King of dead things by Nevin Holness

Jamie

King of dead things is a magical book that even though starts off slowly, takes its time to slowly build Eli and Malcolm’s backstory deeply so much so readers will feel as if they’re going through what they went through as well. The story also delves into themes like forgiveness and readers are sure to have their emotions go through a wild ride and ponder what their choice would be if they were amidst the characters and living out the story themselves. My favourite thing about this story is how Nevin Holness, the author of the book makes magic such an integral part of the story, but is described and portrayed in such a way it feels almost natural and realistic.

louis

King of Dead Things is a fantastic book that does a great job of portraying good-hearted characters while weaving a mysterious and exciting storyline. It has a perfect balance of humour and emotion, with moments that will make you laugh! It is a truly enjoyable read. Overall, I’d give this book a solid 7/10!

Ash

King of dead things was one of the books that I was the most excited to read, but it took me a while to read as at times it felt like the story wasn’t moving quick enough. I liked some of the plot twists in the book, especially when it was revealed that Sunny was Eli’s sister. Overall I would recommend this book to fans of YA fantasy.

Eve, Ardingly

King of dead things was incredible! Even though it got off to a bit of a slow start, as I continued reading it, I started to really enjoy the book and the Jamaican culture that was represented. This book captured both the amazing and vibrant culture and the pure magic that fizzed off of every page! Mercy, the daughter of death was a very interesting character, and I think she added a lot of tension and intrigue. I would definitely recommend this book to others, an amazing read.

Simran – Woldingham School

King of Dead Things was one of my least favourites. I think this was probably because I didn’t remember what the mythical creatures were. However, I did think it is nice to feel like magic surrounds us even in reality and it is a gift that must be especially learned from ancestors – almost like a tradition or a way to feel connected to those who have passed away. For the characters, they all had lovely personalities which were nicely conveyed through what they said and their actions. But Pam kind of disappeared half way through and we didn’t really find out much about Eli’s past. If you know the mythical aspects of this book well then you will definitely like this book.

Lizzie Yr8

My review of ‘King of Dead Things’ by Nevin Holness.

I thought this book was good and had a good storyline but it was just a bit confusing. In the beginning it was slow and nothing much was going on but the the last 30 pages it got really fast and I wasn’t sure what was happening for some of the time.

I did quite like Mercy ,the daughter of death, since she added a bit of interest.

I would have liked for either Malcom or Eli to have been a girl because I was getting confused on who was who since the chapters were similar sometimes. I really like Sunny and Max but not how it ended with Sunny and Eli. I think there should have been more at the end because it felt a bit rushed. I would have also prefered that the book was bit shorter and maybe a few more interesting characters. I would have enjoyed seeing more backgrounds on Sunny and Max because I felt there wasn’t enough of them.

Overall it wasn’t terrible just a bit too complicated.

Barbara

This book is good. It’s not one of my favourites, however it’s hard to put down. I would rate it a 4/10

Daisy

I didn’t really like this book, it often moved too fast and I couldn’t keep up with what was going on.

Vivienne, year 9, Woldingham school

Review of You wouldn’t catch me dead
I thought at the beginning it was difficult to get into, but as I progressed and got into the story I really enjoyed it. Some of the vocabulary used to describe the magic was confusing but once I searched it up I enjoyed the book a lot more and could understand what was going on. i particularly enjoyed the plot twists

Emma

I really Enjoyed this book though at the start I did find it quite boring but as this book went on I found it really fun and hard to put down. I felt very glued to this book and just couldn’t stop reading it, I honestly found it weird that he could hardly remember his past but it was still a great book. My favourite part in the book was when Eli and Malcom embrace their past together and the truth about themselves. My favourite character was Eli as he was just a very interesting person and he had the best power !SPOILER! Healing making him a true hero.

