Review by Booklist Review
Reminiscent of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, this book introduces Anastasia McCrumpet. The 11-year-old, still dressed in her Halloween costume from the previous evening, is whisked away from school by two wizened old women claiming to be her great-aunts Primrose and Prudence. Pretending that Anastasia's parents are dead, they take her to their dilapidated Victorian mansion and lock her in room 11 with a crumpled-up old bed and a chamber pot, but no food or toothbrush. Anastasia becomes their servant, but soon realizes she is not the only child in the house. Relying on knowledge from the Francie Dewdrop mysteries, she escapes her room and meets two brothers held captive in other parts of the house. The three call themselves the League of Beastly Dreadfuls and plot the demise of the old women. With just the right mix of humor, magic, maliciousness, and suspense, Grant leaves readers waiting for Anastasia's next adventure.--Petty, J. B. Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Peculiarities abound inside Saint Agony's Asylum, where "completely average almost-eleven-year-old" Anastasia McCrumpet is doomed to spend her days after her parents are allegedly hospitalized in a "freak vacuum-cleaning accident." To escape her strange (and heretofore unknown) great-aunts Primrose and Prudence, who gnash their metal choppers at breakfast and lock her inside a musty old room at sundown, Anastasia explores the asylum's cavernous halls seeking a way back to her hometown of Mooselick. First-time author Grant is gifted at immersing readers in her fantastical world, infused with comically absurd details like Anastasia's grudge-holding "revenge-pooper" guinea pig and descriptions of her inhospitable new home, "as cold and clammy as an octopus hug." As the first book in a planned series, this fanciful introduction to shapeshifters and shadow dwellers sets the tone for oddities to come while leaving some key questions unanswered. It's clear that Anastasia is anything but average, and her adventures are just beginning as the book comes to a close. Finished art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Anastasia is completely average. She isn't remarkable in any way, except for having very dreadful things happen to her. After her parents die in a vacuum cleaner accident, two very old and previously unknown aunts, Prim and Prude, pick her up from school, drug her, and take her to the abandoned St. Agony's Asylum for the Criminally Insane. She is locked in her room at night, given mysterious lumps to eat (so she starts eating moths), and told not to go outside or she will be eaten by the Beast (not to mention the attack poodles). Anastasia soon suspects that these two ladies with sharp metal teeth are not truly her aunts, that the boy who wanders the hall wearing a birdcage is not an insane gardener, and that she is not safe if she remains in the old asylum. Riding the dumbwaiter through the many floors of the mansion, Anastasia discovers a ticklish shadow who's really the brother of the "gardener"; both boys were kidnapped by the evil sisters. Together Anastasia and the brothers Ollie and Quentin form the League of Beastly Dreadfuls and plan their escape, including making a sugar key, feeding Prim and Prude laxative chocolate, and using a sleeping drug in their tea. Madcap plots twists abound, which include shape-shifters, a hot air balloon ride, and a kindly school librarian named Miss Apple. This adventure is filled with enough mystery and humor to keep readers wondering what will happen next. A solid debut reminiscent of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (HarperCollins).-Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Almost-eleven newly orphaned Anastasia McCrumpet has been adopted--that is, kidnapped--by her bloodsucking aunts, Prim and Prude. With help from two shadowboys, a librarian, and a baron, she plots her escape. Influences of Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket are unmistakable. Scatalogical humor is well-tempered by the melodramatic Victorian narration ("Dear Reader," etc.). Whimsical illustrations and a Victorian "Etiquette Manual" are included. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two sinister spinsters spirit a seemingly ordinary fifth-grader away one day to a moldering former asylum, informing her that she's become an orphan and they are her great-aunts. Yeah, right."Now sit up straight and eat your Lumps." Locked into her room at night by "Aunts" Primrose and Prudence and fed only Mystery Lumps, Anastasia nearly succumbs to misery at first. But like her capable literary heroine, detective/veterinarian/artist Francie Dewdrop, she's made of sterner stuffand is soon turning up startling clues, terrifying discoveries and, in the asylum's darker reaches, other young captives with decidedly peculiar abilities. Along with drawing most of her characters from Roald Dahl's casting company and concocting an eerie setting positively made for Unfortunate Events, Grant threads her narrative with direct addresses to Readers and delicious turns of phrase: "A pink-patterned carpet runner spooled down the steps like a monstrous spotty tongue." Not to mention multiple atmosphere-lightening references to Anastasia's "tragic flatulence" and the odd wade into the nearby bog to gather leeches for, ugh, nonmedicinal purposes. Anastasia herself displays a few quirks, such as a sudden appetite for moths. Despite revelations following a rescue by a pair of shape-changing allies, the author leaves at least one sequel's worth of unexplained puzzles. Portillo's frequent vignettes add a properly cobwebby Gothic look. A yummy debut, though readers with sensitive stomachs would be well-advised to check them at the door. (Fantasy. 10-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
