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Book Review: Fearless Sia and the Mystery of the Spooky Mansion by Saurabh Akhauri

Fearless Sia and the Mystery of the Spooky Mansion by Saurabh Akhauri is a differently pitched innovative book for children and young readers. The story is narrated using a new writing concept: Write-Along Stories. Under this concept, readers have the chance to co-author the book in snatches. However, the major control of the book lies with its original author, yet readers can contribute the story from some arteries to make it interesting or dull. It all depends upon their creative and imagination skills.


Another great aspect of the book is its illustrations – it also qualifies as an apparent picture book. The level of interaction and engagement is too high. Such books augment children’s readings habits to a great level.

So, how do the book and its story advances? The book features Sia Havmore as a lead character, Marco – the magician is the second lead but he is an antagonist. The story is placed in a sleepy town Oldsville. Sia and her friends go to Summer Carnival on Devil’s Thumb, a notorious place up in the mountains. Her parents are skeptical about it, but they let her go.

 The author has built some crazy excitement about the carnival – it has got dark history. Right since the first chapter, the author gives you the opportunity to steer the story as you wish to, not entirely but to some extent. When Sia gets VIP tickets of the magic show, in the morning she see something outside her window…what was that…you fill your part and take the story ahead.

However, the story chugs ahead even if you chose not to give your inputs. The scaffold of the story is brilliant, laced with suspense, mystery, action, and drama. In the magic show, Sia is kidnapped by the evil magician Marco. She is captured in a mansion in the forest, which is not visible to others. The spell of magic of Marco is too high to break. How will Sia escape from there and give a tough time to Marco, who is lusting after some treasure?

Much of the story takes place in that spooky mansion, where she first meets a strange creature called Hoo–Dini – a helper of Marco. However, the author left its description for co-authors. They have to decide what Hoo–Dini could be. In the story there comes many junctures where the readers need to fill the space of storytelling, either it is the end scene or some dialogues between two characters, or some action that needed a fresh direction.

Overall, the book is a dazzling effort in the storytelling arena. The mystery of the mansion remains till the last pages. Saurabh Akhauri’s language is at par with international standards, and puts no difficulty in understanding words and usage. The book is indeed a bundle of imagination, creativity, and innovation. A perfect for a growing reader in your home! Kudos to Saurabh Akhauri for his work!

You can buy the book from Amazon

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