A fast-paced sequel to the Darkdeep series. I read The Beast before reading the Darkdeep, but was not disappointed. The storyline moves at an excelled pace, for even the most reluctant MG reader. Mystery intertwined with horror, makes this story perfect for fans of the later HP books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for an advanced reading copy.

Well, It Certainly Zips Along

If you read a lot of middle grade and YA fantasy action/adventure your favorite books probably involve interesting and surprising characters, clever plot twists, possibly some youthful issues, and careful attention being paid to creating as authentic a fantasy feel as possible. If you read adult airport thrillers you're probably used to flat and predictable characters recently retired from a special forces unit, non-stop action, and wildly and almost intentionally implausible action scenes.

This book struck me as an odd combination of those two styles.

As to characters, only minimal effort is made to create distinct personalities for the five kids. Whatever you are going to know about them is set out in the first chapter or two and then they just behave to type after that. That said, the girls get to be strong characters, possibly the two strongest, and they get most of the amusing lines and solve most of the mysteries, so that's a nice plus.

As to plot, this is a combination of monster battles, saving the world from a multi-verse tear, joining a secret society, and following the clues to a scavenger hunt. It all rattles along at a crazy pace, helped by intuition, telepathically delivered instructions, and insanely coincidental and fortuitous puzzle solving. You basically just get on the ride and hold on through the curves. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, and it helps immensely that the action takes place in a number of great and well imagined locations, (mysterious houseboat, space warped whirlpool, crypt, underground hideout, cemetery, abandoned ocean oil rig).

The book is well written. Dialogue is brief but effective. Action is clearly described. A side story about a goofy reality show star who shows up in town is handled with wry dismissive humor. This is a second book, and lots happened in the first book, but the first chapter of this one uses expository dialogue to very effectively bring new readers up to speed.

So, on the one hand I tore through this, wanting to know what would happen next and curious to see what the next action curveball would be. On the other hand, I'm already forgetting the characters and the storyline.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)