The Nowhere Emporium

I absolutely loved this! Such a unique, creative concept. I knew I wanted to read these soon since the 3rd book came out recently, but I wasn’t sure if I could fit it in for November or December. UNTIL I watched Alexandra Roselyn’s video, & she read the first line in the book, & it was a “crisp November morning”. Perfect! Lol I loved Daniel! It was so great to see someone so deserving & in need stumble upon this greatness. He’s an orphan, & he is running from some bullies from the orphanage when he ducks into the Emporium to hide. There he meets the owner/creator Mr. Silver. He comes back the next day, & Mr Silver knew he was special, b/c usually people don’t remember the place once they leave. Daniel is offered to be apprentice to Mr. Silver & so begins a journey of magic & adventure. He meets Mr Silvers daughter Ellie, who nobody but they at the emporium can see, & she can’t leave either. The staff also cannot leave. They are apart of Mr Silvers imagination, so cannot leave the emporium & go into the “real world”. The chapters alternate b/n present time & the past. The past starts from when Mr Silver was a boy & continues on from there, showing us more & more of his life during those chapters. A main part of his past has caught up w/him, & the whole emporium is in danger. It’s up to Daniel, & Eillie to save it. This was creative in every way. I loved the travel to all over, & at different times in history. I loved all the different aspects of the emporium itself. I loved Mr Silver & loved his whole backstory. The past chapters were fascinating. This whole story was. I couldn’t put it down. The villain was amazingly done. I couldn’t stand him, but he was written sooooo well. The ending was just beautiful, & I’m already reading & loving the 2nd book. A beautiful cover too!!😍😍 Highly recommend!!💜💜

I wanted to like this book. I was excited to love this book. Everything I read about it pointed to that this would become a likely fast favorite.And maybe that’s why I feel so disinclined to give this a higher rating: disappointment is a harsh and often unforgiving critic.The descriptions of the Emporium itself were candy to the imagination. I would be lying if I said I didn’t ache to explore its hallways and rooms—Ross Mackenzie has absolutely created wonders in this sense.But when it comes to the cast, I found myself wondering where any development was hiding—especially as it pertained to the female characters.Daniel is a somewhat generic sort of protagonist, and I could forgive that I found him a bit boring because I was convinced eventually an arc would mold him. But as far as I can understand , apart from possibly overcoming a fear of drowning (through really no personal growth of his own), Daniel Holmes is the exact same person on page one as he is in the final chapter.Both Ellie and Michelle exist solely for their male counterparts and seem to have zero drive, purpose or personality beyond them. I am rather confident you could replace them with sentient lampposts and the narrative would be barely altered.

If you like Harry Potter, you'll LOVE this. It's a wonderful story, very well written, and fantastically imaginative. Great characters, fun plot - a great story for boys and girls alike. I read it aloud to my 7 year old and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

This book reminded me of The Night Circus, but had more of a warmth in the creation of the characters. It chronicles the lives of 2 orphans with magical gifts, one old one young, their connection to the Emporium and the wonders that lay within.

I read The Nowhere Emporium to my seven year old son. It is a wonderful and imaginative book that we both enjoyed reading. I would recommend this book to boys, girl's and adults a like.

Almost every development, scene, plot point, character and magic bit in this book is reminiscent of something that has appeared in some other book. But, Harry Potter wasn't the first, (or best), fictional orphan and the Night Circus wasn't the first, (or best), fictional wonder circus, and heaven knows kids have been defending against evil magic since well before young Arthur pulled that sword from the stone. It seems to me the test is not what ingredients you start with, but what you do with them. And this book struck me as a perfectly fine, entertaining and honest effort to create something gripping and atmospheric.This is a "Kelpies" book. These are books aimed at 8 to 12 year olds, and are set primarily in Scotland. From time travel to giant robot chickens to unicorns and fairies, the list of Kelpies books is extensive. Some are edgy and some are very "safe". Some of them have a traditional magical/fantasy feel, with a special emphasis on hitting the 8 to 12 interest level and reading level. That's where I'd put this book.We have a resourceful hero who is called to step up when danger threatens. We have a tragic but stalwart and clever heroine/friend. We have colorful secondary characters. We have a protective but flawed good adult and a villainous adult. We have a magical setting and a plot that is fueled by wonderful but still very practical magic. There is solid pacing, with very nice switches from action to calm wonder and then back to action. There is humor and some very creative and clever touches that keep the story from becoming stale or repetitive.Of course, the whole emporium thing has been done and done. I can think of two dozen books off-hand that start with a hero kid entering a strange store, encountering a strange and mysterious proprietor and then starting off on a strange adventure. As long as the kid, the store, the proprietor and the adventure are interesting, I'm willing to read along. And this is a very "readable" book. Vocabulary, grammar and syntax are impeccable and age appropriate. Pacing is good and the plot is nicely and clearly set out. Dialogue can be clunky and some of the prose can get a little purple, but "wonder" is awfully hard to do, and here there really are some nicely imagined and described wonders. There are some touching scenes and a reader might develop a real affection for a few of the characters. The story and its telling are always under control, and there aren't any passages or developments that feel inconsistent with the general tenor of the story. The book is not bulked up or over detailed, and so it zips along, which I imagine is part of the appeal to younger readers.To me, the upshot is that this is an honest and entertaining book that treats the young reader with respect. There is no winking irony, and the author doesn't try to mock or distance himself from the work. It is an entertaining, imaginative and ripping magical adventure. My bias is that there's plenty of room on the shelf for lots of these types of books when they're done this well.Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

