Title: Goth Girl and the Ghost of MouseAuthor: Chris Riddell
Genre: Middle-Grade, Fantasy
Publication: September 12th 2013, Pan Macmillan
Pages: 224 Pages, Hardcover
Source: Thank you to Pan Macmillan for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review!
Rating: 3/5 CUPCAKES!
Ada Goth is the only child of Lord Goth. The two live together in the enormous Ghastly-Gorm Hall. Lord Goth believes that children should be heard and not seen, so Ada has to wear large clumpy boots so that he can always hear her coming. This makes it hard for her to make friends and, if she's honest, she's rather lonely.I've read Chris Riddell's other books and I have really enjoyed them, so my expectations were high for his latest novel, Goth Girl and the Ghost of Mouse. Although I found this book whimsical and enchanting, I was quite a bit disappointed at the lack of story line. The illustrations were, as always, beautiful and I found the characters were charming however I found that not much happened, which I found quite disappointing.
Then one day William and Emily Cabbage come to stay at the house, and together with a ghostly mouse called Ishmael they and Ada begin to unravel a dastardly plot that Maltravers, the mysterious indoor gamekeeper, is hatching.
Ada and her friends must work together to foil Maltravers - before it's too late!
Goth Girl and the Ghost of Mouse is about Ada Goth, the only child of lord Goth who lives in an enormous mansion and is incredibly lonely as she has no friends and her father only allows her to see him once a week, as seeing her reminds him of his wife who died in a tightrope accident. So Ada wears clompy boots as her dad believes children should be heard and not seen, which means that he can avoid her as best he can. One night Ada hears a little squeak and discovers the mouse of a ghost called Ishmael, who wants her to remove the mousetraps spread through the mansion so that no other innocent mice get hurt. When she does, however, she stumbles upon a terrible plot that Maltravers, the indoor gamekeeper, is plotting. With the help of some new friends she makes, Ada decides to foil this terribly cruel plan.
I loved Ada! She's so determined, adventurous and incredibly kind. I felt so very sorry for her though as even though she's so well taken care of, she's extremely lonely. Her dad doesn't want to see her as he says she looks like too much like her mother, and every time he sees Ada he is reminded of his wife who fell off the roof when she was practising tightrope-walking. I just wanted to hug Ada as you could see she really wanted to be around her dad and to have friends but she couldn't and I was so happy when she made friends with Emily and William and some other children. Her friends were all extremely sweet and lovely and it made me happy to see that Ada had someone to talk to.
Although I adored Ada and the other quirky characters, I did find that there didn't really seem to be much of a plot. I know Ishmael the mouse was supposed to be a big part of it, yet he was barely mentioned and at the end, the gamekeeper didn't seem to be as evil as I first thought. It just didn't seem like there was much of a story. The illustrations were gorgeous as well as the book's colour and page edges, however without it I feel the book would've been a lot more dull.
Ghost Girl and the Ghost of Mouse definitely contained some quirky characters, I chuckled several times and the illustrations brought the book to life, however, like I said, there wasn't much if a plot so I wasn't highly entertained. I think perhaps younger children would get more appreciation out of this and it would be enough of a plot for them. It was a cute and quirky story, though!
I give it: 3/5 CUPCAKES!
