I entered this book with hesitation having really not enjoyed the main series by Brandon Moll, where the main characters of the spinoff series, Newel and Doren first originate. However, I think that the much shorter length of the book, as well as the more reasonable focus of the plot, make this book and potentially the series much more enjoyable, and easier to get through.
Lindsay Currie has a winner with this mystery puzzle game type book. I really enjoyed how she explored the issue that the main character has to deal with, what happens when a previously beloved parent has a chronic, unexplained illness that devastate the family finances. Because of this the main character is motivated to go solve a long unsolved mystery at a Funhouse that never came into operation so that she can win the ultimate prize and
hopefully save her family. She does this along with her two best friends, a trio who frequently engages in escape room, type games for fun. There are just enough steaks to keep the reader on the edge of their seat without making things too worrisome. I look forward to reading the sequel.
If by the end of the original trilogy, I had already started to doubt the point of the books, I clearly saw no real purpose to this bridge novel between trilogies. Once again, there are a bunch of games, a whole bunch of issues and problems that stretched the suspension of disbelief, and the opening even more for the basis of the sequel trilogy. This book definitely got unhauled after I finished it.
With how dark some of this book got, I am surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. Sullivan’s narrative kept me engaged the entire time. I wish that I had written this review much sooner so that I could remember more detail details about this book. (I am getting close to getting caught up with my review so hopefully this will not be an issue in the future.)
Based on the cover, I thought that this book would tend more towards the horror genre, or perhaps the supernatural or fantastical. I definitely prefer what we actually got in this book, an exploration of found family in the face of an opioid epidemic and the tragic death of parents and consequences for greed. This book explores it through the main character, whose parents both perished of an overdose, and now finds herself in a children’s home that is housed in a former mansion of a
family who has now made their money in the drug industry, and is the defective cause of the main character’s parents’ deaths. The woman who runs this children’s home has a Familia connection to that family and also tries to make up for what her family has done. I definitely recommend this book.
This novel in verse reads incredibly quickly and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. The main character lives in a fire tower, along with her mother and grandmother. She belongs to be able to stay in town with other friends so that she can go to a normal school. However, before this happens, there are various issues with the start of fire season that lead this character to confront her fears after the death of her father a couple years before. For those kids who enjoy survival stories, I definitely recommend this book.
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