The sequel was better than the first book!! ^_^ Witty, exciting and emotional! The more traumatic horror elements that gave me pause in the first book were eliminated in favor of more cinematic horror monsters, and the dreamscape storytelling evolved into something a little more linear. Still an odyssey, still spooky Wizard of Oz vibes, but the dangers were more impactful, the world more visceral. Even the secondary characters each get a hero moment or an arc moment, some meaningful highlight. May's character arc is impressive, literally sinking into the depths of Despair before climbing her way back out to defend her friends, every inch a hero as she faces all of the horrors that have plagued her for two books. There is an amazing convergence of evil forces at a disco, and a fight scene set to "Staying Alive". You can see the potential Netflix adaptation right there, the book sings!

Unfortunately, I did knock off one star: Half for goofy cat antics and half for redundancy/tropes.

Let's start with the cats...

In the first book, it was obvious that Somber Kitty was based off of a real, beloved cat. But his ample page time was charming, very Homeward Bound; you don't have to be a cat lover to sympathize with the relationship between A Kid and her Pet, hearts and fates entwined no matter the distance between them. But in this sequel, for some bizarrro reason, Kitty was given a demonic cat nemesis, Commander Berzerko, who is an annoying, goofy distraction that eats up WAY too much of this very short book. Berzerko is a Crazy Cat Person's idea of funny: Cute on the outside, diabolical on the inside, the frizzing and whizzing of an angry cat indicative of paranormal powers. Her rivalry with Kitty is unnecessary, it doesn't serve May's arc or the duo's journey home. If anything, Berzerko cheapens Kitty, turning him into a cartoon: They literally get into a karate match! I could believe that Berzerko is also based off of a real life puffball, and that the author had fun hyperbolically describing a real squabble between her pets. But it had no business here. Maybe as a bonus chapter in a B&N exclusive edition, maybe. Maybe as one silly chapter near the end, to take some of the terror out of the big confrontation. But not as a running gag throughout the ENTIRE book. If books came with Skip buttons, I would have been happy to Skip all the Berzerko scenes, I wouldn't have missed anything important.

The other half star is about the ease with which our characters get out of danger. This book is clearly a kids book, because the heroes rarely have to make tough choices, things just work out. Surprise friendlies, or safe havens, or accessory upgrades, all show up out of the blue just in the nick of time. And it would be one thing if these tropes were only in this book. But some of the exact same plot coupons or locations show up in My Diary From the Edge of the World. Looking at Earth from the edge of the world, hopping a flying horse to safety, crossing a desert and a snowy mountain and pausing to behold The World Tree, miraculously stumbling into a wise old friend (Arista/Prospero) who heals the party and outfits them for the arduous journey ahead... It's almost as if this book was the rough draft for the other, all of the Underworld monsters replaced with cryptids. I don't understand why so much material was recycled. The author clearly doesn't suffer from a lack of imagination. What is with the nostalgia for shanty towns, cowboys, American explorers?...Is it the author's own biases again bleeding through? Did some editor advise Anderson that certain plot beats need to happen in a fantasy adventure story? I don't know why, but choices were made, and then repeated, and I noticed, and I'm annoyed. *Shrug*

All in all, though, it's easy to ignore those two half stars! The rest of the book shines. I cannot wait to jump into the final book!