Truth Teller review by Ursula Lygarlis

Hello there happy Bookies! I am so excited about my first ever guest blog post!

I am secretly a book hoarder as well, so don't be ashamed of your overflowing attics. At least you have one, there are only so many places you can shove books when you live in a toadstool. This new creation they call MineEye has been fabulous for such pleasant problems. Now, I can just pop over and grab a book for my kindle. I just hope that those eensy weensy books in there don't overflow out. I don't know where I would put them!


Oh my, I have become quite distracted. I stopped to tell you about Kurt Chambers' Truth Teller. I loved it!! Of course, I grabbed it at first because it was free, perma-free as he says,but  I never expected to be so incredibly blown away. If anyone follows me on Twitter, I'm sure you saw me talking about it. Even poor Grimnien couldn't get a dance in edgewise.

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So, there's a girl. Her name is Charlotte. Somehow, Charlotte is transported from her vacation place at some beach town into a medieval time period where everyone rides horses and magical beings are running rampant. Middleton, Swallow and their son Elderfield take Charlotte into their home and care for her, promising to do what it takes to return her home. Little do they know, this quest is one of grave danger. They must work together to find Goffer, the only being able to get Charlotte back across the realms and home to her own family.

I am clearly not a middle grade child, however, I LOVED this story. I just couldn't seem to put it down. The themes that we would want our youth to read are just so well written that children will not even notice. The typical coming of age storyline for both Elderfield and Charlotte are just so perfect for a MG reader. They are able to see Charlotte blossom as a person and rise to the occasion to protect herself and those she loves. Then there are those other themes we love to see in Middle Grade fantasy: good v evil, independence, family, friendship.

"Every story has a hidden truth." -Middleton, Truth Teller

I would consider Truth Teller a wonderful mash-up of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter. I know Shelfie here often speaks about a Through the Cabinet genre and this wonderful story by Kurt Chambers fits in here perfectly, but you will have to read it to find out why!

Enter for a chance to win Wrath of Siren, book 2 in the series.


What Inspired Truth Teller?

     "I really fancied the idea of writing my own book ever since I was young. I always struggled with reading as a child, but loved reading fantasy books like Lord of the Rings. The only problem I found was they were often heavy reading even for adults. I thought it would be great if someone wrote a book just like this, but that was aimed at children like me to make them easier to read. I kept this idea in my head for years and years, but never put in into practice until I reached my mid 30's.

    Working with children inspired me to start writing. I helped run a local Brownie pack. Anyone who has ever worked with children will know just how inspirational they are. That is how Truth Teller was created. An idea I had from way back in my childhood eventually became a reality." -Kurt Chambers