Kit Berry (–2021)

[This is a review I wrote in 2008]

What a captivating book. Mysticism, fantasy, spiritualism and a great story combine to make this book completely and utterly unputdownable!! With Kit Berry at the helm, enter the magical world of Stonewylde - an old-fashioned self-sufficient community set in modern day Dorset - and experience a way of life that combines ancient pagan rites and customs, with 21st-century living.

Sylive is 14 years old and lives in a block of flats with her young mum. Sylvie is show more very poorly and sufferes from every allergy, intolerance, and illness possible. She's spent a lot of time in hospitals and they don't seem to know what to do for her, or how to help her get better. That is, until Sylvie meets a doctor at the hospital who comes from Stonewylde and suggests that she try and arrange a visit there for Sylvie to see if the change of scene and environment helps her to feel any better...

Slyvie soons flourishes in the natural organic environment of Stonewylde and before long is full of vitality and energy that she has never experienced before, so she and her mum decide to stay. Stonewylde seems like a perfect place full of happiness and beauty, but something niggles away at Sylvie when she befriends a boy from the village, Yul - a boy she's not supposed to have anything to do with because he is a lowly commoner and she is supposed to be residing with the better educated people from the "hall", under strict orders from the Magus (or king). From here Sylvie discovers a darkness at Stonewylde which she and Yul come to battle against together, each of them discovering magical powers in themselves they never knew they possessed.

This is a magical and captivating story of friendship and endurance, and discovery. Beautifully written, I was hooked right from the first page and couldn't put it down until I'd finished (at 3am!). I'm really looking forward to reading the sequels. show less

If you thought I hated the Magus before then that is nothing compared to now. No, strike that. I do not hate him, he disgust me now. If he was on fire I would not spit on him, I would not even think about it. He is slowly rotting inside in this one, and finally, people start to notice.

But I will go back a step. This book was just so emotional. I did not want to stop because I had to know! Could this sorry excuse for a human being be stopped?!

Tha magus has tried to kill Yul or break him more show more than once. And Yul is his own son, but there is a prophecy...Sylvie is being used for her moonmagic and he drains her until she is an empty shell. Then he yells at her when she is being lazy. So when I started reading this book I was dreaing at all, especially since Yul lay at death's door in book 2 and Sylvie. Poor Sylvie. When I started reading my hate (we all know about that now) turned to disgust. Yes things gets even worse. Things will happen, but there will not only be darkness, there is some light and I kept rooting for that light as I raced toward the end of the book.

If nothing else then this book will keep you on your toes, and rooting for the good guys, while swearing over the bad guys. show less

I really can’t do justice to this book but I will try. Stonewylde drew me in from the very start and didn’t let go until the end – and then I still wanted more! Luckily this is a series of 5 and I can’t wait to get hold of the next one. Kit Berry writes so beautifully and with such vivid descriptions that I felt I was living in Stonewylde myself. The characters that Berry has created are fantastic and I felt so strongly for the young boy, Yul. Some of the passages are extremely show more moving, and excruciating to read, but always add to the story and aren’t just sensationalism. An outstanding read and one of my best this year. show less

Dark, mysterious, spellbinding... book 3 of the Stonewylde Series is definitely the best to date, and I love them all as you'll see if you read my other reviews.

The series are full of folklore, wildlife, pagan rites and natural magic, with Yul drawing on the magic of Mother Nature and the Earth, and the shining Sylvie drawing strength and magic from the power of the moon. The gripping story of Yul and Sylvie fighting for the well-being of the manorial and village community of Stonewylde is show more gripping in its intensity and beautifully written throughout.

In book 3 Yul and Sylvie face one of the darkest moments in the history of Stonewylde, the run up to the winter solstice at which the prophecy that Mother Heggy made sixteen years ago might come true... or could even fail... It all rests in hands of young Yul and Sylvie, who are fighting against the dark force of the Magus.

I've loved these 3 books and in a way I wish they ended here, as the author originally intended, but apparently there are another 2 to come. That said, I'll be the first to rush out and buy them when they're published! I can't recommend them enough - easy-to-read fantasy for 12+ ages. show less