Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows by J.M. Bergen ~ 352 pages ~ published 2/2/19 by Elandrian Press
Goodreads Synopsis:
Thomas thinks he’s an ordinary twelve year old, but when a strange little man with gold-flecked eyes gives him an ancient text called The Book of Sorrows, the world he knows is turned upside down. Suddenly he’s faced with a secret family legacy, powers he can hardly begin to understand, and an enemy bent on destroying everything he holds dear. The more he reads and discovers, the deeper the danger to himself and the people he loves. As the race to the final showdown unfolds, Thomas must turn to trusted friends and uncertain allies as he seeks to prevent destruction at an epic scale.
What I Thought:
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are entirely my own, and this does not affect the content of my review.*
I was approached by the publisher to read and review a copy of Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows. I don’t generally read middle grade books, but I thought that the concept of the story was intriguing so I agreed. I think that this book will be absolutely great for middle grade boys who are looking for a hero they can relate to.
At the risk of sounding super cliché, I will go ahead and say that this would be a good alternative to giving a 5th grade boy the Harry Potter books. It still has magic, but it is rooted more firmly in the real world. Also, Thomas Wildus is American (at least I think he is!), so that makes a nice change as well.
I enjoyed Thomas and Enrique’s friendship. It was nice to see that Thomas had a life outside of his magical abilities. It wasn’t like he needed magic to fill his life, he had a full life even without it. I thought that was also rather refreshing. His relationship with his mother was also heartwarming.
I found the progression of magic in the book to be fun and believable. I enjoyed that we learned more about magic right along with Thomas. This made me feel more invested in his progress and growth.
I will say that I found some of the reactions that Thomas had to the strange things beginning to happen in his life to be hard to believe. He seemed very willing to believe that magic was real at the start of the book, but then once those magical things started to happen, he was suddenly extremely confused and resistant to the concept that magic was, in fact, real. This was confusing and slightly frustrating to me as a reader, but this could just be the way that middle grade books are structured. As I stated earlier, I don’t read a ton of books from this age group.
Overall, I thought that this was a nice start to a new series that I think only has room to grow and get even better with time.
Thank you again for sending me this book to read and review!
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I gave Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows 3 STARS! I would recommend this book to any middle grade aged child who is looking for something similar to the Harry Potter series.
Are you interested in learning more about this book/series? Check out the links below!
Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows on Goodreads
Purchase Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows on BN.com
Have you read this book yet? Are you a fan of middle grade fantasy? Let’s talk down in the comments!
Love and happy reading,
Whit Reads Lit 
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