Hocus Pocus and Edison Beaker, Creature Seeker Mashup

So this is definitely not my normal type of post, but I hope you'll find it to be a lot of fun! I was fortunate enough to partner with Penguin Young Readers for their Wicked Reads Middle Grade campaign, where I got to pick a Halloween candy and be sent a corresponding mystery read! I was so happy when I opened my package and found not only some candy and other goodies, but a copy of Edison Beaker, Creature Seeker: The Night Door! I've been living for graphic novels lately, so this was the perfect cutesy/creepy middle grade read to wrap up the Halloween reading season.

Synopsis from Penguin Young Readers: Edison Beaker and his young sister Tesla are staying with their uncle Earl, manager of the family pest control company, when an alarm sounds and he has no choice but to drag them along on a service call.

Cover Art Courtesy of Penguin Young Readers

They should have listened when he warned them, "stay in the van."

Monster-sized mayhem ensues when the kids chase their escaped hamster into a mysterious warehouse--and suddenly they are the ones being chased as all sorts of creepy creatures scurry, slink, and stomp through a secret Night Door.

The Fun Part: I wanted to take some of my favorite Halloween characters, the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus, and put them in the world of Edison Beaker, just to see how they would handle the story (without giving away too much of the plot, of course)! Here are my predictions:

Winifred: True to form, Winnie would be the leader, so she would replace Edison. When the gang gets lost in the Underwhere, I think Winnie would use her powers to force the monsters to bend to her whim, ultimately turning on their leader, similar to the way she tried to control Billy in Hocus Pocus. This would come back to bite her as soon as the monsters realized that she didn't care about them and their loyalty switched back.

Image Courtesy of IMDB

Sarah: Hyperactive Sara is always getting herself into trouble, so to me she would replace the hamster, Scuttlebutt. Scuttlebutt keeps rolling away, causing the gang to search for him, ultimately leading to chaos. I can definitely see Sarah wandering off and getting herself lost in the Underwhere, and also creating some pretty good diversions by using her...*ahem* assets, to distract everyone.

Mary: Mary is very whiny, so I definitely identified her as Tesla, Edison's little sister. She comes up with ideas that aren't the best and is pretty annoying, and is definitely a big tag along. As incompetent as she may seem, she is always willing to step up for her sisters when needed and she would definitely be a resource for the team during the final battle.

Overall, the sisters would succeed but chaos and hilarity would ensue throughout. Ultimately these three are a team, just as Edison, Tesla, and Scuttlebutt are a team. With a shared goal and trust in each other, there's nothing that can stand in their way!

A huge thanks to Penguin Young Readers for inviting me to be a part of this campaign, and for sending over a copy of Edison Beaker, Creature Seeker: The Night Door by Frank Cammuso! Be sure to pick up this adorable read for that young ghost or ghoul in your life, or even for yourself!

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

I've loved everything I've read by Victoria (V.E.) Schwab thus far. So when I saw she was releasing a creepy middle grade novel, I knew I had to pick it up (even though middle grade normally isn't my thing). Unfortunately, City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab didn't quite live up to my (perhaps too high) expectations.

This story follows Cassidy, who travels with her parents to Edinburgh while they film the first episode of their ghost hunting TV show-The Inspectres. Her parents are obsessed with ghosts, but Cassidy can actually see them. In fact, her best friend is a ghost named Jacob who saved her life when she almost drowned. When Cassidy encounters more ghosts in Edinburgh than she knows what to do with, she meets Lara, another girl with the same gift who helps to enlighten Cassidy on her purpose.

While I chose to get the UK paperback edition (because the cover is just so gorgeous), I'm disappointed that both covers lead the reader to believe that the cat (affectionately named Grim) is a major player in the story. Spoiler alert: he isn't. 

The story itself felt very one dimensional to me. I should have been on the edge of my seat during certain parts of the plot, but I just wasn't. As a fan of any creepy read, I'm normally completely enveloped in these types of stories. I liked the characters enough, but overall something just felt missing. I also would have loved to know more about Lara. Granted, this is a middle grade read, so I might be looking for a depth that just doesn't exist in books for a younger age group. It also took me a lot longer to read than I anticipated.