Lucy – Ardingly Yr 9

The king of dead things was a very enjoyable book that was very hard to put down. Each chapter with a new thrilling title just made you want to read on for hours and the links between each character and their friendship group made it such a great teamwork story and shows how strong friendship can actually be. Even with its ups and downs. The magnificent plot twists in the book made it super fun and exciting to read and have a strong exhilarating heart pounding moments that really made you want to do a flip. However, one thing that I would say about it is that it took quite a while for each new event to happen which sometimes just made me want to skip a few pages. I wish it was more fast paced. Otherwise such a great book to read! 5/5 stars

Chloe Yr 9 Ardingly

I personally found The King of Dead Things an interesting read as at first, it was hard to get into and it took longer to read than the others. I felt that setting/ world was quite confusing at the start but made more sense as the book went on. However, towards the end of the book I found it much more gripping and exciting. I thought that the characters were very well described and particular which I liked. At some parts it was quite sad and at others quite funny. I really liked how it was made realistic as it was set in a real place but was made a fantasy. It made it feel more realistic. Overall, I did enjoy reading The King of Dead Things especially towards the end, but I would say it is quite a slow read and probably not my favourite.

Jessica – Ardingly College Year 9

SPOILER ALERT!!

King of Dead things was an interesting book, set in a hidden, magical side of London. When I started reading the book, I found it quite a difficult read, and didn’t particularly enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the others, however, the more I read of this book, the more I began to love it.
I grew interested in the characters, and was surprised when it was revealed that Eli and Sunny were siblings! I found the plot clever, with surprises and turns, and I liked how the author made characters who were so different have to work together. I also loved how each character had their own different past, form ones who wanted to learn more about it, to ones who try to hide it.
In conclusion, I did grow to really like this book, though I wish that the beginning was more captivating!

Sabrina, Ardingly

Book Review: King of Dead Things

The book “King of Dead Things” is written by Nevin Holness and published on the 7th of March 2024. It is based on stories from the African folktales and modern London. A boy at the age of high school who couldn’t remember his past and another who would do anything to forget his past. Teamed up, they start to discover magic that is dark and dangerous.
The main characters of this book are Pam, Max, Sunny, Eli, Malcolm and Casper King (Malcolm’s father). Eli is a boy just about the age of high school. However, he has forgotten his past and ends up in Pam’s restaurant with another two girls and Pam. Pam is a very old lady who owns the restaurant and provides a space which felt like home to Eli, Sunny and Max. Sunny and Max are girls who have been in the restaurant longer than Eli, and they both know about magic. Sunny is a funny girl who could also get people annoyed. Max is the opposite and likes to be prepared for things. Malcolm is different from all of them. His past isn’t a nice memory to recall. However, he has the power to raise the dead. His father, Casper King has lost most of his magic, so he makes Malcolm do jobs for him. During the process of finding a powerful weapon, Malcolm meets the others. The magic in the characters seems to make the people alive and images of them would be clearly described and then formed in reader’s minds.
The plot of the story is about how the four people starts on a journey to find a way to defeat the dark magic. It started as a easy mission but quickly turns into something much more dangerous and unpredictable. They needed a weapon to defeat the dark and on their way of retrieving it, the magic starts to happen between their friendships. However, the darkness of the magic is more than what they thought of, and they found out through Casper King that what they are trying to defeat is the daughter of Death. The spell keeping her from rising again is starting to grow weaker and they didn’t have much time left.
In summary, it is a magical story with a half predictable ending and a magical story of friendship and adventures. It was a very mythical and magical story to read. I recommend it to anyone wanting to read about magic.

Saskia

SPOILER ALERT!!

The book King of dead things by Nevin Holness was a pretty good read. At the beginning I thought it was quite slow paced but then I started to get into it and overall I loved this book! Personally my favourite scene was when we found out Sunny was actually Eli’s sister! This book explores themes of power, death and redemption which makes it exciting and intriguing. This book wasn’t my favourite but I still enjoyed reading it.

Darcy, St Paul’s Catholic College, Year 8

Well written, interesting magic, fresh, dark.

Found family, everything left unresolved, no romance!!

So, different; very immersive.

