What do you think of when you hear the words “Enchanted Forest?” Lovely fairy like creatures with transparent wings flittering about? The sound of music drifting through the air? Sweet smelling flowers and shiny leafed trees? A forest you’d love to visit?

In Author Kelly Hashway’s MG novel, THE CURSE OF THE GRANVILLE FORTUNE, J. B. and his sister, Holly, become lost in a forest, a forest where their worst nightmares become a reality. J. B. has visions. An old woman tells him he’ll be cursed until he returns what was taken. In his vision two others are with him. He doesn’t know who they are or what was taken, just that he was cursed. In their search for meaning to his visions, J. B. and Holly end up in Braeden Forest, where they might possibly find the answers.

THE CURSE OF THE GRANVILLE FORTUNE has a lot of characters, a lot of twists and turns and surprises. People are not always what they seem, and J. B., along with Holly and a girl named Noelle, don’t know who to trust in their quest to discover what was stolen, by whom, and what it means to each of the kids and their families. There’s plenty of action for young readers. J. B. is a good older brother, protective of his sister and Noelle. And you may just be surprised at some of the twists and turns in the story. This book would make a nice addition to school libraries, public libraries and your own personal library.

I was provided a copy of this book for my honest review.

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JB (nickname for Jack Beaumont) has been having visions since he was only four years old. He’s nine now. The visions are always the same. An old woman is saying, “You three who bring disgrace to your families shall suffer great misfortune. Your lives shall be cursed until you return what was taken this night.” But the vision doesn’t make sense to JB since he hasn’t stolen anything and who are the three? JB and his eight year old sister, Holly, were playing in the park backing up to woods. They run when they see a frightening man walking out of the woods.

Their dad had been acting strange lately, spending more and more time at work and making less and less time for JB and Holly. They take his journal to see what he’s been up to. In it is a note written in their mom’s handwriting about Braedon Forest and warnings of the scary beasts within. They set off to find out what Dad and Mom have been hiding. Into Braedon Forest they go.

The recommended age for this is 9 to 12 (lower middle grade), which would make sense since the protagonist is also nine. It’s an action / adventure story with some fantasy. It can get a bit scary at times, but honestly I don’t think it is out of range for this age group. It’s pretty fast paced with no time for boredom to set in. Amazon shows the total pages at 300, but I think this is a mistake for the number of kindle pages. I’d estimate the total pages at about 100 or so for the kindle e-book. The paperback has 300 pages but perhaps there are pictures – just guessing as I’m not sure. I did think it was more open-ended than I’ve seen most middle grade fiction. There’s a definite feeling of ‘to be continued’. Some things don’t entirely make sense, like how were two kids away from home for a couple of nights without the police force looking for them. I rated Curse of the Granville Fortune at 4 out of 5.

http://www.fictionzeal.com/review-giveaway-curse-granville-fortune-kelly-hashway... ( )