A very quick read if anyone wants a readalike to "Fault in our Stars". What makes it great is that it deviates from "Fault", and thankfully took some paths I didn't expect. I was wincing at the teen angsty-ness of it, but all in all, it was a good, quick read.

It's been a while since I read the first book in the series, but thankfully that didn't matter much. All I needed to remember was the main character, Will Henry, was assistant to the strange, unsociable, Doctor Warthrop. It's another monster, one the doctor doesn't believe exists, as they plunge into the Canadian wilderness looking for the doctor's lost friend, husband to Warthrop's ex-girlfriend. These stories are great, very Victorian-esque in their writing-style, and fans of Dracula and Frankenstein will enjoy the writing. Meanwhile, the characters are very well developed. I would recommend to older teens with a love of reading, as the vocabulary had me looking up more than a few words, and it gets really, really gruesome towards the end. But I really recommend these, and I hear the audio book is really good too! Can't wait to read the next one!

I started this one during Halloween week, but another, scarier book, gained my full attention. From what I read, it's a juvenile fiction book that's a pretty easy read, as the writing is simple. Perhaps tweens ages 9+ would enjoy it's spooky-ness!

This book just builds, and builds, and builds, and boy does it keep you in suspense! A great read for the Halloween season and it gets pretty dark towards the end!

Okay, so imagine you've heard so much about Harry Potter, there's tons of stuff out there, and you decide to start reading the series by starting with Order of the Phoenix. You get a couple confusing recaps of previous happenings, some flashbacks, but you're not quite sure who everyone is. Also, all the characters seem super angsty and angry all the time.

That's how this book starts off, and I'll admit I started out kind of disappointed. I'm also still confused as to whether this is supposed to be the actual Simon Snow series that is present in the Fangirl universe, or is it supposed to be the fanfiction written by Cath and Wren? Or is it something else entirely?

Either way, that whole bit doesn't matter. Just stick with the book, gloss over the wizard angst, and I assure you that you will soon be sucked into a great story with interesting magic use, awful teachers, and fanfiction-esque, angsty, wizard, boy love.

Enjoy!

I think this book would appeal most to boys ages 9+. Also fans of dragons, but mostly tween boys. The characters are fun, the action keeps it moving, and there's some great, gruesome descriptions of dragon violence that I'm sure would appeal to boys. Either way, I'm definitely interested in reading the next book in the series!

Seriously folks, if you haven't started this series yet, do yourself a favor and read The Screaming Staircase RIGHT NOW! This series is great! And the characters keep growing, and developing, learning more about themselves as they learn more about their colleagues. Again, some pretty deep stuff going on, and it feels like Lockwood and Lucy are being forced to grow up and confront their feelings for each other. Each book is more exciting and wonderful than the last, and this one certainly leaves you waiting for the next one!

Alas, I didn't have time to finish this book. Other books were finding favor over this one. It's pretty basic, possibly a good choice for a teen who plays D&D or wants a Potter-esque novel of an orphan being accepted into a magic school with demons and being the best of the best.

Wow, a lot of stuff went down for many characters in this book!