Vivienne

SPOILER ALERT!!

Much to my dismay, I found this book quite un-capturing. Whilst as it went on it got better, the start made me almost completely stop reading. There were shocking parts that did interest me. For example the fact Sunny was Eli’s sister. There were parts where I couldn’t tear my eyes from the page, but overall I don’t think I would re-read it.

Talia

!spoiler alert!

The king of dead things wasn’t my favourite as it was quite a hard read for me, but I liked the events; they just took a while to unravel. I was quite shocked when Sunny revealed that she was Eli’s sister. if you like YA fantasy I would recommend you to have a look at this book even though it’s a hard read it was very enjoyable in my opinion. I prefer comedy books and that’s the only reason it wasn’t my favourite, but I think that Nevin Holness did an amazing job writing this book.

Maisie, Yr8, Ardingly

Personally, this book was really confusing and boring at the start. The descriptions were very good and detailed, but there was definitely too much at the start. After I had got into it, the storyline became better and better, showing the characters’ backstory. I also like the creativeness and the sudden events. I think it would be better if these events came on earlier. I would only recommend this to people who really like fantasy books.

Thomas, Year 8, Ardingly College

King of Dead things was a very good but slow-paced book. A main key part of the book are the characters; we have Malcolm, a boy who has a troubled past, with his dad leaving him and now his mum being sick, life hasn’t been easy on him. Eli, he has the power to bring back the dead, a boy who will do anything to find about his past, even to give his magic away for his unknown knowledge of his lost parents. Sunny, a rebellious girl who was picked up by Eli in a horrible state, was saved before death. Personally, my favourite scene was when Pam and Malcolm were talking about his father, as his father was a secretive person and told many lies to get what he wanted. Spoiler Alert; he had made a deal with the Daughter of Death and now wanted revenge, this really got me ready for what was going to come as the book had been hard to follow. Another key thing that made the book a better read was the setting. It is based in London and this opened my eyes to the part of London that we never usually see behind all the tourist attractions. Overall, a 7/10 read. Loved the book and the plot, but found the book frustrating at the start and so to any readers out there, if you get through the start, it will be a brilliant read.

Toby St Paul’s

In The king of dead things, I enjoyed the references to Caribbean culture, an often under-looked aspect of London and how the friendships in the story are grounded in real life, with forgiveness, manipulation and betrayal all present throughout.
I also enjoyed the magic system present in the book and how everyone has a different kind of magic, almost symbolising how everyone is unique, with their own personality and tastes.
Although I enjoyed this book overall, I think that a few plot elements went rather unexplained, making this book feel like more like a sequel than its own, self contained story.

6/10

Sam

I enjoyed King of the dead things as I thought it was very entertaining and had a really exciting plot and I loved the magic in this book. I thought the author created excitement and really got my mind thinking when everything seemed to be happening at once. I thought the story line of the book was great as Eli didn’t know where he came from and who he truly is and Malcom would love to forget his past. My only criticism of the book was it was hard to follow some times. Overall it was great.

Ozzy year 9 Ardingly collage

I thought this book was very confusing however once I had worked out what was going on I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. I loved the sense of mystery surrounding Eli’s past and I was so shocked when I found out that Sunny was Eli’s sister all along.
The beginning was slow and at times felt a bit unnecessary. The way the book jumped between Malcolm and Eli worked well but sometimes stopped the flow of the book. Overall I liked aspects but it didn’t come together as well as it could have.

Lizzy, Year 8, Cavendish

The king of dead things was a book with a lot of Magic. It was the kind of book that once you’ve started you want to finish.
It was set in London and revolved around a boy and his friends who had magic. It was written from two different points of view and it was very informative on Caribbean magic. It had a great writing style but I would have liked to have learnt more about the past of the main character (Eli) and it would have been nice to have learnt about Sunny’s past earlier. On the whole it was a good book and I would really recommend it to anyone who likes folklore.

Isabelle – Year 7 – Cavendish School

10/10 for sure!!! This book is adventure mixed with magic, with a dash of romance and mystery.