Orphaned child, Daniel Holmes stumbles upon the Nowhere Emporium while fleeing a beating from local bullies. He’s dragged into a world of endless possibilities as he learns more about the Emporium created by the enigmatic Mr Silver. Mr Silver, of course, has an arch enemy in Vindictus Sharp. Mr Silver’s daughter, Ellie tags along and believes that she can’t leave the ever moving Emporium.The Emporium is full of rooms that can contain anything that your imagination can conjure up. They come into being once they have been written into the Book of Wonders.The tale moves at a fair pace and jumps back and forth between the present and the past where the history of the Emporium and the relationship between Silver and Sharp is revealed.My first impression was that the story is wonderfully well written. The description is fabulous and a good deal happens in many wondrous ways. The world building though is a little thin. The story is very much confined to it’s path with no wider exploration. It’s certainly a stand-alone story. So, while the tale itself is fun and interesting to read, it lacks a more expansive sense of wonder, at least until the last few sentences which do spark the imagination. I couldn’t help think that had this wider sense of the possible been tapped a bit more as the story went along, the whole experience could have been enhanced. This could have been done by grounding Daniel a bit more in his normal life, going back to it now and then and longing to return to the Emporium. I never doubted that he would stay in the Emporium which robbed the story a little of a sense of desire and fear of loss.Anyway, a good read and I’m sure most 8-12 year olds will love it. It good without being a classic (for me).

I heard about this story so long ago and I don’t know why it took me so long to get around to buying and reading it, but I’m so glad that I finally did. This story just sounded so intriguing when I first heard about it and it was a case of ‘I really need this book now!’ … and then I waited for far too long to get it.Daniel is being bullied at the orphanage where he lives. When he runs into a store to hide from the bullies one day, the mysterious shop owner takes an interest in him. Taking the opportunity of a lifetime, Daniel goes to live and work in the Nowhere Emporium, home to the many wonders thought up by Lucien Silver – the man who owns the store. Discovering hidden talents, Daniel feels like his life is finally turning around, then Mr Silver disappears and the Emporium starts to fall apart without him.I absolutely loved this story. The imagination that went into thinking this up is incredible. After finishing this story, I really wanted to visit the Emporium myself – or even live in it. It was such a magical place.Jumping between the present and the past – where Lucien Silver’s back story is told and how the Emporium came about – was really interesting and didn’t feel invasive to the main story. I felt that it gave us just enough of a snippet to try and work out why certain things had happened without giving it to us outright.The wonders within each room were really unique and I would have loved to visit all of them – particularly the library with the story of every person who has ever lived and who will ever live!The story does take a dark turn close to the end, and it’s an edge of your seat journey to see whether they can find Mr Silver again and save the Emporium. I loved how inspired their plans were.This was a fantastic read, full of fun and adventure and a truly evil bad guy. This is definitely one that I would recommend to others.

The Nowhere Emporium is an adventure-filled story about magic and mayhem. Each and every chapter ends in a cliffhanger and everyone in my class wanted to read the next chapter and the next and the next. It was so interesting and intriguing to listen to.The book is age appropriate for Y4's and above (just my recommendation, if you're younger you are more than welcome to read it). This incredible, magical story is definitely for boys and girls.Once I finished reading the book, I wished it didn't come to an end and, it turns out, it isn't the end. The Nowhere Emporium is part of a BOOK SERIES! The next story continues from where the previous book left off. There's even a third book on the way too. And you never know, there might one day be a forth.Overall, this is an outstanding book to read and I highly recommend it for all of the people out there that love magic and adventure.

---- Spoiler Alert----Hello,We are Year 6, Treasure Island class and this is our book review.As a class, we thoroughly enjoyed the ending of the book because it was unexpected, emotional and allowed the reader to get closure of the events that had happened but it still makes you want to read the next one of the series. We also adored the the friendship between Daniel and Ellie because they stuck together, learnt from each other and shared magical moments.One of our favourite wonders from the book was the leap of faith because it kept the reader in suspense as you were unsure how the fall would end. Another brilliant wonder we loved was the room of secrets because it was fascinating.We would 100% recommend this book because it is full of mysteries, suspense, wonders and it made you eager to read on.

This award-wining book is about Daniel, an 11 year old orphan who is trying to run away from the orphanage bully, Spud Harper. Daniel hates life at St. Catherine's orphanage and wants to escape. maybe when he stumbles upon a mysterious shop where you can do and see what seems impossible, that could be the answer. If you like mystery you will enjoy this book!A lot of patience is needed to get into this book mainly because it uses flashbacks. This means the book goes back and forth from the present day to the past. I particularly liked the end because of a touching moment and an exciting finish. I would recommend this book to my friends.