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The Beast and the Bethany - Jack Meggitt-Phillips


Ebenezer Tweezer is a youthful 511-year-old. He keeps a beast in the attic of his mansion, who he feeds all manner of things (including performing monkeys, his pet cat and the occasional cactus) and in return the beast vomits out presents for Ebenezer, as well as potions which keep him young and beautiful. But the beast grows ever greedier, and soon only a nice, juicy child will do. So when Ebenezer encounters orphan Bethany, it seems like (everlasting) life will go on as normal. But Bethany is not your average orphan . . .

When the synopsis of this book flew into my inbox I already knew it was going to be a good one. With a main character called Ebeneezer Tweezer this book was never going to disappoint and I'm excited to be part of The Write Reads blog tour for it. 

The Beast and the Bethany is the perfect grizzly tale. A cross between The Nightmare Before Christmas and the Mr Gum books with brilliant humour and silliness galore, as well as the sense of impending doom which thrills the reader at every turn of the page. 

The premise is simple - Ebeneezer Tweezer keeps a horrifying beast in the attic of his house, he keeps it happy by feeding it what it wishes and in return the beast vomits gifts for Ebeneezer and helps to keep him youthful at the grand old age of 511. But when one day the beast requests a juicy child to chow down on, Ebeneezer finds himself in a bit of a pickle - he has to find a child horrible enough to justify feeding them to the beast. 

Enter Bethany. An orphan, dedicated prankster, general all-rounder of awfulness and a prime candidate for beast food. Ebeneezer wastes no time in taking her home and fattening her up ready for the beast but as time goes on, Bethany turns out to be a little different than expected and soon Ebeneezer finds himself debating whose life is more important, his own, the beast or the Bethany... 

The Beast and the Bethany is pacy and fun throughout. Funny books are so hard to get right. Often they are too slapstick or 'talk down' to children but The Beast and the Bethany is the perfect blend of darkness and light. There are brilliant quips and jokes to keep the adults reading entertained which are guaranteed to get full-on belly-laughs from children too. Coupled with the amazing illustrations by Isabelle Follath which I felt really captured exactly how I imagined Bethany to be. 

This would make a brilliant read-aloud because it is just SUCH fun. Plenty of opportunity for different voices and I can't wait to actually share it in school and see how the children react to it. It's just the right side of sinister at times and always done in a humorous way, which makes it a perfect read from Year 2 upwards. There has also been a major film deal announced which I'm super excited for as well as a SEQUEL!

The Beast and the Bethany publishes on the 1st October, but you can pre-order now from all major bookstores and I wouldn't hang around as I reckon this one will be very popular. 

The perfect blend of humour, friendship and a little bit of danger too. 


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