How far would you go to save a friend?

Toby and the Silver Blood Witches

Author: Sally Doherty

Published on: 7th Jul 2021

ISBN: 978 1919625904

Price: £7.99

Age: 8+

What’s it about? A sinister plot. A hidden city in the sky. A boy with an impossible choice.

Twelve year old Toby has little time for friends or football since his mum fell ill. All he wants is to stay at home and keep an eye on her.

But mysterious things are happening beyond his garden hedge. Who is the figure at the window behind the barbed wire fence? And why is there a strange woman in his attic with a broken broom and bothersome pet bat?

Toby becomes entangled in an adventure of flying dogs, sparking hiccups and dangerous escapes. An innocent, young witch has been captured by a secretive organisation which will stop at nothing to find out how magic works. Toby must rescue her and time is running out.

Why should I read it? I enjoyed reading about the character of Toby and liked how the topic of carers was brought to the forefront as a discussion topic. The storyline has some great ideas, and I my intrigue was held throughout most of the story. The end is exciting and the story builds to its climax well. I think more could have been made of the other world as I didn’t quite find it believable enough; however, this could be developed in the next book. Some of the writing I found quite clunky in its composition though. I’m sure children of 8+ would enjoy the witch characters, which are delightfully different – some funny, some kind, some scary.