Tinder is like no other story I have ever read. It is a fairy story, but I always thought that fairy stories had happy endings, but I found the ending far from happily ever after!
Otto Hundebiss is a soldier from the Imperial Army. He is wounded, and is dying. That is when he sees Death. Otto tricks Death, and so he isn't taken. And that is when the adventure starts.
Otto leaves the battlefield to explore the forest. He meets a half-man half-beast creature, who gives him some dice, which tell Otto the direction he should travel. If they are rolled, he must always listen to them.
On Otto goes, when he meets a mysterious girl named Safire who he falls in love with. But one night she is taken, and so he must travel to the werewolf land, where he will find her. On the way there he sees a castle, where he comes across one of the most evil baddies I have read about so far.... The Lady of The Nail! And this is where Otto comes across the Tinderbox. What is so special about the Tinderbox? Well, it will grant him wishes. However it is no genie in the Tinderbox but three werewolves who will grant what you wish. Granting what you wish may sound really good, but here the whole thing turns into a nightmare, and sometimes what you wish for may not lead to the happy ending you were after!
I loved this book so much, however I can see not everyone will like it as it is very scary and has some grown-up bits in it. My mum and I read it together which I think was a good thing as she could explain some of it to me. The baddies in the story were really horrible, especially The Lady of The Nail, and also it was a very sad book at times, as it told us the horrors of war, and how young soldiers are affected by war. Also it is a love story which I do not usually like, but here it was written very well and in a mysterious way and not soppy at all!
I loved the pictures in the book, they were drawn so well and added to the feeling of the book, but again I do not think that some kids would like them as they were a bit gruesome at times. I also loved the way Sally Gardner wrote the story as she never tried to make you feel at ease; I was always on edge and now I want to read her other books.
And like I said I loved the way it ended as I was really expecting it all to end well, but wow I sure was not expecting the ending which was really clever and quite haunting. I will remember this book for a long time.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants something really different to any fairy story you have ever read, and does not get scared easily!
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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