Flo year 8 Cavendish

This book is about a boy called Eli and a boy called Malcolm who are opposites. Eli takes magic from peoples souls when he helps them and Malcolm can raise the dead. Eli wants to discover his past and Malcolm wants to help his mother. This is a good book and I would recommend it for anyone who likes stories about magic.

Lottie – Year 7 Cavendish

Although this book had a fabulous plot-twist near the end, I felt that the slow start almost completely ruined the book. If the story was a little more fast-paced, this book would get five stars from me!

Moving aside from that, I adored the spectacular twists and turns featured in this book as Elijah and Malcolm are faced with betrayal, mystery and bad parenting.

Regan, Ardingly College

In the book Eli doesn’t truly know who he is, but one thing he does know is he is special. I enjoyed the magic elements of the book, it was written differently to other magic based books which made it unique. At times it was hard to follow but eventually the book begins to flow. I liked the plot twists, especially as some were very unexpected.

Theo

King of dead things: wow, King of dead things is an amazing book, filled to the brim with magic, stories, creatures and of course, sarcasm, it wouldn’t be such a great story without the amazing storyline and characters, especially, the lagahoo, who only appears for a bit and isn’t really a character, but I liked him all the same. I felt like this book could have been faster paced, as the start was quite slow, and it was confusing due to the immense number of characters, so overall a good book, but some things to improve on.

Isabelle, Seaford Head school

SPOILER ALERT!
I really liked this book because I thought that it was so magical and every page just made you want to read more. I was so shocked at the end when Sunny revealed that she was Eli’s sister! The world felt so real and magical that it was almost like I was absorbed into its pages.
I think this book has a good chance of winning the contest.

Bertie, Year 9 SRWA

8/10 Would recommend. It is a very well written book on the struggles of a young magician (?) who is playing with magic, until something darker comes into the picture.

good book.

Dexter-Year 10- The Sir Robert Woodard Academy

This book is kinda annoying because I love the culture in this book and I think so many elements of this book work. But I don’t think fantasy is for me at all. It takes way too long for the book to take foot, and I felt demotivated to read it. The book has a good plot and good ideas but I don’t know how well excecuted they were

6/10

Arwen

I enjoyed the magic side of it as it was not portrayed like the other magic themed books, which made it just as special. The plot twists were incredible! Some expected,some completely unforeseeable. I loved this
book.

Bella, St Paul’s

Sadly I didn’t like this book as much as I wanted to. I felt like it just took too long to actually start going. At the beginning I found it very confusing due to so many characters all coming in at once. When it did pick up the pace at just over half way and I figured out what was going on, I enjoyed it and thought that the scenes at George’s house were very well described. My favourite part was when Malcolm arrives at George’s house and has the fight. At the end I feel like it needed more information on what happened as something big was revealed then the story ended very suddenly. I found the separate points of view from characters engaging and very much enjoyed Malcom and his family’s story line in particular. It has potential to be a very good book with a few tweaks so overall it wasn’t bad.

Jahara Ardingly College

SPOILER ALET
This book doesn’t make sense for the first 60 pages, however after that, you start to feel the flow of the book. I loved the scene where oxtail was a cat because I thought that it was a big juxtaposition to her normal shapeshifting form. All in all, I do believe that the book has potential, however the reader should be given more context at the beginning.

Alvis

Personally, I didn’t find this book as good as the other fantasy books I have read. The main reason was because the story was moving quite slowly but I found the story about George very interesting like it was a lesson, in the end I thought if the story moved abit faster this could be a great read so even though I wouldn’t recommend it, this book is still a great read for fantasy lovers.

