The Ugly Teapot (Book One: Hannah) by Fred Holmes

Summary

Fourteen-year-old Hannah Bradbury loved her father so much that she worried about him constantly. After all, he was a photographer who traveled to the most dangerous places in the world. 

To allay her fears, each time he came home he brought her silly gifts, each one with supposed magical powers: the Seal of Solomon, the Ring of Gyges, even Aladdin’s Lamp. It was that lamp Hannah found the most unbelievable, for it looked like an ugly teapot. Nevertheless, her father assured her it was real, and made her promise to save her three wishes for something very special. 

Then . . . six months later . . . the unthinkable happened. Her father was killed while on assignment to Baghdad. And so on the day of his funeral Hannah did something she never thought she would ever do. 

She took out that teapot and gave it a rub . . . 

The Ugly Teapot by Fred Holmes is a timeless tale, filled with magic and adventure. More importantly, it will make you believe in the overwhelming power of love.


My Thoughts

Here I am, a few days after finishing The Ugly Teapot, and I am still going back and forth on how I really feel about this book.  There were things I liked, and there were definitely things I didn't really care for.  We'll see if I can figure out my feelings by the time I finish writing this review.

The very beginning of this book had my heart twisted.  My heart hurt for Hannah.  One thing that gets me every time is the emotion of a person losing someone that they love.  So, at the start, I was all in.  It was looking good.

Then, Hannah's dog walked in and talked to her...
I was not expecting that.  At all.  Griff, the dog, talks to her subliminally so no one else hears it.  I wasn't a fan of this part of the story.

I also want to add that, for a middle grade book, The Ugly Teapot has a lot of goriness (if that's a real word) in it.  Breaking of fingers, slashing of throats, and much more.  It took me by surprise!  Another thing I wasn't exactly a fan of.

Ok, so toward the end something happened that seemed to bring it all together and made it make sense.  Kind of a WHAT?!?! moment!  I don't want to say what happened because it is a major point of the book.  Anyways, it made me feel better about some of the other things I read, with the exception of something that happens with the dog.  I didn't like that part.

However, then there was something at the very end.  Something that, I realize, needed to be there to make the book part of a series.  But, I felt like it cancelled out the part that made everything make sense to me.  It was an interesting twist though!

Overall, I think I liked the book.  I'm pretty sure I did.  I definitely didn't hate it!  Pick it up and decide how you feel about it!

*Note: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.