Customer Reviews

Pure Dead Wicked

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In "Pure Dead Magic," Deb Gliori introduced us to the eccentric Strega-Borgia family in an ancestral Scottish castle, StregaSchloss. Now she takes their story a few steps further, in a hotel stay and house repair difficulty bad enough to induce cold sweats in the middle of the night. It's a charming sequel with the same quirky cast and unabashed low humor, and kids will love it.

The roof of StregaSchloss is not just leaking, but falling off. After a slate demolishes the family car and a deluge of water destroys the library, Signor Strega-Borgia moves the family out to a hotel until the problem can be rectified. Unfortunately, the family not only includes his wife, his kids Titus Pandora and Damp, and the family nurse, but also the pet dragon, griffin, yeti and crocodile. (The cryogenically frozen grandmother, the spider, and the rats all stay behind)

Mayhem begins immediately. A desperate real estate dealer begins trying to persuade Signor Strega-Borgia to sell the castle to him (so he can "develop" the area), and the predatory owner of the hotel, Mrs. Froves-Campbell, tries to seduce him. The pets cause assorted problems. The roof of StregaSchloss vanishes, prompting the horrified Signor Strega-Borgia to sell. And Titus cooks up a scheme to clone himself and Pandroa -- except instead of two full-sized clones, he accidently creates hundreds of tiny ones. With an army of unruly clones, a decaying castle, a pregnant dragon, a murderous hotel owner, and a tiny jar of vanishing cream, Pandora and Titus definitely have their hands full.

Gliori manages to sidestep one of the major flaws of many sequels, which is making the sequel too much like the first. "Wicked" is quite different from "Magic," while retaining the elements that made the first book endearing: a mix of magic and technology, a grandmotherly witch, gross-out hijinks and a pair of in-over-their-head kids.

The reactions of Pandora and Titus ("Our parents would kill us if they knew") to having 500 Mini-Mes running around the hotel are hilarious, and there is a note of poignancy when the clones begin to age. Kindly witch Mrs. McLachlan serves as a note of relative sanity, and the skin-and-fur-loving Mrs. Fforbes-Campbell will inspire disgust in readers from the start. And the pets/security system are given extra dimensions when forced to live in ordinary surroundings (and with the promise of new beastie problems in the next book).

Those who enjoyed the darkly quirky Strega-Borgia family in the first book will definitely like the second. A good read for this upcoming Halloween.

My children (9 & 12) listened to this on tape and LOVED it. It's funny and intelligent, acccesible to children but full of jokes for adults as well. There's a little magic, a devoted family (and both parents are alive!) whose ancient castle (with Granny frozen in the freezer) is under attack by a villainous builder, Hugh Pylum Height, and a wild combination of the new (laptops) and the old (Nanny) to ensure that all will end happily. How can you resist a book with a baby named Damp, a son who conjures up tiny clones who won't behave, and a pet Yeti who takes direct action against the villains?

I bought this book for my nephews, and decided to read it before giving it away. The Strega Borgia family is even funnier than ever in this book. Their tumble down castle's roof is falling in and they have to move out so that the contractors can work. Little do they know that the evil contractor want to buy the castle cheap, so that he can build a cheap housing development. He and his crew do their best to destroy the castle. The family has to live in an hotel in the nearby village. The dragon, crocodile, yeti and griffin aren't exactly welcome. The proprietress has designs on Luciano, and Titus is using his computer to make clones. Pandora is upset about leaving Multitudina and Tarantella behind. Then, there is the mystery of the Strega Borgia diamond.

This is a really great book for both children and adults. It makes bedtime stories a little more fun for everyone.

I thought that this book was really good and I enjoyed it a lot. It is a great sequal to Pure Dead Magic.
The story starts with the same character, plus a few new ones. The family ends up having to stay in a local hotel, because their house is under going fixing.
But, a simple stay in a hotel, it isn't. First, their "pets" cause crazyness everywhere, also their are bad guys destroying their home, Titus and Pandora have created a horde of pink clones and also, last but not lest, their dragon has just discovered that it is a girl. And pregnant.

I bought this book for my children and found that I, too, was enthralled by the story. What a wonderful book! I hope Ms. Gliori continues with the series! It would make an excellent movie!

This wasn't a book where you HAD to keep reading or you would die...it was more a hahaha this is hilarious and a book you would pick up for some light reading. It was a mix of Artemis Fowl plot and Lemony Snicket humour. It was a book full of mystery and laughter. If you liked Lemony Snicket or Artemis Fowl then this is your kind of book. It is sarcastic, witty and has subtle ironic humour that is buried just below the surface. If you like to laugh then read this book...and the prequel which is Pure Dead Magic. All that sums this book up is well...funfun you got it! (like as in bk u got it!) Well anywys this is a great book for ages 10 to 13...but if you are younger or older then you might enjoy this too!

Blend magic, humor, and story revolving around a family's household disaster and the creation of 500 miniature pink, naked clones and you have Pure Dead Wicked, a zany novel semi-rooted in the reality of a family facing house problems with a difference. Young adults who appreciate humor and fantasy blends will appreciate this funny story - just in time for Halloween.

In a castle far away, with magical creatures who protect their family, there is...

... A yeti that wipes his nose on his own fur, a dragon that burns the food and a crocodile that eats people.

A magical tale full of humour and adventure

Pure Dead Wicked by Debi Gliori is a decent book but I would not reccomend it for younger reader because it has several difficult words to read and understand, particularly the proper nouns. I would reccomed this book to middle aged readers or more advanced reader who enjoy books with plenty of action without going overboard . The book moves along quite consistantly and the plot is somewhat is somewhat interesting. This book is fairly easy to read and i would rate this book at three (3) stars.

I don't screen all of the books my 8-year-old daughter reads, but I was glad that I read this one first. I agree the story is great and will appeal to children, but the gross-out language and talk of boy parts and pregnancy were inappropriate for my 3rd - grader. Before allowing anyone under the age of 10 to read this book, I would consider screening it for yourself first, and then decide if it's appropriate for your young reader.