Goblin Sectrets by William Alexander

This book confused me! For starters I am not sure what time period it is set in.  Not that it always matters but I kind of like having some sort of reference.  It feels as though it is set in older days but there are mentions of trains and complicated clockwork characters so I am still not sure. 

The story revolves around Rownie who is searching for his brother.  He ends up with a group of Goblins who are also looking for Rowan.  The Goblins are a group of actors although acting has been outlawed by the Mayor.  This is another part of the book that did not make much sense.  You are never really told why it has been outlawed and I think if we had the book may have made more sense.  The Goblins also have masks that they wear whilst performing and I would have loved to know more about them, the history of why those particular masks and their meanings.

There also doesn’t seem to be enough back story to tell you why there are clockwork people and animals and how they came about.  You don’t really know who is clockwork and who isn’t and again a bit more about that would not have gone a miss.

The book is only 220 pages long and I think this is its downfall.  If the author had written a longer book that could give you some of the back stories then I would have enjoyed it a lot more.  Maybe it is this short as it is targeted for the 8-12 age range but I think they could have coped with something a bit more in depth.

Thanks again goes to Emma for the  book - http://www.bookangelbooktopia.com/