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Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Review: The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast by Samantha M. Clark




The Boy, The Boat, and the Beast 
By Samantha M. Clark 
June 26, 2018 
Simon & Schuster 
Source: from pub 

The Graveyard Book meets Hatchet in this eerie novel about a boy who is stranded on a mysterious beach, from debut author Samantha M. Clark. 

A boy washes up on a mysterious, seemingly uninhabited beach. Who is he? How did he get there? The boy can’t remember. When he sees a light shining over the foreboding wall of trees that surrounds the shore, he decides to follow it, in the hopes that it will lead him to answers. The boy’s journey is a struggle for survival and a search for the truth—a terrifying truth that once uncovered, will force him to face his greatest fear of all if he is to go home. 

This gripping adventure will have readers hooked until its jaw-dropping and moving conclusion. Samantha M. Clark’s first novel heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice. 


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A boy awakens on a beach, alone, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He's surrounded by the terrifying sea and a deep, dark wood that contains a beast. The boy just knows that he has a family he must get to and, when a bright light shines toward him, he begins to follow it. But getting to the light is no easy task and the boy encounters many scary obstacles along the way. And the boy discovers that the scariest obstacle of all is the immense truth his finds at the end of his journey. 

Y'all this middle-grade book was nothing that I expected, but everything I could have wanted it to be! Samantha M. Clark masterfully spins a spellbinding and stunning tale with The Boy, The Boat, and the Beast. 

With lyrical and exquisite storytelling, The Boy, The Boat, and the Beast is simply mesmerizing and utterly captivating. A perfect balance of suspense, excellent world-building, and character exploration, make for an un-putdownable story that had me completely bewitched...I seriously could not stop reading, desperately needing to know how the boy's story ends. Clark lays out a lushly described setting with the mysterious and darkly alluring island the boy finds himself stranded upon, and she creates a beautifully haunting and dreamy atmosphere. What Clark is able to accomplish and offer with very few characters and minimal dialogue is quite remarkable! 

The mystery surrounding the boy, his past, his home, and his future, is fiercely gripping, full of beauty; pain; wonder; thrills; chills; and magnificent character exploration, and leads to a heart-stopping twist. The ending is definitely satisfying and left this reader in tears. 

The Boy, The Boat, and the Beast is the kind of special book that takes hold of your heart and never really lets go.  Profoundly moving, fantastically written, and so full of heart, hope, and beauty, The Boy, The Boat, and the Beast is riveting and unforgettable. 

MY RATING
5/5 Cupcakes


Samantha M Clark is the author of the middle-grade novel THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, coming June 26, 2018, from Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster.  She loves stories about ordinary children doing extraordinary things. After all, if four ordinary brothers and sisters can find a magical world at the back of a wardrobe, why can’t she?  When she's not exploring wardrobes, she's writing about magical worlds, some more real than others. And when she's not spinning words, you'll probably find her reading, cooking or out in the garden. She lives in the land of the weird with her husband and crazy dog.  


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After much thought and only recently being introduced to blog awards and blogger tagging, I'm going to have to declare this an award/tag free blog. I'm honored, humbled, and so very grateful for simply being considered for an award, but I simply do not have the time to return the favor. If I could, I'd award y'all with dozens of yummy cupcakes ;) Thanks for understanding.