Love science with a bit of a twist? With characters like a humanoid cat, a plant called Spikey McOuchies, and the Terramoto Tonic, get ready for some fun. These characters are the true definition of brouhaha and they cause a far greater disturbance than one might expect possible. They have a good mix of teen spirit and energy.
In its simplified form, this is good versus evil. Bad people want to change the world so it favors them, but it’s always in Gordy’s nature to do the right thing. He gives everybody the benefit of the doubt until they prove him wrong, then they get moved to the Naughty List. His three friends are by him through thick and thin and when faced with danger, they discover the power of teamwork. Adilene is a sweet, dedicated friend who is tired of being normal. Max is a twelve-year-old boy with a sweet tooth that could put a grown man in a sugar coma. Sasha sees her position in life as power, but she grows the most in this process and teamwork starts to look good on her. This team of four is fun and engaging. There are many other characters, both good and bad, who have something to teach in their own way. My favorite piece of advice found in this story is that optimism is a much stronger attitude than defeat.
This author loves details. With a wonderful dash of horror and a huge amount of imagination, the setting and events are well described. It’s easy to read and perfectly paced. Magic is the basis of the story but it’s not wand waving magic, it’s more like the characters were born with the ability to be super chefs in a potion-making kind of way. This could be a fun read for fans of Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull. Being the last book in the trilogy, it really would be helpful to go back and read the first two books, but it has a fair amount of back story so it could be read as a stand-alone. That being said, the first two books in the series are fun and well worth reading. This trilogy would make a great read aloud for the family. It’ll be fun to see what Frank L. Cole comes up with next for us to read.
Review of an Advance Reading Copy
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Shadow Mountain
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: None
Violence/Gore: A man wishes he could push another man off the mountain because he’s so annoying; an older woman and her son had been chained to the floor at one time but aren’t any longer; implied an elderly lady died, no description of the death process; three mentions of a young teen girl wanting the blood of another young teen girl for an experiment, no descriptions; mention of a dead animal carcass hanging from a roof, no description; several pages of a house fire that was started by bad people, not very descriptive, a man is captured and encased in a cocoon, and a man was standing on a young teen boy’s arms but caused no damage; a young teen boy was dragged behind a small vehicle, some scrapes and bruising, minor mention of blood, not descriptive; a teen boy is playing a video game where a character is sprayed with bullets and killed, not descriptive of violence or blood; several neighborhoods are attacked by bad guys, lots of damage to houses & buildings, people were brain washed in order to make them go to a certain place, some people wrapped in vines and spider webs, several mentions; multiple mentions of a man who lost his eye and carries things in his eye socket; four young teens are pulled from their flying device when something grabbed them, no harm to them; three young teens are captured, tied up, and knocked out with a tonic; implied a man knows he’s dying; a young teen girl was buried in the sand up to the top of her neck and the tide was coming in, no harm; a young teen girl hits another teen boy on the head with something hard because her friend was being held and couldn’t breathe.
Sex/Nudity: A young teen boy had a tear in the back of his pants but no description of nudity.
Mature Subject Matter:
Fire, dangerous creatures, dangerous & evil people, magic.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
A young teen girl takes two aspirins because of a severe headache.
