I had to stop in the middle to read Insurgent, but all in all I enjoyed this book. I realized near the end that it was similar to the Fablehaven series in the "scavenger hunt" nature of the plot. It is a book _targeted at a little younger audience than most of my recent "young adult" reads, but that is a nice change of pace sometimes. It's a bit more innocent. I liked the "other world" and "beyond" setting, had a slight Narnian quality to it in that way. ( )

2 thoughts:
- I've liked other books by Brandon Mull better
- how is the 13-year-old protagonist so chill about killing people?? it seems like there should be some ptsd, regardless of whether he had to do it to survive or not ( )

Very different from Brandon's normal style but a good read.
I enjoyed the main character's sass and attitude. ( )

After falling into a new world called Lyrian, Jason must figure out the clues that piece together an ancient word that could bring down Maldor, the terrifying leader. He is helped with his new friend Rachel, who has also stumbled into this strange world. ( )

Before I started this book I told myself that there was no way I'd give this 5 stars. I so loved the Fablehaven series but the Candy Shop War was not as good so I was guessing this book would fall somewhere down below Fablehaven. I feel like I was wrong...I think I would give this 4.5 stars if I could. I almost like it as much as Fablehaven. There really is something so fun and devilishly delightful with Fablehaven. However, having said that, I still think this book is better than most of the young adult series that have come out recently. I also stand by a previous statement in another review that Brandon Mull is an excellent writer. I really appreciate the fact that he doesn't have dumb down his characters. His books and characters have more sophistication. I enjoy that the children are brave and trusted and treated with respect as the hero but I also enjoy the fact that adults are respected by the younger characters and treated as adults rather than the current popular trend I like to call the Dinsey effect which is basically the opposite of that...
Anyway, after JK Rowling, I think I'd take Mull over any other modern YA writer. ( )