Have you ever really known you shouldn’t do something—I mean really really known it in your mind—then you do it anyway and it just somehow seems not as bad as everyone made it out to be?  Then it turns on you and it ends up being much worse than everyone made it out to be?  If you even understood any of that, congratulations.  And if you’ve ever felt that way, then you can empathize with Beck in this sequel to ‘Pillage’.  He is still battling his way through the confusing (and now brutal) plants and trying to discover who he is and what he needs to do.  There are some interesting characters and plot twists along the way.  I loved all the secret passages in the manor.  Did anyone else wish their house had secret passages as kids?  I think I was actually jealous!  And I really did sympathize with Beck after the dragon hatched.  Honestly, I think I probably would have done the same thing he did…with much more harrowing results since I’m much more of a wimp!  Obert Skye definitely has the gift of dry wit to keep you laughing as you engage in adventures from his imagination!  The inclusion of the random ‘dictionary word’ kept me chuckling, and the complete lack of common sense made me feel like an awkward teenager again.  I loved it!

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Shadow Mountain

Content Analysis:

I loved how this sequel didn’t really ‘age’.  The first book was very much aimed toward a younger audience (say around age 12-14).  ‘Choke’ stays on that same level.  In other words, if you let your 13 year old read the first book, it’s ok to let them read the second!  That seems to be more and more rare these days! 

There is no profanity or sex. 

There is some violence once again as it is a fantasy including backstabbing plants and a vicious dragon.  A character is constantly beat up by plants (sounds funny, I know).  A character is eaten—but there’s no blood or guts at all.  There is a fight with the dragon that is pretty intense, but not really gruesome.  There is some ‘sneaking out’ at night, but it wasn’t to do anything malicious or immoral.  ‘The Pillagy’ is another series I would have no problem handing to my son to read in a few years, and I enjoyed it, too! 

Mature Subject Matter:

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Alcohol / Drug Use:

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