Ultimate Blog Tour Review: The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams by Victoria Williamson

Hey everyone!
Today is my stop on the ultimate blog tour for The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, written by Victoria Williamson, and illustrated by James Brown I am excited to be sharing my review with you all.

A massive thank you to @The_WriteReads and @TinyTreeBooks for allowing me to be a part of the tour.

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Book Blurb:

In a strange little village called Witchetty Hollow, eleven-year-old Florizel is the first to run into the curious visitors who’ve come to open a brand new Daydream Delicatessen and sack-baby factory.

At first, it seems the daydream confection and cheap sack children are the best things that could have happened to the poor folk of the Hollow – after all, who has the money to rent their child from Storkhouse Services these days? But after a few weeks, Florizel starts to notice something odd happening to the adults of the town. First, they seem dreamy, then they lose all interest in their jobs and families. Soon they’re trading all their worldly goods in the newly-opened Pawnshop for money to buy daydreams. With no money for rent payments, the children of Witchetty Hollow are being reclaimed by Storkhouse Services at an alarming rate. Florizel needs to act.

A magical tale of intrigue and adventure from award-winning children’s author Victoria Williamson

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My Review:

I’ve recently got in to middle grade books a lot more, and the blurb for The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams really intrigued me. I wasn’t too sure what to expect going in to it, but it certainly surpassed anything I had imagined.

The story begins with Florizel making her way through the forest on her way home, when a carriage heads towards her. From her hiding place, she sees that it’s the Gobbelino family, who own the Daydream Delicatessens, sack-baby factories, and pawnshops. But what Florizel witnesses in the forest is a truly terrifying sight. From the opening chapter, this book has you completely hooked. To begin with, I thought the storyline was a little bizarre, but certainly not in a bad way. It made you want to read on and learn more, and to find out what is really going on in Witchetty Hollow.

We are soon introduced to Burble, a sweet little sack-boy who just wants to be like a real boy. To begin with Florizel didn’t really know how to react to him, but she soon becomes so accepting, and friendly towards him, and they build a truly beautiful friendship throughout the book. Unfortunately the rest of the children aren’t so welcoming, and bully him. Children can be so cruel, and Burble experiences that first hand, but he never lets it get him down.

I hated the Gobbelino family from the get go. They were clearly evil, and I just wished the villagers could have seen that for themselves from the very start. But the Gobbelinos were clever, and they knew how to get what they wanted. Their whole delicatessen, sack-baby factory, and pawnshop trio was a way of manipulating everyone for their own gain. Making people think they needed something so desperately, and giving them solutions when they couldn’t afford it, all of which lined their own pockets. I personally felt that this whole situation very much resembles modern day society. The rich manipulating the poor for their own benefit, without a single care for the welfare of others or how their actions are destroying lives.

Following Florizel and Burble’s detective work into what the Gobbelino’s were really up to was a lot of fun. It was filled with danger, and bone chilling moments, and was just so enjoyable to read. The climax of the story has you on the edge of the seat and has you flipping the pages as quick as you can to find out how things end. The way the book does end lives up to the standard of the rest of the story, and is extremely satisfying, but also rather lovely.

This book reminds me of an old-school fairy tale, like those written by the Grimm brothers. There’s an eerie darkness to this story that I hadn’t expected which was a pleasant surprise, and I loved every second of it. Plus, the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous! It is definitely in my top 10 books I’ve read in 2023 so far.

I give The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams a 5 star rating!

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About The Author:

Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.

Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.

Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.

YOU CAN FIND VICTORIA HERE:
Website, Twitter, GoodReads

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