'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Friday 3 July 2020

Review: Winterborne Home: for Vengeance and Valour

Thrilling, on the edge of your seat reading, Winterborne Home - For Vengeance and Valour is a gripping mystery with more twists and turns than a labyrinth.

April is observant, smart, fearless and resilient. She has been in twelve foster homes in ten years. This has taught her a great deal about survival.

She was left at a fire station, with a note saying this is my baby April. Keep her safe. I will be back soon. She continues to believe that her mother will return for her. The only clue to her past is a key she has worn around her neck since she was three.

Isabella Nelson heads a charity for the very wealthy Winterbornes whose past is tied to tragic circumstances. Isabella picks up April from hospital after she survives a museum fire she didn’t mean to start.

From another foster home, she collects seven year old Violet who rarely speaks, and thirteen year old Tim, Violet’s protector.

She offers these children a new, happier life at Winterborne Home where Colin and Sadie already live, and where many secrets are kept locked behind doors and in underground corridors.

Evert Winterborne is ready to claim ownership of Winterborne. Ten years have passed since the heir, Gabriel Winterborne disappeared and twenty years since Gabriel’s parents and siblings died in a boat explosion.

April is determined to find the lock that waits for her key with the Winterborne crest carved into it. During her search for this partnering, while deep in the bowels of the mansion, she discovers Gabriel and his hiding place.

Why is he hiding when a fortune and a life of luxury awaits him? What role does Isabelle Nelson play in all of this? Why does Evert live in a mini mansion by the sea instead of his family’s home?

This well-crafted, fast-paced novel demands a one-sitting read. Ally Carter has created an unstoppable heroine that blazes through the book accompanied by a fantastic supporting cast of characters. Action-filled pages keep the reader glued to their seat until the end. I loved it and can’t wait for the next instalment.

Title: Winterborne Home: For Vengeance and Valour
Author: Ally Carter
Publisher: Hachette, $14.99
Publication Date: March 2020
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780734419163
For ages: 10+
Type: Middle Grade fiction