I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
"Brimstone and Marmalade"
by
Aaron Corwin
urban fantasy in eBook edition that was published by Allison & Busby on October 30, 2013 and has 32 pages.
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A free eShort for children (of all ages!) from TOR Books.
My Take
This was cute, and definitely with a twist for this little girl who only wanted a pony for her birthday…and got a tiny demon instead.
It’s the realities of childhood with parents requiring proof of responsibility, their “lies” and how easily children seen through them, the meanness of other children, and how one child lords it over others — psychologically and physically.
What frustrated me about this story is that Corwin gives us all these tidbits but never does enlighten us. Was Mathilde plotting something with Ix’Thor? Did she know what his true plans were? What about her parents?
What I loved was how very normal it seemed. Everyone has pets which have to be fed, which sometimes escape and must be caught. The “pet” store owner and his concerns. The oohs and aahs of the children. The threats and promises of parents who set responsibility before their children and make the proper care of a pet a contingency for getting what one’s heart truly desires.
Do read this one, you can’t help but get a kick out of it!
The Story
What little girl doesn’t want a pony? And Mathilde is no different.
The Characters
Mathilde has her birthday coming up. Her parents are too much like parents everywhere. Nana is Mrs. Clark, the grandmother she thought would understand.
Ix’Thor is a tiny Demon Lord, the Master of the Venomous Pits of Karthoom. One without horns.
Becky Hamilton is the nasty little girl, always rubbing it in and being sneaky. Sally is her younger sister; Kathy Hamilton is her mother. Robby Ferguson is one of the children at Mathilde’s birthday party.
My Cover and Title
The cover is cute with a so very innocent-looking Mathilde in her long blonde hair and pink dress communing with the cloak-clad, floating Ix’Thor, holding a ball of fire in one hand, his sword in the other.
The title seems a metaphor, the contrast between demon and little girl, Brimstone and Marmalade.
