The Slightly Disappointing Sequel

 Review of The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars (2018) by Jaclyn Moriarty

    The book is set about two decades before the events of The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone and it’s about WARS. 

    It all started on sports day when the Orphanage School went up against the painfully posh Brathelwaite Boarding School. One school CHEATED their way into victory and thus war must be waged! While the children were busy plotting revenge and subterfuge, agents from the Whispering Kingdom were worming their way into the little cosy town of Spindrift. When children were kidnapped and adults couldn't stop pointing fingers, inevitably it was up to Finlay, Honey Bee, and the rest of the orphans and the Brathelwaites to carry out the rescue mission.

    As most of you know, the first book is unwaveringly my fav of 2021. So yes, my expectations for the sequel were unrealistically high i.e. disappointment came easily. 

    I didn’t enjoy switching between multiple narrators. Sometimes it’s cute. Like when Finlay and Honey bicker as frenemies. But the effect it creates is a story that seems distracted with clashing interpretations. 

    This brings to my second misgiving. I expected the plot to be tightly woven, but it came close to being torn apart in some places. And you can see where Moriarty catches on and tries to do some swift patching which just about works.

    With these fatal flaws, was it worth it picking up The Whispering Wars? I can’t help but hesitate. The fleeting moments of narrative brilliance weren’t enough to make this book shine on its own. If it weren’t for the promise of being a sequel to Bronte Mettlestone’s adventures, I would probably ditch this as soon as it got to the squabbling. Which is fairly early on.

    There is a final instalment in the trilogy titled The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst, which I will pick up to bring Bronte Mettlestone’s journey to an end. My optimism this time remains high. But contained. Fingers crossed x

P.S. I just noticed that Moriarty describes the whispering wars as only 'slightly alarming'. That should've been fair warning that the excitement of war would be mitigated. Hmm.