Cloak Hardcover – November 15, 2011

I was intrigued by this story right from the start. It was a lot of fun following Will on his journey into the world of enchants. The story held my interest all the way through and I just really enjoyed reading it.

I got this book for free on the Kindle a while back.When I started, I was struck by overly wordy descriptions, a severe lack of "show, don't tell," and sophomoric writing. I cared little for the main character, and there were SEVERAL unbelievable things in the story. Like the kid goes missing and his parents are dismissed as "on vacation" and never heard from again. Yet they cared enough to fire his caretaker... and hire someone they'd never met? Sorry, not buying it. Why have the parents in the story at all? It was a stub of a story that was never resolved.I found myself cringing at times at factual inaccuracies. In particular, what was the point of making the bat-girl blind? Sounded like the author didn't know bats aren't actually blind and then, instead of re-writing it, worked some excuse into the story. But it didn't fit, was meaningless, and didn't add to the story.HUGE portions of the book can be skimmed and you won't miss anything. Why do I care if the trip was bumpy? Why do I care to have endless descriptions of people going to and from places in this secret mountain? That doesn't advance the story or tell me about the characters.Then the ending wasn't foreshadowed at all. Deus Ex Machina endings don't "do it" for me. I had guessed that the ending would go one way, then things came completely out of left field, things that didn't make sense in anything that had happened in the book so far.I gave one star for the concept of the book; the world would make a great setting for future books. The reluctant messiah theme wasn't well done, though. *Of course* he suddenly has great powers though he'd never had any hint of them before. Again, it came out of left field.The author has potential so I added a star for that. He desperately needs a professional editor; about half the book could be cut with no impact to the story, and it would have been more enjoyable.The third star is because the book DID get better as it progressed, though not enough to warrant more than three stars. This book is worth a few bucks to read it on a Kindle.

I enjoyed this book, but I was really bothered by inaccuracies. Am I truly the only one that was irritated by the fact that the author doesn't know the difference between the thorax and the abdomen. He was consistently wrong, but the stingers of bees, wasps, etc. extend from the abdomen, not the thorax. I understand that the word thorax seems cooler, but it was distracting that the author kept describing a characters physical appearance incorrectly. While I think this would be a good fantasy novel to recommend to my nephews and godchildren, I hesitate to recommend something with such a fundamental mistake.On the other hand, I enjoyed the novel because it had few typos, which seem to plague free Kindle downloads, it was well-written, the main character was well-developed, and the premise of the novel was intriguing. The novel was complex enough to entertain both young adult and adult readers. The novel started a bit slow, but quickly picked up as the main premis was developed. I look forward to more from this author, but hopefully, his next effort will include fewer inaccuracies.

Cloak plays into every child's fantasy of a secret world only he and his animals (plush or real) may inhabit. It's quite delicious in that respect, and I'd happily place it right up there in the YA fantasy genre along with the great Michael Chabon's Summerland (which is about baseball and much more) or Roald Dahl's BFG. It can be frightening, as can those others, but I'm not sure we give kids enough credit for ingenuity. Sometimes it hurts to stretch one's intellect, but without a little discomfort, a kid's not going to grow himself emotionally. Depending on the age and sensitivity level of your reader, you may want to stretch the rules about keeping the lights on after bedtime; it'll be worth it. The only quibble I had with Cloak was the seeming indifference and inaccessibility of the parents; as a parent myself I was a little insulted.

Interesting concept for a story that really made for a great read. I loved the characters and how they grew during the story. I'll be sure to keep reading this series

I've seen some other reviews mentioning Harry Potter and while this is also a book about a boy discovering he is part of a special, secret world Cloak is certainly not a clone. I didn't spend each page going 'Oh, just like in HP' - I would never have given it five stars in that case. I suppose it *is* like HP in that the world the author has created is richly described, creatively populated and served up with a good dose of humour.In fact, I was actually pretty impressed when I realised this was the author's first book: the writing has almost none of the awkward phrasing and clunkiness of most starter novels. I say almost because there are a few niggling things a good edit would fix (eg. a cat character twitching their 'tale'). They are infrequent and did not meaningfully interfere with my enjoyment of the story. In addition, the writing isn't dumbed down: I found it easy to read as an adult, but I'm sure YA readers could also get into it.

This was billed as Childrens Fiction but I'm in my thirties and still enjoyed every second. I sincerly hope that the author will gift us with a follow-on as it is clear that there could still be a lot of fun to be had with this "world", but if it remains a stand-alone novel then I would still be thrilled to have come across it and would certainly read it to my newphews and nieces once they are a touch older (they are all under five at this moment in time and I think the complexity of the story would be lost on them).If the rating went above 5 stars then I would award it as many as allowed. Inventive, original and utterly absorbing.

This is a children's book, however I still found it an enjoyable read. It is about Will who is allergic to almost everything and has had to spend his whole life living isolated in a plastic bubble. He escapes from his bubble, wanting to experience life even if he has to suffer for it and discovers a hidden world inhabited by people with animal characteristics - I loved the way the author cleverly tied this in with the mythology of Egypt and stories of vampires. I would recommend this book to anyone with a love of adventure and fantasy.

I really enjoyed this story. It was a bit different and felt it was easy reading for YA. Through out the whole story it kept me wondering if there was a spy in the ranks and I did actually have an inkling who it was and I happened to be right! I found it hard to put down at night and sometimes read past my bedtime!I would recommend this story to fantasy lovers, who are looking for some light reading, and I will look to read the next in the series at some point in the future.

What can I say! I love a well-written pacy story with new ideas that keeps my attention and this one met all the criteria. Good on detail, dialogue and characterization - one of those stories that I didn't want to end and which I couldn't guess how would wrap up in time. The creations and characters have stayed in my head which is my personal benchmark of good storytelling.

A childrens fantasy fiction book that can be enjoyed by adults.Not sure what I expected, bought it on Kindle thinking it was adult fantasy fiction. It was clear early on that it was not, but it didn't stop me having to finish it. A parallel world in plain sight, sort of, Intrigue, subterfuge and empathy from start to finish. A good read that I shall be passing to my teenage son.