The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine Review

Hello Friends :)

I hope today finds you all doing well, and I want to thank you all for choosing to stop by The Preppy Book Princess.

I'm Kirby, and I'm so excited you're here.

If you're new to my blog, then welcome! If you've been here before, then welcome back!

I'm always excited to get to share my love of the written word over here on my little corner of the internet.

I like to read across quite a few genres, and I recently had the chance to try the first title in a new to me middle grade mystery series.

I hope you'll all keep on reading down below to read my full review, and find out it if lived up to all my expectations.

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine:

Source: Library

Publisher: Egmont

Publication Date: June 4th, 2015

Genre: Middle Grade/Mystery

Series: The Sinclair's Mysteries

Synopsis:

You are cordially invited to attend the Grand Opening of Sinclair’s department store!

Enter a world of bonbons, hats, perfumes and MYSTERIES around every corner. WONDER at the daring theft of the priceless CLOCKWORK SPARROW! TREMBLE as the most DASTARDLY criminals in London enact their wicked plans! GASP as our bold heroines, Miss Sophie Taylor and Miss Lilian Rose, CRACK CODES, DEVOUR ICED BUNS and vow to bring the villians to justice…

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

Middle grade mysteries are probably one of my favorite genres of all time, and I'm always on the hunt for a good one. I heard about this one from a fellow book blogger, and I was instantly intrigued. My last couple of experiences with middle grade hadn't been the greatest, so I had high hopes that this one would end up being a much more positive experience. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but I did still enjoy certain elements, and I'm glad I gave it a try.

What I Liked:

The setting of a fancy department store in early 20th century London was pure brilliance. It created such a wonderful atmosphere for the rest of the story, and it was truly the perfect book to curl up with on a chillier fall day like I did.

The characters were wonderfully written and came alive on the page, and I especially enjoyed the kind of unconventional friendship that developed quickly between the four main characters. Each character was original and unique from the others, and it was an interesting plot point how they all found their way towards each other.

What I Didn't Like:

Unfortunately, my main complaint with this one overall ended up being the mystery element. This was pretty disappointing as that was the reason I ended up picking it up in the first place. I didn't feel like the mystery was well put together or well plotted, and a lot of times the answers were pretty obvious to the reader, and also seemed to have giant plot holes in how certain things came to be.

My other complaint was with the pacing. I felt certain scenes dragged on and one, and yet, a lot of the time when something important happened, it seemed to skip right on by.

I'm not a fan of this particular writing style when it comes to mysteries, and that left me feeling a tad let down by the end of it.

Overall, it was a cute and fairly clean middle grade, but since I found the mystery part to be disappointing, I'm not sure that I'll personally be reading on any further in the series.

I'm still glad I gave it a try though, and I would recommend it for anyone looking for a clean middle grade read with a mystery component.

Final Rating: 3/5.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.

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