Temora and the Wordsnatcher by Kate Gordon

Title: Temora and the Wordsnatcher

Author: Kate Gordon

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Wombat Books

Published: 1^st May 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 276

Price: $19.99

Synopsis: Temora Murphy is eleven years old. She lives in a world where she never really fits. The other girls make fun of her. She’s not the “right” sort of girl for anyone – least of all her mother. On the candles of her birthday cake, she wishes for escape. Like magic, in a black pearl box at the bottom of her garden, books begin to appear. The books help her to leave her world and find another where she belongs.

On her twelfth birthday, Temora makes another wish, a wish that alters her life forever. Temora Tempest is welcomed into a world within a book, where everyone else has been waiting for her. But when some of the other apprentices fall victim to a magical disease that could only be caused by one person – a monster thought long dead – Temora realises that there can be darkness in every story. And that it might be her job to save everyone.

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Temora and the Wordsnatcher is a literary children’s story; a portal fantasy work, featuring a diverse cast of characters and a protagonist who marches to the beat of her own drum.

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Temora Murphy lives in a world where she doesn’t fit in. She’s bullied by the other girls, and her mother isn’t very nice either. But she always makes wishes on her birthday cake candles. One wish has brought her books in a black pearl box. The wish on het twelfth birthday changes things forever – and Temora is whisked away to Lyfthelm, a world within a book. Everyone has been waiting for her, and Temora starts to settle down to become a Wordspinner. Slowly, other apprentices start to fall ill – a magical disease is taking them away and as Tenora learns about Wordspinning and peryton polo, she is drawn into a dark world and a hunt for a monster determined to destroy the world that feels like home.

Temora and the Wordsnatcher is the first in a series, a story about books, where everywhere you look, there are references to beloved novels throughout time, such as characters or food, and it is a world that is linked to the world in various ways, but with a distinct Australian flavour as the characters reference places in Australia, which worked well, showing that anywhere can be a window to a fantasy world or be connected to a fantasy world. In the beginning, Temora doesn’t fit in with the world she is in, something that many readers – whether they are children, teenagers or older readers, will be able to relate to when reading this book. She’s not what people want her to be, and she understands the world in a different way to her mother and the shining girls. The characters are diverse and varied in many ways, and as the story unfolds, the world Temora is destined to be part of opens up for the reader – who is discovering Lyfthelm and Writungeard along with Temora.

I liked that Temora’s friends like Emmeline and Wen stood by her, especially Emmeline, who was always there for Temora through thick and thin, proving that you shouldn’t judge people, and there are ways of getting to know people – it is making that first step in getting to know someone that can be the hardest step. Perhaps Emmeline and Temora worked so well because they were not what everyone expected them to be – they were themselves and they didn’t let anyone else, such as Kendall make them feel like they had to compromise who they were. And I liked that it was Emmeline who helped Temora, who helped her understand the world and welcomed her into the misfits. All the misfits – as they called themselves – welcomed Temora into their fold, which showed that friendship can happen in many forms, and we all have our place in the world. This book is also a love letter to books and words, a celebration of the magic of writing – a talent that is being celebrated in many books lately, and I love this, especially when it is done so creatively and traversing our world and a secret world of stories, that they come from a secret, magical place that nobody knows about. It shines a light on the magic of storytelling and where ideas can come from, as well as the vast range of stories and ideas that writers have. Each story is unique, highlighting that everyone will create something different from what they are shown or think of, and this is what makes this story work so well. It is one of the things that highlights stories and the power of words.

Words can affect us in different ways – and this book shows what kind of power words can have over us in different settings and with different people. It is also about friendship and in a way destiny – but instead of a typical chosen one narrative, Temora is thrust into the situation and gets to work with people instead of having to do it all alone, as is often the case with many chosen ones. Her new friends help her find a way of making things work, and there are many things that are not always obvious, as these will come out in the next book, Temora and the Dreamers. I loved this book and its celebration of words – it stands out as one that I think will appeal to lots of readers and I hope it finds more readers in the years to come.