Kids Books - Adventure Books

i am totally a Jason fan myself the best 1 cause have all the Jason movies and books thats how

I have never before read a David Baldacci novel. I know he's incredibly popular (that all his books are on the bestseller lists) but that's not enough reason for me to read a novel. That said, hearing the premise for his first venture into Young Adult fiction was enough reason for me to buy this book. This is a young adult fantasy novel set in one town in the middle of nowhere, a town surrounded by a wild land called the Quag, which it is forbidden to set foot into because of the creatures that live out there. The heroine of the story is Vega Jane and she's a boundary pushing individual who gradually comes to discover the secrets and abilities linked to her bloodline. The ideas of this book are excellent, I loved the grand world-building in every way. I also loved the protagonist, who was a realistic female character trying to make sense of her world. However, I felt there was room to play with some of the themes and ideas a little more. For instance this was another novel that talked about the fears of humans (though these individuals were Wugmorts and not necessarily human they acted as human) and the ways in which we allow walls to be built to protect us from the outside. Walls, which, in reality, keep us trapped inside. It's a theme which is particularly post-9/11 and from an era that includes the war on terror and the rise of social media, yet it is a universally applicable theme that could have been tapped into further. I also did not like the staccato nature of the writing in sections, which felt as if it 'told' the reader too much rather than 'suggested' or 'showed'. In other words, the writing was more or less predictable. All in all there is plenty of untapped potential in this novel and it feels as if there may be a sequel in the works. Though I have not heard anything about this as such. That said I would be interested to read the sequel. Can I recommend this novel then? Well as much as I recommend the average young adult novel: for enjoyment's sake rather than for a deep philosophical venture. If you want something deeper and more well-rounded there are other young adult novels I could point you to.

This book opens like any other: Once upon a time. But it's not your typical happily-ever-after. Queen Belle and King Beast of Auradon banished all the villains of the fairytale world to the Isle of the Lost, an island protected by a magical barrier that traps all the evil-doers inside, and takes their powers away in the process. All the villains are stuck there with their kids-- yep, that's right, the villains have kids! But this book is about 4 certain descendants: Mal, daughter of Maleficent; Jay, son of Jafar; Evie, daughter of Evil Queen; and Carlos, son of Cruella De Vil. Ever since Mal wasn't invited to Evie's birthday party when they were younger, she's been determined to get her back. This year, as her Evil Scheme project at school (yes, villains teach their kids how to be evil at school😜) cunning Mal is planning to really get her. And it's going down at her midnight party, with the help of her thieving partner, mischievous Jay. Meanwhile, beautiful Evie and intellegent Carlos try out Carlos's new invention: and it breaks a hole through the barrier! Even if it's only a small one, it allows them to grasp a bit of magic from the mainland. And as they discover later, this magic awakens Diablo, Maleficent's raven sidekick, and Maleficent's infamous scepter. And there's different reasons everybody wants to venture to find it: Mal's evil scheme to "dethrone" Evie never worked, and she's looking for a way to prove to her mother that she really is evil. Jay wants to get the scepter so it can be the "Big Score" his father has been raving about, the one that will make them rich. Evie just wants to make friends, and live on the mainland. Carlos wants to get away from his mother, who treats him like a maid, and continue his inventions. For these reasons (that they all keep to themselves), they band together and journey through the Isle of the Lost to find the scepter. Through the obstacles and challenges that face them on their way, they find that they need to use every one of their different strengths to help them continue on. Will they find the scepter? Who will make the move to take it for themselves? And are these villains really that bad?! As the back of the book states; Bad tree. Bad apple?? This book was so good! I love the idea of descendants of the classic villains! Melissa De la Cruz did a great job bringing this idea to life in her amazing writing. I actually watched the movie Descendants (BTW, it's a great movie if you want to check it out) BEFORE reading the prequel, but luckily that didn't really matter. All in all, I recommend this book for anybody! 5/5 stars!

So cool!