Reuben St Paul’s

I have mixed feelings about this book, overall I found the magic system quite unique and interesting, and the blurb hooked me into the book, but after I speed read about halfway through, I became more and more interested and it took me a while to pick the book up again, so I found it very enjoyable at times but at other times harder to understand and slightly anticlimactic. Having finished the book, a lot of my confusion cleared up but there were still some harder to understand plot points that I believe are actually not due to the cliffhanger endings trailing into the next book, as I understood that each of them would carry on, but some parts of the story, particularly some side parts felt oversimplified or unexplained needlessly, I didn’t understand it and I do not believe that it was to create a sense of a lack of knowledge or of intrigue, but rather it was simply not addressed, it felt like parts of the book were left forgotten or still in from earlier drafts. Overall I did enjoy the book, but not as much as I would with other books, and I was frustrated by its plot holes.

Overall I would rate this book 3/5 stars, I liked the more interesting parts of it but I don’t think I would read it again, as I feel here the bad outweighs the good enough for me to not want to go through the book again,

Aidan Y11 St Paul’s Catholic College

SPOILER ALERT:
I thought this one was pretty good, but fairly confusing. I tried to follow the plot, and I’m pretty sure that I got the important stuff down enough to follow, but that is about it. The plot itself was nice, and by no means predictable – I had no idea what was going to happen. The final fight with Mercy was kind of underwhelming – I only remember it going on for a few pages. I liked the characters and their synergy and their secrets, which added an air of mystery to the whole book. It was interesting switching between the two main characters and seeing their own personal thoughts. I liked the power system established in the book – or at least what I could understand! The fact that the MC doesn’t have some super, over-the-top world-ending destructive ability and is simply a healer is a nice change of pace, and the other MC having control of the dead was less unique but still fun. Overall, good book but suffered from sub-par pacing.

Gabriella Ardingly College Y8

SPOILER ALERT!!!

I really enjoyed reading King of Dead things because there was an exciting plot that would not let you put the book down. I liked all the characters and their different backgrounds and the way they somehow linked together. My favourite thing about the book was the unexpected plot twists, I liked the one when Malcom betrayed them and released Mercy. I also liked the one when Sunny revealed that she was Eli’s sister. My favourite character was Eli, and the fact that he does not know who he is or where he came from. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it to others.

Lara St Paul’s

I loved how the magic aspect of it was very different from most ways it is depicted in books. I feel like most of the books in the list all have a plot twist that is somewhat predictable but this one at the end of this book was a bit unexpected. I did want to see more of what happened with Eli’s past, also I did like how it is also quite funny with the main characters bickering with each other.

Mo

This is the sort of book where each chapter makes you want to read just one more. I loved how every character had their own intricately woven past, and I also loved how Malcolm was such an unlikely hero, but yet he still “saved the day”. Eli and Malcolm make a great team, however the one and only thing I didn’t like about this book was just how many people were involved in finding Osebo’s fang. But the part I love most about this book is the ending. I love how the daughter of death is so entangled with Malcolm’s dad, and how Malcolm has some of her magic inside his veins. It’s just so crazy and all over the place and I love it! Overall, fantastic book worthy of a bunch of great reviews!

Harrison. Ardingly

I thought The king of dead things was a very good read, with it’s extremely vivid realisation of magic and gods. I thought the book got a tiny bit contrived near the end, and it felt like everything was happening at once. The two plot twists (I believe it was two) were beautifully written and amazingly worded.
I would definitely tell my friends to read it
9.8/10

Esmé Y8 Ardingly College

The king of dead things
3/5 stars
Nevin Holnnes
This book is filled with magic, friendship and family, set in the main suburbs of London. About this book. I loved the character setting, and you finding out so much about them. I also loved the style of writing that she used, which was very descriptive, but in some places, I found it quite slow, and the story wasn’t going anywhere for a few pages. This led me to enjoy it less than I was expecting since I usually love YA fantasy. I do believe there is a sequel, but I didn’t like how it did not wrap up at the end, and I do not think that that was a good ending.
Other than that, I did find the plot twist at the end very good, and the characters were written very well, and you would feel for them immensely. I also loved learning about Casper and Pam’s relationship and learning about their back story
But I personally did not enjoy this book as much as I was hoping and I wanted to find out more about Eli’s family.