The story was cute and overall I enjoyed the time I spent with it, but I wouldn't pick it up again, it didn't really stick with me, and I was definitely left wanting more. I think this is supposed to be a duology, and I did like it enough to still check out the second book when it comes out. Hopefully that one will have a little more of what I was looking for!

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Island Games by Caleb J. Boyer

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

Island Games by Caleb J. Boyer follows two teenage boys, Matthew and Ryan, after they are randomly dropped on a desert island and forced to survive a series of traps and solve puzzles to try to escape the island. The boys soon discover that truly working together is their only hope for survival. As the story progresses, the boys are transported to different quadrants on the island, ranging from tropical to desert, prairie to frozen tundra. Each quadrant comes with its own set of challenges, which when successfully passed results in a bounty of supplies for the boys designed only to last until the next test.

I think this book is decent as a middle grade, but way too juvenile to be really considered young adult. The reading level and vocabulary just aligns much better with 6-8 grade than 9-12. The characters to me also acted more in the middle grade age range than high school range. Matthew and Ryan were smart, but also acted incredibly juvenile. In a life or death situation like survival on an island, I would hope there would be more seriousness and planning and less joking around. Yes, humor is a way to make light of a difficult time, but sometimes it just didn't suit the situation in this story.

The plot and overall concept were excellent. I think it's an interesting survival mix of the plot and excitement of The Hunger Games and the relationship building and conflict in Lord of the Flies. The writing, however, was less than fantastic. It was basic and extremely repetitive. Yes, I do have to acknowledge that the author is only 12 years old, but unfortunately that's pretty obvious from the writing. Boyer uses the exact same phrases over and over within the same paragraph, and I'm pretty sure if one of the characters said "Wow!" one more time I would have thrown the book across the room. Boyer would have greatly benefited from the use of a thesaurus.

I was also really displeased with the ending. It ended as if there was going to be another book, but there was no clarity in the author's note or anything else as to when that is actually happening (although the Amazon page definitely says this is the first in a series). So many questions were left up in the air without any clarification. I hate finishing a book and not knowing what happens, especially if I don't know when I can anticipate the next installment. Island Games was still an interesting and fun story, but unfortunately just didn't live up to my expectations of good writing.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Thanks to Online Book Club for digital access to this novel! Island Games by Caleb J. Boyer is out now.

Reading Slump (and a DNF Review)

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

As you can probably tell from the lack of posts, I've been in a terrible reading slump lately. While I'm not quite positive what started it, I'm pretty sure it was The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken (more on that later). I just didn't feel like picking up any books, and none of the books on my TBR appealed to me. For the last 3 weeks or so (or basically since I got back from my honeymoon), I just didn't read. I didn't even have a desire to wander aimlessly around Barnes & Noble like I usually do...weird right?!

The whole time, I felt terrible about it. I kept thinking that I was neglecting my shelves and this blog, but I think honestly you need some time away from something you love to make you appreciate it more when you go back to it. I finally got the urge to read again, and devoured an absolutely fantastic book that I will be reviewing on here next. And now that that book is finished, I can't wait to jump right into another. 

But as for the book that started my reading slump, I was so insanely disappointed. I had been looking forward to The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding for MONTHS, and bought it the day it came out. But I could not for the life of me get through this book. It could be for a few reasons: 1) It was a middle grade novel, which is definitely not my style. I only bought it because the plot seemed up my alley, it had been hyped a ton, and the cover was gorgeous. 2) The characters were just plain boring. And annoying. And because of this I just couldn't get myself invested in the story. And 3) The plot was extremely slow. After the first few chapters, it almost came to a halt. I kept picking up this book to try to get through it, but could only read a page or two at a time before I got bored and went to do something else. Finally I just gave up about 2/3 in, which is really a shame since it takes a lot for me to DNF a book. But in a way, I'm glad I didn't make myself finish it, because I believe this is supposed to be the start of a series, and I don't want to force myself into another series that I'm not invested in.

So that's where I've been all this time, doing everything imaginable EXCEPT reading! But I'm back now with an exciting TBR pile and and a rejuvenated thirst for the written word. Happy reading!