The Curse of the Lost Cave is the perfect read-aloud choice for families, offering an engaging blend of adventure, mystery, and humor. Readers will love the intelligent, diverse main characters, who show excellent teamwork and bravery throughout the story.

As the second installment in the Raven Gallows series, the book makes references to the first, The Secret of Moonrise Manor. However, author Stephanie Bearce skillfully provides the necessary details, ensuring new readers are not lost. In fact, Bearce’s ability to create such a suspenseful and intriguing story will likely prompt readers of this second book to check out the first one.

Set in a unique small town, this Raven Gallows Mystery includes themes that will appeal to a wide audience, including fae lore, Wild West history, and archaeology. While the book contains several references to death and murder, the details are limited, making the content generally suitable for older children who enjoy solving puzzles and mysteries.

Review of an Advance Reading Copy Provided by the Publisher

Content Analysis: 

Profanity/Language: None

Violence/Gore: Many (41) brief incidents including child lying in casket to see what it would feel like; characters joking about death; characters wearing costumes of headless person; characters could have died; threats; many references to death and murder; reference to character breaking bones from wrecking on a skateboard; reference to character getting knocked out; references to war; dead character’s head put on a stake for display; reference to fights; characters getting minor injuries; character falling into sink hole and getting serious injuries; references to ghosts.

Sex/Nudity: A few (4) incidents including young boy thinks young girl is cute; adult characters like each other and hold hands.

Mature Subject Matter:

Theft; character burps; characters simulate bank robbing and shoot out; lying. 

Alcohol and Drug Use:

None