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Jun 18, 2018RebelBelle13 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I'm confused as to who the audience is supposed to be for this book. The main characters are pre-teens, they are the heroes, and the plot and world are entirely middle-grade. However, the way the characters talk, the manner the author describes things, and the dark themes lend themselves more towards YA or even adult. I read this with my 11 year old, and although he understood the majority of the descriptions, there were times we did need to stop and talk about what the words meant and what was happening. There were certain parts that were super cheesy and expected for a middle-grade fantasy- the kids doing stupid things to advance the plot, the adult characters treating them like kids even though they are super heroes in disguise completely capable of saving the day, awkward moments that give you second hand cringe, random characters and creatures that want to help the main characters win just because... If I had not been reading this with my son, I probably would have DNF'd this about 50 pages in. It didn't hold my interest and I could see where the plot was going. Otherwise, the world was well done, the variety and number of creatures and characters were plentiful, the exposition was handled well, the descriptions were adequate for an older reader, and I can certainly see how this would become a longer series- it lends itself to continuing nicely.