The Royal Ranger

The Royal Ranger (Ranger's Apprentice #12)

by John Flanagan  

4 stars

 

464 pages 

Published Nov. 5, 2013 by Philomel

 

I enjoyed this last book (we hope) in this long series of Ranger's Apprentice books. I can't believe there are 12 of them! I appreciated the plot and the fact that finally!!! there is a girl Ranger's apprentice! It took the author long enough to figure out that girls would make fabulous Rangers, too. Maybe he'll do a spin-off series focused on this. We'll see.

Expect the same great action, adventure and bad-guy slaying you read in the other 11 books. Flanagan has proven that he knows how to write adventure stories for all age sets.

The One

The One (The Selection #3)

by Kiera Cass

3.5 stars

323 pages
Published June 5, 2014 by HarperCollins Children's Books  
 
I'm glad this series is over. It ended well, too, which was nice. It even had an epilogue! I love epilogues.

I'm not sure there is much depth to this series, but if you want a mindless, entertaining beach read, this is a great choice.

Chasing the Prophecy

Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders #3)

by Brandon Mull

3 stars

512 pages
Published Mar. 12, 2013 by Aladdin

If you can get past all of the questions that are asked in the narrative (and there are so many, I started skipping those paragraphs), this is a great ending to a pretty great trilogy for kids. The questions asked by the main characters were so plentiful that it detracted from the pace and action of the book. Instead of asking so many questions, like "Is this the right thing to do? How do I know?" etc. the book's action and pace would be better served by decisive decision-making.

Despite that, the book was full of moral themes that I would love to have my kids adopt. Themes such as valuing friendship, being loyal and having faith.

I can recommend to any kid or teen wanting a action-packed, yet still clean book to read.

Dark Triumph

Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2)

by Robin LaFevers

3.5 stars

385 pages 

Published April 2, 2013 by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children 

 

I was so confused at the beginning of this book. It had been a while since I read the first book, and was expecting to keep following the main character in that one. But I had forgotten her name, so I was so out of it. I persevered and finally figured out that this book follows a completely different character. Once I had that straightened out, I started to enjoy the plot and action.

Like the first book, the writing is dark and depressing, yet compelling. I couldn't put it down, but I had to to preserve my sanity. The bad guy was truly bad - so bad that it was slightly unbelievable. And the end of his story was unsatisfying. I wish there had been more to it.

I will probably read this last book in this series, which I assume will follow a different character than the first two books.