Natasha Hastings – The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Frost Fair @The_WriteReads @WriteReadsTours @HarperCollinsCh @tashajhastings #TheMiraculousSweetmakers #TheFrostFair #TheWriteReads #UltimateBlogTour #SharonBTB

The Miraculous Sweetmakers by Matasha Hastings is on a The Write Reads tour. Not published yet, I was lucky enough to be invited along by The Write Reads. Thank you to both Dave and Harper Collins Children’s Books for my ARC.

An amazing and captivating, curl-up-on-the-sofa debut about a magical frost fair and the lasting power of friendship.

It’s a cold winter during the Great Frost of 1683. Thomasina and Anne are the best of friends, one running her father’s sweet shop and the other the apprentice at the family apothecary—together they sell their goods on the frozen River Thames. When a family tragedy turns Thomasina’s world upside down, she is drawn to a mysterious conjuror and the enchanted frost fair.

But soon the world of Father Winter threatens to claim everything she holds dear. Will they be able to solve the magical mysteries that surround them . . . ?

A magical and so original fantasy story that I found perfect to read with winter looming. One that doesn’t just bring a fantasy, but a fantastical, historical fiction story that is steeped in realism.

Set in the London winter of 1683, 13 year old Thomasina is attempting to deal with the death of her twin brother, care for her severely depressed mother while also looking after the house too. Her father won’t even look at her either. On top of this overwhelming life of hers, she has to make sweets for the family business.

A magical stranger offers to grant her biggest wish, bring her twin back. What will she have to do in return? As she begins to question the strangers rules, events suddenly seem much darker. Can Thomasina, with the help of her friends face this head on and overcome the darkness she and her family face?

The Miraculous Sweetmakers begins with a tragedy and boy, is it an introduction to the family. I already had my heart torn apart and I hadn’t read more than 30 pages. I was invested from that point. The Frost Fair, the enchanted bear, these are going to be remembered by me. I loved the history, the magical setting and the strong characters of Thomasina and Anne. Two friends who are determined they will do anything to save Thomasina and her family. They come up with a brilliant idea, I was proud of them for being so capable.

As I said earlier, this book is steeped in realism. This comes in the shape of highlighting a disability such as asthma and dealing with mental health too. I must say Asthma isn’t something you read about in books much and it makes a refreshong change for it to be part of the story. I must say, the author has depicted this illness well. I have a parent with bad asthma so it’s daily life and always has been, but some people have no clue about it.

The darker parts of the story makes it a little harder for the younger teens to read maybe. Other than that I would say it’s suitable for older teens right up to adults at the older end too.

I was captivated with this book,from the tragic start to the heartwarming and spellbinding story that follows. Natasha Hastings has written such an original and refreshing story thatI can see bring a hit with both young adults and older adults too.

Natasha Hastings 

Natasha Hastings

started developing The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Frost Fair while studying history at Cambridge University, where she focused on gender and mental illness. While exploring these topics, she became determined to have the lives of working women, as well as their experiences of mental illness in this period, form the heartbeat of her debut book, The Frost Fair.