Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Publication Date: October 8th, 2015
Part of a Series?: Yes, The Curiosity House #1
Genre: Middle Grade, Mystery, Fantasy
Buy Links: Kinokuniya Malaysia | MPH Bookstores
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Rating:
Source: Huge thanks to Pansing Distributions for the review copy.
Synopsis
The book is about, among other things: the strongest boy in the world, a talking cockatoo, a faulty mind reader, a beautiful bearded lady and a nervous magician, an old museum, and a shrunken head.
Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. Philippa is a powerful mentalist, Sam is the world's strongest boy, and Thomas can squeeze himself into a space no bigger than a bread box. The children live happily with museum owner Mr. Dumfrey, alongside other misfits. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife-thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events.
When the museum's Amazonian shrunken head is stolen, the four are determined to get it back. But their search leads them to a series of murders and an explosive secret about their pasts.
Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. Philippa is a powerful mentalist, Sam is the world's strongest boy, and Thomas can squeeze himself into a space no bigger than a bread box. The children live happily with museum owner Mr. Dumfrey, alongside other misfits. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife-thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events.
When the museum's Amazonian shrunken head is stolen, the four are determined to get it back. But their search leads them to a series of murders and an explosive secret about their pasts.
Throughout reading these wonderful books, I do feel welcome to the Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. What an amazing, extraordinary kid with a fantastic ability - Pippa, a psychic who knows what is inside your pockets, Sam, the boy who can literally just smash things without the needs to you use lots of energy, Thomas has the most delicate body where he can just make himself sit in a really small box and lastly, Max, a knife-thrower.
Things I love about this book;
I love all the characters even though there are still kids and sometimes a little bit childish on few parts of Pippa and Max which it didn't do much to me but make the scene alive knowing both of them to have their own opinions. Although the kids are all different but that made them all unique in their own ways.
The story lines are great. All the four kids are on a quest to find who steal the shrunken heads, who murders who and to help Mr. Dumfrey from being accused of murdering a said person.
I like how they all come together as before this, they don't talk much to each other but on these quests, it made them all close to each other and succeed in unfold the mystery of The Shrunken Head.
The Illustration in this book itself is ahhhh-maaaa-zing!
Things that I don't really like it much;
The writings are indeed great with many aspects we are going to look forward to, with the crime scene, the annoying journalists and the mystery man except somehow the story plots kind of slow to reach certain scenes. Yes, I admit, I am kind of impatient in that sense because I need to know who murder who, why and who that many other people involved.
Despite that, I am looking forward to reading the next adventure of these wonderful kids!
Overall, The Shrunken Head is definitely a wonderful, mystery, adventures following those four extraordinary kids which I am enjoying it. It reminds me of Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children when I read it.
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