I read this book years ago at 13 for a book club, but I never got a chance to finish the rest of the series. I loved it when I was 13, and it’s been taunting me for the 7 years it’s been sitting on my shelf. Now I wanted to finish the trilogy before the school year restarted, so I decided to order the next two books in the trilogy and reread this one. After rereading this book, I think I will probably be donating the trilogy once I finish it. I liked this book, but I don’t think I’m going to keep it in my permanent collection with limited space.
Sam has been looking for his father for days. His family doesn’t seem to support his search, but his dad is all he has left. Even if he may be flighty and prone to disappearing, if he loses his dad, he will officially be an orphan. His mom passed years ago, and he has been trying to reconnect with his dad more since then. He searches his dad’s bookstore one more time, and he finds a strange coin and a strange stone. Before he realizes it, he has been whisked to another world.
I found the locations Sam visited to be all different on how interesting they were to read about. My favorite location was the monastery that he visited first. The scenes of that one place have stuck with me the strongest throughout the years since I first read this book. I wish he had spent more time in this book in this area, as it was so much fun to read about! I feel like since he kept switching locations so quickly, I never got a chance to get connected with the characters in any one place. But I did feel a bit more connected to the monks than anyone else.
I can’t wait to read more about Sam and his cousin Lily. I always thought Lily would be a boring character when I was first introduced to her. But she really comes into her own as this book goes on, and I love her by the end of the novel. Hopefully, she will take on a larger role.
Now I have read this book twice, and I still only remember the beginning and the middle vaguely. I can never connect with the ending, until the cliffhanger. This makes it so forgettable to me, I forget almost everything the minute I finish the novel. I’m going to keep trying to go forward with the trilogy, but if I only like the beginning of this book, I’m not sure how I will like the rest of the series that picks up where this book left off. I’m going to skim the end again, and jump right into book 2 to see if things improve.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a middle-grade fantasy read.
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 books.
