The Evil Wizard Smallbone

I tried to give this 3 stars, but after compiling the list below, I had to knock it to 2 stars.

The good:
- It's semi-charming.
- It has a sassy magic bookshop.
- The cover is pretty cool.

The bad:
- Animal abuse (The character kicks the dogs, slaps the pigs, and is happy to do it! Very disconcerting)
- Person abuse (Smallbone's actions are also unacceptable. And how the author tries to spin it that it's ok at the end?? NO! Turning people into animals and threatening them to get what you want is wrong. I'd be very concerned about letting children read this.
-Nick is unable to escape the town because Smallbone wont let him leave. He puts spells on the house that keep him trapped there (just like in Beetlejuice). Again, holding a boy hostage for your own amusements is not ok.
- Length - The book is WAY too long. It should be half this size. There is way too much stuff added just to make the book longer. It's unnecessary to know EVERY TIME Nick burns some eggs.