Adventure and fantasy reign making it hard not to want to jump right in with the characters and battle right along with them.

Lucas wants to run away from his latest foster home. Hoping to have a chance to ditch his friend, he enters a curiosity shop, but instead, he, his friend, and two girls related to the foster home (and ones he wants nothing to do with) step out of the shop to find themselves swept into another world. Here, they find themselves in the game...one they aren't sure of the rules and don't really know how to play. But if they want out, they're going to have to play and win.

When I read the blurb on this one, I knew I had to get my hands on the ARC. It's fantasy pure with tons of imagination, action, and impossible odds. The author does a wonderful job at building the scenes and creates a rich world, and that without rambling into long descriptions. The pacing is well placed and keeps the action rolling, but characters aren't forgotten, either.

One of my favorite things about this read is that the characters aren't perfect. While the idea of a kid running away from a foster home does draw in an immediate amount of sympathy, this one doesn't rely on that alone. Each character has things they are dealing with, and each one needs the unexpected and odd friendship which forms between them. These kids are not awesome fighters, nor do they have any clue what to do when they are thrown into the 'game'. They make tons of mistakes, since they don't know the rules, and have to learn as they go along. And they do learn as well as discover different ways to handle things then what might usually be expected.

Then, there's the friendship. That's probably one of the main themes in this one. They aren't exactly the kind of kids, which normally would ever get along. And yet, they have to and learn to stretch beyond their own borders. The character arcs are strong, and the development is hard to miss. There's humor, frustrating scenes, ones that pull at the heart, and plenty of great moments of action and victory. It's a wonderful mix and a fun read.

Lucas' life is about to change just not exactly in the way he thought. When he entered that game shop he was hoping to ditch his friend and run away from their newest foster home in a line of them. But what happened was he, his friend, a girl from school, and his foster parents daughter who Lucas is sure hates him get transported into a role playing game and now must fight, think, and work together so they can complete the quest if they want to leave the game. Sounds easy right?

This is a great book especially with the different role playing games making a comeback. It shows how with teamwork you can accomplish a lot more than by yourself. The best part is they couldn't just give up and say its to hard they had to keep going or they would be stuck in the game forever. I think this will hold the attention of readers young and old and I hope they like it as much as I did.

This review will appear on my blog on Aug 3rd.

#championsquestthedieofdestiny #netgalley

Such a cool adventure book! I loved the characters and the way that they grew so much and leaned on each other during this daring adventure that they went on. Great book!

This book was fun but hard to get into. I do like Frank L Cole and think he does a great job. I will definitely recommend this to my friends and this author.

When I told my kids that I had just read an ARC of a book about some teens who basically get to play a real, live (sort of) game of dungeons and dragons, they were instantly interested. I have never read this author before, but this book is enjoyable and has a lot going for it. It will definitely to appeal to kids who love fantasy and role-playing games.

The characters are good and, I think, relatable to kids. It’s great to see how their friendship grows as they participate in this game and how they learn to work as a team and encourage each other. That is what I liked most about it.

Lucas is an orphan boy whose plans to run away from his current foster home get interrupted by a little problem. He's stuck in a fantasy, D&D-esque world! And the only way he's getting back to our world is if he and his party finish their assigned quest. Will they be able to work together and outthink their enemies or will they be forever stuck in the Champion's Quest world?

This book was full of adventure and it felt a lot like reading a story about a D&D campaign, where the characters don't know the rules because they lost the rule book. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the characters try to figure out the sort-of familiar feel of an RPG world, but things are enough different that it's easy to mess up.

On to the characters! I really liked how Lucas and the other characters grew over the book, especially as they started to become more of a team. I also liked it when they realize all the different things their gadgets could be used for, instead of just smacking people with them. They have to learn how to outsmart their opponents with the tools that are available to them. On top of all that, they aren't perfect adventurers. They mess up... a lot, but they persevere and become a sort of family, which was one of my favorite things about them.

There were so many adorable moments in this book, but I don't want to ruin any of them for you, just know that hummingbirds apparently make great trackers.

Overall, this book is full of adventure, perseverance, friendship, and more. Is it a great Middle-grade fantasy book, and I would recommend it to any who like that genre. The cover is amazing and, yes, that is an actual bone dragon on the cover (I think this might be the 1st fantasy book I've ever read that's had one). I enjoyed reading it and I'm looking forward to seeing more from this author.

Content Warnings:
This is a Middle-Grade book, so there's not any huge CWs, however I will mention a few things that might bother some people.

-Mentions of parent death
-Maze of bones, complete with bone dragon
-Characters die, but get brought back to life, since they're trapped in game world (kind of like a video-game)
-Discussion of running away from foster home <spoiler> he does not end up running away <spoiler>

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I really enjoyed this book watching the characters grow and change in a realistic way is something that is hard to find in a Middle-Grades book. Not only that but the world that was brought to life felt like I could have been standing there with the characters. The author does an amazing job at making use of all of the senses of the characters to describe what was happening. The pacing did slow down a little in the middle but that was to help with character development and it quickly picked back up. All in all, I cant wait to see more from this author and I almost want to go back and read some of his older books.