By Lily Bartlett

SUMMARY
Ciel Phantomhive, head of the Phantomhive family, the "Queen's guard dog", and… is a 12 year old boy. "Black Butler" is a book about young Ciel, and his loyal butler, Sebastian Michaelis. Along with some minor characters, Ciel and Sebastian work together to fulfill the Queen's wishes. This story is also about Ciel making a contract with a demon, in order to get revenge on those who betrayed and defiled the name of Phantomhive. Sebastian agrees to stick with Ciel until the end. Some may say this Phantomhive butler is too good to be true, or at least too good to be human…

CIEL PHANTOMHIVE
Although he is only twelve years old, Ciel has quite the attitude. He is very intelligent for his age, and acts more mature than other kids. Most assume he behaves this way because of the death of his parents. Ciel is well-known around London by the name of "the Queen's guard dog", due to his unquestionable loyalty to Queen Victoria.

CIEL'S CONTRACT SEAL
The reason why Ciel wears an eyepatch over his left eye is because of his contract seal. The contract seal is a link and bargain between a human and a demon. The demon is to fulfill the human's wish, and in the end, will be able to consume said human's soul, resulting in their death.

SEBASTIAN MICHAELIS
The demon butler of the Phantomhive household. Sebastian is always by Ciel's side, ready to carry out his young master's orders. Whether Sebastian is called to save a dinner party gone wrong, or to reveal the dark secrets of London, there is apparently nothing this butler cannot do. Sebastian also has a strange obsession with cats, much to Ciel's displeasure.

SEBASTIAN'S CONTRACT SEAL
Like Ciel, Sebastian also has a contract seal, which is located on his right hand. Both symbols representing their contract are the same, however it can be different depending on who the demon is. The more visible the seal is, the stronger the bond between the demon and the human is.

SETTING

• Sometime in the 1800's.
• Over a course of many days.
• Mainly in the Phantomhive household.
• Sometimes in downtown London.

CONFLICT
The type of conflict found in this novel is external conflict. One of Ciel's jobs is to find out who's responsible for criminal actions, and capture them. When an expected visitor arrives at the Phantomhive manor, Sebastian and Ciel immediately notice his strange behaviour. After making a phone call, the visitor makes his way back to Ciel's office, only to find out that he's lost. Sebastian takes this as an opportunity to show their guest the exit, or in his case, scare him out of the Phantomhive Manor.

THEME
The theme of this story is "looks are deceiving". Throughout the book, many people try to trick Ciel, saying it'll be easy because he's just a 12 year old. That's where they're wrong. Ciel is very intelligent, and he knows when something isn't right. Anyone who has tried to trick Ciel has failed miserably and was severly punished.
This theme also applies to Sebastian. Most criminals think he's just human, and carry on with their crimes. Once they find out he's not a human, they are no longer around to tell anyone that a demon exists in London.

CONCLUSION
The intended audience for this book is people who are 13 years or older, and like history with a bit of fiction added to it. I recommend this book to anyone who likes Japanese manga, and to anyone who likes stories about demons… or butlers.

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