Warren The 13th and the All-Seeing Eye

Author: Tania Del Rio,
Illustrator: Will Staehle

Publisher: Quirk Books

Genre/Themes: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Adventure

Release Date: November 24th 2015

Page Count: 224

Format: Hardcover

ISBN: 9781594748035

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Author Website | Illustrator Website |
Book Depository | Amazon |
Chapters/Indigo | Goodreads | Kobo | Audible

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*Disclaimer* I was asked to read Warren The 13th and The All-Seeing Eye by Quirk Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.

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Happy Friday the 13th everyone! Today is a special day! Not only is it Friday the 13th, but we are also celebrating Warren The 13th and the All-Seeing Eye by Tania Del Rio and Will Staehle! Warren The 13th caught my eye a little while ago with it’s beautiful cover and fantastic illustrations. I have wanted to read it ever since and now I finally had the chance!

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Synopsis

Warren the 13th is the lone bellhop, valet, waiter, groundskeeper, and errand boy of his family’s ancient hotel. It’s a strange, shadowy mansion full of crooked corridors and mysterious riddles—and it just might be home to a magical object known as the All-Seeing Eye. Can Warren decipher the clues and find the treasure before his sinister Aunt Annaconda (and a slew of greedy hotel guests) beats him to it?

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What I Liked

The adventure. Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye was completely action packed and full of adventure! I loved all of the different tasks and challenges that Warren had to go through in order to learn more about the All-Seeing Eye and to discover what it was exactly.  Warren the 13th was an all-around fun reading experience and I can totally see it being adored by a younger audience as well as an older one.

The characters. While the illustrations may have been majority black and white, the characters themselves were extremely colourful. They were all very memorable…yes, even Aunt Annaconda. Each of them were super unique and interesting. I absolutely loved Warren and how gentle and sweet he was. He wasn’t treated very nicely by his Aunt, yet he didn’t hold a grudge and always did as he was told. That is until enough was enough and he was finally able to confront her. While Aunt Annaconda was a pretty vile person, her character was definitely needed as the main antagonist within this story. There needed to be someone to eventually push Warren to stand up for himself. I also loved all of the side characters. Mr. Friggs, Chef Bunion, Petula and Sketchy were all amazing characters and they worked well to aid Warren in his adventures!

The artwork. It’s just beautiful. What more can I say? The illustrations throughout this book are probably one of the key elements that made me pick it up in the first place. I loved the style and the colours and they really added to the overall story of Warren the 13th.

The overall design. This ties in heavily with the illustrations stated above. Mix them in with beautiful typography and overall design and you have one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever looked at. And I mean…it was all designed and illustrated by Will Staehle…a.k.a. the person who created the cover design for the hardcover Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab.

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What I Didn’t Like

One task too many. There were a few moments when the story felt like it was dragging…but only a little. I just felt as though maybe Warren went through one task too many. When there are multiple problems before a character can come to a positive conclusion, whether in books or even film, things start to feel redundant for me and I just end up wanting to get to the conclusion as fast as possible. But maybe that’s just me!

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Overall, Warren the 13th was fun and fast paced and an excellent adventure story for people of all ages! The book is also really beautiful to look at so I highly suggest checking it out!

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About The Author

Hi, my name is Tania del Rio, author of the middle grade novel, WARREN THE 13TH AND THE ALL-SEEING EYE for Quirk Books. The sequel, WARREN THE 13TH AND THE WHISPERING WOODS comes out on March 21st, 2017! I’m also a professional comic book writer and artist with 10 years experience writing and illustrating for a young audience. My clients include Archie Comics, Dark Horse, and Marvel. AOL Comics Alliance described my work on SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH as “One of the best and most underrated all-ages comics of the last 10 years”! Most recently, I am the author of DIARY OF A GIRL NEXT DOOR: BETTY, an illustrated novel for Archie comics. I’ve also edited MANGAKA AMERICA (Collins Design), a gallery and tutorial book featuring some of the hottest emerging North American manga artists of the time, and am currently working on another tutorial book for Focal Press on character design. I reside with three dogs in Los Angeles, California, where I can be found writing under a palm tree, expressing my inner teenager.

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About The Illustrator

WILL STAEHLE is a freelance book designer residing in Seattle, Washington, and the former Art Director for HarperCollins. From his iconic work on Michael Crichton’s novels to his colorful, vibrant covers for Michael Chabon, if you’re a book lover, you’ve seen his iconic work. Some of his recent covers include Victoria Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic and Ernest Cline’s Armada.

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Thank you for reading!
&& don’t forget to check out the sequel!