liam moiser Archives - Diary of Difference

★★★

After reading Moore Field School and the Mystery by Liam Moiser, and not liking it very much, I was a bit wary about reading this book. But this book promised a campfire and a spooky story. And with Halloween season approaching, it was the perfect time to read it. It was short and enjoyable, and it’s a great book to read during this time. Even though it contained spooky elements, Devil’s Mist wasn’t spooky and intense enough for me.

Thank you to the author, Liam Moiser and LibraryThing, for sending a copy of this book my way, in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis:

Rosie, Rosie’s father and Rosie’s friend Jenny go on a camping trip. When the dad tells the girls a spooky story about a missing girl, they don’t believe it too much. But their curiosity gets the better of them, and they head towards the lake to find the old house and the lake surrounded by mist. And then they realise – this story is probably true.

My Thoughts of Devil’s Mist:

Devil’s Mist started really good. It had a very spooky atmosphere, where the campfire and the telling of a scary story sets the pace. The mystery behind this missing girl in the story and the two curious friends looking for answers. But this is where the spooky atmosphere stops.

They come back to the city and a very intriguing plot twist takes place that puts Rosie in danger, as she uncovers more secrets that are connecting the past with the present. After this, the delivery and execution of this book was poor.

It was really intriguing to learn more about the mystery of the disappearance of Lucy. And to my disappointment, this was revealed early in the book, and we continued with Rosie’s storyline instead. I really enjoyed the camping trip setting. The lake, the mist and the abandoned house. But this setting only featured at the beginning, while the rest of the action mostly happens in the city.

I also feel like James’s character was not needed at all in this book.

I couldn’t care less about what happens to him. It seemed like his role was added more out of convenience than anything else. Jenny could have been a way more suitable alternative, and I would have actually cared about that part of the book then.

The curse and its story was intriguing, and I liked that part. It was introduced to us in a very peculiar way though. It was still intriguing, nevertheless.

Even though it contains spooky elements, Devil’s Mist wasn’t spooky and intense enough for me. However, I do think that younger audiences might enjoy it more, as I assume this is who it was written for in the first place. It is, however, an entertaining short story with mysterious and fantastical elements, and can be a good Halloween choice.

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK

★

Moore Field School and the Mystery by Liam Moiser is the first book of the Moore Field School series. We follow the main character Samantha, whose parents are teachers at her school, Moore Field School.

When Moore Field School is about to close down, the headmistress, Miss Moore, moves the school to Lakeview to start again. And Samantha and her parents move too.

Before the first term, the students go to a camp, where they hear about a haunted house. Samantha and her best friend, Jessica, somehow end up in the middle of this mystery.

My first thoughts of this book were that I find this little school cute, and the mystery of the haunted house quite interesting.

However, other than that, I am afraid not many things really appealed to me.

First of all, Samantha doesn’t look like or act like a little girl. She has conversations with her parents in a very unusual way. Who talks to their parents in such a way, in a middle grade book for children?

“Okay, since you are both insisting, I’ll go and get my musical sheets whilst you settle yourselves down in the living room.” Samantha smiled; she really did want her father and mother to listen to her music.

Aside from the characters and their language, there are a lot of scenes and acts in the book that I cannot find the logic of:

Miss Moore, the headmistress, is closing the school down because of the lack of pupils going into the private school. She is then moving the school into another town, which is a few hundred miles away. And she wants the old students to keep going to this school. Why would I want my child to keep going to a school that will now be hundreds of miles away? And yet, parents agree to this…

Both parents and teachers don’t seem to care too much about their pupils. Samatha and Jessica wander off, almost drown, get lost twice, and when they return, they are simply greeted as if nothing major happened. Also, the teacher that was supposed to be guarding them and fell asleep and lost them twice gets out of the whole mess without being in any trouble.

I really wish I enjoyed this book, but it made me cringe and wince all the way through on how pompous and unrealistic it was. Luckily, it is quite short, so I got through it quite fast. Whew.

I don’t think I will be reading the rest of the series unfortunately.

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |