Skip to main content

The Rise of the Evening Star

By curlyq
The Rise of the Evening Star
By Brandon Mull
Shadow Mountain, 2007. 441 pp. Chapter book.

For anyone who has not yet read the second book in the Fablehaven series, go check it out or put it on hold! Although I found the first book, Fablehaven, to be a fun story, I thought the second far exceeded the first. The story begins with a bang and continues to be jam-packed with action, adventure, and mysterious magical situations. Lots of interesting twists and turns keep the story from being predictable. Although it is a book that will be enjoyed by those who have liked previous magical-fantasy stories, it has originality and a distinct flavor all its own.

After I'd read the first Fablehaven book, I was expecting the second story to have about the same interest for me. I enjoyed the first book, but I thought it was slow getting started and wasn't really enthralled until the end. However, I was delightfully surprised when its sequel captured me from the very first page. I loved that the story began outside the bounds of Fablehaven and actually would have liked to see more of the story take place in the ordinary world. The new characters introduced added a nice complexity to the plot without overdoing it. I found the "magicky" details very fun and even more interesting than those discussed in the previous book. The ending of The Rise of the Evening Star was probably the most disappointing for me as I felt Brandon Mull tried to hastily wrap everything up but still leave lots of loose ends for another book. The ending definitely felt rushed to me, but overall, this was a wonderful, fast paced, completely magical adventure that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Fowl Play

By
  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Blood in the Water

By
Blood in the Water By Tiffany D. Jackson New York: Scholastic, 2025. Fiction. 255 pages. 12-year-old Kaylani McKinnon can't help but feel like a fish out of water. She's a Brooklyn girl spending her summer on Martha's Vineyard surrounded by wealthy family friends in their mansion. All she really wants is to stay home all summer where she her incarcerated father can easily reach her, and she can keep working to find ways to prove him innocent of fraud and embezzlement. Despite her protests, she finds herself on the island with the snooty granddaughters of her host. Soon after Kaylani's arrival, a popular teen boy is found murdered and she decides to conduct her own investigation. As she tries to discover what happened to Chadwick Cooper, Kaylani finds that not everything on Martha's Vineyard is as perfect as it appears. Thrillers for middle grade readers can be hard to find, but Tiffany D. Jackson succeeds in her first middle grade novel. A quick moving plot, tight d...
Post a Comment
Read more