The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch (Christmasaurus #2) by Tom Fletcher

5 Stars Jan 07, 2023

My review

5/5 stars

Given how much both my son and I enjoyed reading the first book in this series, we immediately started on the second book without hesitation.

It picks up a year after the last story ended and William Trundle is back on another unbelievably exciting adventure with Santa - this time he has to save the fate of Christmas itself. I'm not ashamed to admit, as a 33-year-old, that I was totally bought in to this plot. It captured my festive imagination just as well as the first one had, and I couldn't wait to read it at my son's bedtime to find out what happened next.

It was great to have some existing familiarity with the main characters, as it meant that the focus was entirely on the narrative that the author was telling. There were some excellent new characters introduced, and I loved every single one of them. I wasn't sure it was going to be possible, but the villain in this story was even more smarmy and horrible than the last one. The Winter Witch was a fascinating character, so mysterious and ethereal, I loved finding out about her backstory and piecing the puzzle together around her.

Despite the focus being on the plot, there is some decent character development to sink into in this story. William Trundle is shown to be maturing and dealing with some pretty adult dilemmas around loss and difficult choices. He is not the star of the show in my opinion though, the real development is shown in Brenda. We see a lot more of her in this book than in the previous one, and she is shown to be struggling with some big emotions and hang-ups that result in her making some poor decisions that she has to figure out throughout the story. She's a brilliantly written character, because you never feel any malice towards her or sense any malice from her - it's a fantastic lesson for kids to learn: bad choices do not make you a bad person.

I can't rave about this series enough; I can't believe no one has made it into a movie yet! Third book review incoming soon (because yes, it's January, but we wanted to see the series through so we're carrying on).

Book blurb

'She is the best-kept Christmas secret of all,' whispered Santa Claus. 'Which is surprising, because Christmas itself would not exist without her. She is older than time itself, yet still as young as tomorrow. She is known only as the Winter Witch.'

One year has passed since William Trundle's incredible adventure with the most extraordinary dinosaur: the Christmasaurus. Now, William is swept back to the magical North Pole, where he meets the mysterious, icy Winter Witch - whose power to control time allows Santa Claus to make the long journey all around the world every Christmas Eve. And when they learn that the fate of Christmas itself hangs in the balance, William and the Christmasaurus must work with the Winter Witch to protect it....

Full of magic and music, humour and heart, and a friendship like no other, The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch is the most enchanting Christmas listen for the whole family.