The Tipple Twins and the Gift

Gifted and magical identical twins Jenna and Jessica Tipple live in a city where all the other twins have disappeared after a strange dark figure took them. The same dark figure came for them one night but they were protected by their older sister Caitlyn who was taken instead and has been missing ever since.

When their Aunt and Uncle get into trouble for using magic they turn at the twins home and tell their parents they need to look after their spoilt daughter whilst they take refuge in Egypt. They also inform the twin’s parents that they have enrolled them all at a new school as the twin’s current school wasn’t good enough for their daughter.

The headmistress, Miss Snippings, at the new school Chumsworth, isn’t impressed to see the twins. She doesn’t like twins. She then announces that this year’s end of term play will be about the Salem Witch Trials. The girls know they are in trouble, even more so when they find a picture in a book about the trials which looks frightening like their headmistress. Who is she really and what does she want with the girls?

The Tipple Twins and the Gift is a wonderful middle-grade book about a town in which twins are going missing. The Tipples are a magical family but magic is frowned upon and anyone caught doing it will be harshly punished. The girl’s magic comes when they lose control of their emotions.

The book opens with the family moving into a new home that people don’t live in for very long, that is because it is haunted by the ghost of a young boy who they call Boo. I would have loved to have learned more about Boo and his past life. I also would have loved to have discovered more about Caitlyn as she is there at the beginning and then we move forward in time and are told that she has been taken by the dark figure. What is left of her is posters throughout the town about her disappearance.

The book features a lot of factual information on the Salem Witch Trials and the women accused of being witches. I love how the factual information has been slid into the storyline and felt relevant to the plot not just an added extra.

The book is a quick read and would be perfect for children at Halloween. It isn’t really a scary book as such but the atmosphere is there and there is an underlying foreboding feeling throughout.

A gripping story of The Tipple Twins Jessica and Jenna whose sister has gone missing due to a dark figure that usually only takes twins. The twins are enrolled in Chumsworth school with their cousin Beatrice, where they meet a friend Tommy, and discover that their headmistress Miss Snippings really does not like twins. Things begin to get stranger and soon the twins will unearth some things they didn’t quite expect.

The rather chilling tone to this book is balanced well with the humour in other parts. I really enjoyed this little mystery! The creepy feel it had to it really had me hooked, as well as the magical and witchy themes. I would definitely have enjoyed this when I was younger and I even enjoyed it now. It is definitely a great read! I also love Boo, the little boy who is their house ghost! He seems so full of character and really helps set the creepy yet somewhat inviting feeling at the beginning.

The theming of witchcraft is accompanied by tales from the Salem Witch Trials which I found really interesting. They were a great addition to the plot and also helped shape it well. I do however wish it had been a little longer as I think some more of the story could have been explored.

The Tipple Twins and the Gift by Michelle Cordara

After the strange disappearance of their big sister Caitlin, identical twins Jenna and Jessica Tipple are enrolled at Chumsworth School along with their cousin. The twins not only meet their new best friend to be 'Tommy' but they also encounter the school's horrid headmistress 'Miss Snippings' who loathes twins. But during their time at the school, strange and mysterious things start to happen, and both the twins and Tommy have a feeling that there is something just not right about their headmistress and a room in their school that no one can ever find.

If you are a fan of Harry Potter (JK Rowling) or a fan of The Apprentice Witch (James Nicol) then this would be another magical book to add to your to-read list.

Written mostly for younger audiences, this book (like the Harry Potter / Apprentice Witch series) also cries out to older readers. I found it immensely entertaining and full of mystery, magic and adventure.

The book also touches on the history of witchcraft. The author had cleverly weaved within this story, fragments from the Salem Witch Trials that relate to the overall plot. You will also find humour, friendship, ghostly birds and a very friendly ghost.

The author, who has twin boys, is also an identical twin herself. The Tipple Twins is part of a series for readers aged between 9-12.

The Tipple Twins and the Gift was a really fun middle-grade spooky whodunit. I really enjoyed the twins and Tommy's relationship. The witch aspect was great and made the book even better. Definitely a book for younger tweens who are into witchy type mysteries.

I enjoyed this book, it had a really cool story. I was only disappointed at the fact the story didn't go deeper.
The characters and the mystery were surface level. It could've been a truly amazing book with a little more depth.
I really enjoyed that the author mixed a fictional story with true facts about the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
Overall it was a really cute book that I think children will enjoy.

A creepy, magical and mysterious read!

Jenna and Jessica, the Tipple twins, live with their family in a haunted house with a resident ghost named Boo. They go to Chumsworth school where the headteacher Miss Snippings hates twins! It's been two years since their sister disappeared and there are lots of strange happenings around the twins.
I really enjoyed this short and creepy story! It was great how factual information about the witches of Salem was included in this fictional tale. I don't know if the author plans to continue this as a series but I would love to read more! I adored the friendship they struck up with Tommy and of course Boo!

This was marketed as YA but for me it’s a lot younger, maybe more for an 8-10 year old. I think kids would enjoy it, it’s fun and exciting. But (as an adult) I really love YA fiction and this was just too young for me. I’ve also got teenage kids and I don’t think it would hit the mark. Definitely one for the kids, not one for 13+ who I think would find the plot too narrow and the characters too lightly drawn and not enough “danger”. That said, it was a good book, just not in my wheelhouse.

I’m in two minds about this book. On the one hand, it was an excitingly written magical story and I loved the twins. On the other hand, it just felt lacking in parts. I feel like the ending was quite rushed and abrupt and some things throughout weren’t explored as fully as they could have been. But I did enjoy it, and I would probably read a sequel.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a ARC in exchange for a honest review.
This book started kind of slowly, but it did speed up as the book went on, and I ended up enjoying this book a lot. I liked it when Jessica and Jenna were with their family and with Tommy because I enjoyed reading about their interactions with other people. I also liked being able to hear what was going on in their heads, mostly when they were around Miss Snippings. I also think that the author could have added a bit more description and done a bit more worldbuilding so we could see the bigger picture better. Other than that, I liked this book, and I had fun reading about the world of this book!

Jennifer and Jessica Tipple are twins. And while that fact may not seem overly special or strange, it is when they’re the last twins left in the world. Oh, and did I mention they’re witches? So begins a lovely little fantasy perfect for young and old alike. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the Tipple twins and their little-boy ghost friend Boo; I truly didn’t want it to end. This story was super imaginative and managed to keep me guessing, something that’s not easy to do with an ocd brain. The language was so vivid and descriptive that I could easily picture the charming Tipple house, the eerie black looming fortress that was Chumsworth, and the terrifying swirl of evil behind room 13’s door. All the characters, even the hated ones, were thoroughly fleshed out with unique personalities and traits (anyone else get mad Dursley vibes from Beatrice and her parents??), something that’s not easy to do even in a longer format novel. My only negative is that some of the transitions were abrupt and hard to follow; I would’ve liked more of a smooth continuation between scenes. Besides that, it would’ve been perfect. I hope this turns into a series; I would definitely want to read more twin escapades as well as more fun with Boo.