Saturday, September 21, 2019

Book review: The Beast by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs

Book Summary 
Nico, Opal, Tyler, Emma, and Logan survived their worst fears come to life, and saved their tiny Pacific Northwest town of Timbers from a monstrous figment invasion. Now they just want to keep their heads down, enjoy Halloween, and explore the secrets of their mysterious houseboat clubhouse. And also figure out their new Torchbearer responsibilities as keepers of the Darkdeep, an ancient whirlpool hidden in Still Cove that can make both dreams and nightmares into reality.

But when a dangerous new breed of figments starts appearing on their own, and the very environment around them begins to spiral out of control, the friends realize they have no idea what they are doing-or how they're supposed to restrain the Darkdeep. They must uncover the pool's origins, as well as those of the freaky Thing in a Jar, a seemingly lifeless green creature Opal believes is communicating with her. To make matters worse, a trashy YouTube series has rolled into town intent on finding the Beast, the legendary local sea monster suddenly stirring up the countryside.

As threats rapidly close in around them, the friends must fight to protect their secrets, defeat new enemies, and save Timbers and all that they love.

Told from alternating points of view, this chilling sequel from bestselling duo Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs will once again have readers sleeping with the lights on.

Flo's Review
Y'all. If you thought The Darkdeep was craaazay (aka "good crazy") then get ready for The Beast! This book takes everything literally to a whole new level. Like I was fully not expecting to go all the places this story went. I was sitting there reading it and just when I thought things couldn't get any more insane -- they totally did!

There was so much going on here, what with the Beast, the figments, Freakshow, and the gang trying to solve another mystery. It all ended up connecting of course, but daaaang. I am super impressed with the creativity of Ally and Brendan and this world they've created. This group of friends is pretty great, too. They have each other's backs 100%, always remembering their oath, "We look out for the Darkdeep, and we look out for each other." I was especially touched by some of their little actions, which actually weren't so little. Like Tyler's badass moment toward the end. And Nico subtlely cutting Logan some slack at one point.

Like with the last novel, this one ended with a little hint about what's to come. I, of course, can't imagine what that is. But based on the teaser, I fully believe it's going to get even craaaazier than this one. I cannot wait!

In the meantime, The Beast publishes Tuesday, September 24th. This is a fun series so far (although I will never look at Care Bears the same way, thank you very much, Brendan and Ally!!) and I recommend you give it a try if you're in the mood for a super creative adventure.

No comments:

Post a Comment