The Dark Lord Clementine is a wonderfully layered book. It has witches, wizards, unicorns, hunters, dark lords, magic, lessons about family and friends, lessons about being who you are, and following where your heart leads you. The characters come to life beautifully as the story unfolds, and I cared about what was happening to them. I was able to relate to Clementine and her internal struggle between who she's expected to be, and who she feels she really is. This book also has many great supporting characters, including one scary antagonist. Their were cool ideas in this book that I haven't read in any other YA novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and though it's probably a stand alone, I hope a sequel is written.

Clementine, future Dark Lord, gets a taste for what her life will be like when she discovers her father has been incapacitated by a curse and she has to take care of the castle. As future Dark Lord, Clementine has been trained to detest witches, yet she ends up taking one into her company to help her run the castle and the grounds. Darka has her own reason for wanting to help Clementine, though, and may live up to the reputation of the other witches. When Clementine can find no cure for her father's curse, she does something her father has forbidden her to do: seek out the Whittle Witch. It's during this search that Clementine discovers who she truly is and what she's willing to sacrifice.

I loved this book from the very first page. The characters are brilliantly written and even the secondary characters felt important to me. The mood and tone were well balanced between humor, suspense, action, and mystery. The sensory details made this book come alive, especially the part with the unicorns rushing down the mountain. I cannot wait for this book to become available to so I can put it in the hands of my readers!

A smart, sharp, and funny addition to any bookshelf. THE DARK LORD CLEMENTINE is a clever story - full of magic, evil, and the perfect amount of heart. Horwitz goes deep with her characters and fills a plot that would be fun on its own with great insights on the difficulties of choosing your own path, the importance of friendship, and the complexities of love and sacrifice. A fun read.

"The Dark Lord Clementine" is a fun junior level book. I think some of our younger patrons will really enjoy this title.

I am impressed!
The style of writing was informal and RICH in description. I loved the bittersweet atmosphere with engaging characters and a fully realized world. I give it five star!

I will post review to Goodreads and promote on Twitter

What a delightful book (sorry Elithor)! This book actually had a lot more depth than I had expected based on the summary. There are lessons on finding your place in your family, standing up for others, the ups and downs of putting yourself out there to others, making difficult choices, being selfless, and being the person you are meant to be rather than the one others expect you to be.

Clementine is such a fantastic character! I loved her right from the start and enjoyed watching her develop as the story progressed. She is not perfect, but strives to do what is right rather than what is easy. By the end she is the one taking charge and making the important decisions. She is brave and certainly does not step down from a fight. She is let down by several characters in the book, but that never stops her from continuing to protect them and her capacity for forgiveness is one I am sure we all wish we had a bit more of. I enjoyed watching Clementine open herself up to others and start to welcome others into her world. Her journey from dark lord in-training to taking control of her future was well-developed.

Sebastien will definitely make a good sidekick should there be more books following Clementine on future adventures. Everyone could use a friend like him - he's kind, loyal, and willingly to stick his neck out for those he cares about.

Darka and Clementine's friendship was complex and I really enjoyed watching their relationship change over the course of events. She has an interesting backstory and her actions make sense within the scope of the story. She may make mistakes, but in the end she learns from those mistakes. She is a great reminder that good people can do bad things and that we should always be willing to give others second chances.

The Whittle Witch is a great villain - evil for evil's sake and driven to be as evil as possible. I love that she didn't need a complicated backstroy and was really just out for power. Perfect for a middle grade story.

Again, I really enjoyed this book - much more than I expected. The characters are great, the story has enough twists and turns to keep kids engaged, and the plot moves along at a good pace. The author does a great job of writing in a way that is appropriate for the target audience and also engages older readers. This would make a good book for classroom and school librarie and I can see parents reading it with their late elementary/early middle school children.

This deserves a full and detailed review, and I'll update for that later (both here and on Goodreads), but in the meantime: The Dark Lord Clementine is funny and heartwrenching, with a heroine I adore, trying so hard to do her best. Just wonderful!

This is a very fun magical mystery about a girl named Clementine, who is the daughter of the Dark Lord. This means that when he is gone, she will take over the Dark Lord duties. She takes her responsibilities seriously and when her father is attacked, she goes out to try to set things right. She is a brave and resourceful leader and finds herself surrounded by people who care about her and want to succeed. Some parts of this were laugh out loud funny. There's a lot of action and courageous deeds. I think upper elementary, middle school, and high school students would really like this one.

I know lots of kids who will love Clementine! She is dark (of course, as an evil warlord) but also caring. She cared about keeping her Dad in the evil Lord business. I liked how she interacted with her friends and just how the whole world came together.

Interesting premise with occasional humor, but I found the pacing to be slow. I think some younger readers will adore it but this particularly adult reader found it to be at times tedious.

Oh, I loved this book! It's so much FUN! The concept (and the title) are golden, posing a simple yet intriguing premise: what would it be like to grow up as the daughter of an Evil Overlord?

Clementine Morcerous is one of my new favourite protagonists. She's proud and commanding, as would befit a Dark Lady, yet has an incredible amount of heart and bravery. Her struggle to maintain order as her father's whittling curse progresses is both heart-rending and bursting with quirky adventures, from animating scarecrows to visiting scatterbrained lake goddesses. The supporting characters are equally interesting; unicorn-hunter Darka, a bookish sheep named David, and Sebastien, a boy desperate to become a knight. Though it must be said: the Gricken is the best.

Horwitz does a flawless job of balancing humour with heart. The book explores the greyness of morality without being preachy, and plays on familiar tropes in a fresh way. Occasionally, the plot/world-building did feel a touch too familiar, but the voice and the character dynamics worked to balance it out. It was tight, full of tension, and a bright addition to the genre. It's a wholehearted recommend from me! 5/5 stars.