a new Tween-age young adult series that I found to be a bit violent and would be frightening to many children. It is about fairies who are like annoying or evil bugs and the child hero kills them by remembering the magic phrase from Peter Pan. The series surely appeals to pre-teens who enjoy combative video games and will find the young Clemency Pogue quite funny. Besides penning children's fiction (three novels to date), JT Petty is a highly-successful video games writer, Hollywood screenwriter and independent filmmaker. And he's only 29 years old! The Clemency Pogue series was recently acquired by The Jim Henson Company, with whom Petty is working closely to adapt the story to the big screen as an animated motion picture.