Vanshika

I didn’t really like reading ‘King of Dead things’ just because of how long the events took to happen and it was just a really hard read for me. The book has a beautiful storyline and I love the concept of having two people who aren’t similar at all, working together but I think that if the key events happened a bit quicker then I would have enjoyed this book a lot more. Overall this book was just a bit too slow-paced and confusing for me but the storyline had the potential to be something great.

Rose

Personally, I didn’t really find The king of dead things as good as I thought and didn’t really enjoy it. It was an unexpected opinion because I usually adore fantasy and magical books but it turns out that this one was different. I think that certain events in the book took too long to happen and we had to wait a long time to enjoy certain aspects of the book and I got bored very quickly. However the idea for the book is amazing and it has so much potential I just found it too long. As I get bored very easily this wasn’t the book for me but once it neared the second half of the book I really started to get into it. Each character is unique and has an interesting personality. On the whole an amazing book and an amazing author.

Skye St Paul’s

I liked this book a lot, I liked how it changed from different character’s points of view throughout the book. I liked how the author included magic in the story, I also liked how it changed from different tenses to making it more exciting. The author took time to set the scene at the beginning of the book but then it became really exciting

Chris, Ardingly

King of Dead Things is an entertaining book that I just couldn’t put down, I truly enjoyed this book due to every chapter was written to absolute perfection, filled with action, and a story that was thought out well – right from the beginning, to world-building and the characters. The main characters are Eli and Malcolm, who both have their struggles – one who lost the memory of their past and the other who hates it. But, in the end, this story is more than just magic in London and saving everything they care about; it is about friendship, betrayal, and the power that comes with it. All this wraps up into a book that feels good right down to the core.

Mouna Ardingly

Personally, I didn’t enjoy “King of dead things” which I didn’t expect as I usually like YA Fantasy books and found the blurb interesting. The main reason I didn’t enjoy it was the amount of time it took for an event to happen. I felt as if the book only really started after sixty or so pages. I found it quite anticlimactic and considered stopping reading it multiple times. I do although think that the idea for the book was interesting but wish it was more fast paced.

Other then that I thought that the characters were interesting and found the plot twist at the end good. I personally just didn’t enjoy it.

Alexis

This is the type of book you just can’t let go of. Starting with 2 separate groups, Casper and Pam, slowly forming together as they discover more and more about their past. I really like this book because it shows betrayal, friendship, and how lies can lead to envy and anger. My favourite part of the book was when Malcom and Eli first met, the awkwardness and the fact that they knew more about each other’s relatives than they knew about each other. I also love the fact that in each chapter, they are talking about what either Eli or Malcom is going through but not in a first-person type of way. Overall, I think this is an excellent choice for a book that will bring you to always want to know what happens next, and I would recommend you read it.

Coco

This book kept me waiting for the next thrill after every chapter. I just couldn’t put it down. Each character had their own intricate backstory, from Eli who has lost his memory of his past, to Malcom who does everything he can to hide it. This story brings both of these characters together to face a universal foe. What I found particularly interesting was the new perspective of London it gave me, as it looked past the advertised skyscrapers and high shops that you see so often, and addresses the numerous communities that truly make up London. The magic that is shaped by Caribbean mythology makes for daring adventures that keep you on the edge of your seat, and the beautifully vivid descriptions will take your breath away, from the lively atmosphere of the nine nights party to the gloominess of the house of spider. I would love to find out more about Eli’s past as not much was said about it. Overall I thought it was a great book and would recommend it.

Holly

This book is the sort of book that you just can’t put down. The way all the characters are linked in a way that is suddenly revealed means you are always waiting for the next up or down but are somehow are still surprised when the next one happens. It shows the strength of friendship and how no matter who you are you can always make a difference no matter what kind of labels you have been given and how much experience, or knowledge you have, whether you know it or not. This book I think is a beautiful story of people trying to find the missing part of them. Two opposites, one helping the dead one, the living must learn how to work together in this amazing book.