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Shane Hegarty – Darkmouth: Worlds Explode | Review

Title: Darkmouth: Worlds Explode

Author: Shane Hegarty

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 464

Rating: 8/10

Shane Hegarty – Darkmouth: Worlds Explode

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

I absolutely loved the first Darkmouth book, and I gave it a ten out of ten in its review – that’s why the publishers offered to send me a copy of the second book in the series, a challenge which I gladly accepted. In fact, they sent me two copies, and so I donated one of them to the book exchange at my local arts centre. I know for a fact that at least one person (Amanda, I’m looking at you) has read it since then, which is cool!

Now, I didn’t enjoy the second book as much as the first one, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it – it’s just that the first book was so, so good that any sequel would struggle to do it justice. The good news is that the story does continue to develop throughout this, the second book in the series, and it leaves room for a lot of development in future releases.

And so with that in mind, I’d still very much recommend this book, especially for someone in their early teens. But the good thing about the Darkmouth series is that it also has some appeal for adults – I’m 26 at the time of writing, and yet I still thought it was awesome. Even though I didn’t rate this book as highly as the first one, I still can’t wait for the series to continue, and I’m not even the right target audience.

Shane Hegarty

One of the other cool things about Shane Hegarty and his Darkmouth books is that there are a series of YouTube videos that you can watch to learn more about Darkmouth, whether we’re talking about the place or its residents. In fact, it’s easy to feel at home in Darkmouth, and you almost get the feeling that it’s a real place that you could visit, if you wanted to.

I haven’t left myself much room to talk about the story line, but it pretty much follows straight on from the first book, with young legend hunter Finn trying to rescue his father from the Infested Side, where the Legends live. The only problem is that Finn’s a little clumsy, but he tends to get things done somehow, in his own special way. Of course, he’s joined by his best friend Emmie, as well as a number of other supporting characters, some of whom are better than others. Niall Blacktongue even makes an appearance, so keep ’em peeled for that! Be sure to let me know what you think if you read it!

Shane Hegarty – Darkmouth

Click here to buy Darkmouth: Worlds Explode.

Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini – House of Secrets | Review

Title: House of Secrets

Author: Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 560

Rating: 8/10

Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini – House of Secrets

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

You might have heard of Chris Columbus before as the director of a couple of the Harry Potter movies and the mind behind Home Alone, Mrs Doubtfire and other classic movies. Here, he teams up with the talented Ned Vizzini, a YA author who sadly fell to his death just before Christmas in 2013, in what’s believed to be a suicide.

The two writers have a good connection, inasmuch as it’s effectively impossible to tell who wrote what – it just reads like a novel that was written by one person, which can only be a good thing. This is the first book in the series, although I accidentally read it second because I received the two books out of order when they were sent to me by the publisher. Both of the books are a lot of fun, and it’s hard to pick which of the two I preferred.

My main gripe with this is actually in the language that the characters occasionally use to refer to their English friend, Will. The American characters keep making vaguely xenophobic digs about his nationality, suggesting that Brits don’t brush their teeth and only bathe once a week. That’s simply not true, I bathe way less than that – I’m a shower guy.

Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini

Will doesn’t actually exist – in fact, he’s a character in one of the books that they end up in. See, they move into the house that was formerly occupied by Denver Kristoff, a writer who went kind of crazy when he found The Book of Doom and Desire and ended up becoming the Storm King.

The main story-line in this, the first novel in the series, follows the story of the younger members of the Walker family, as they’re sucked into a strange world comprised of a mixture of three of Denver Kristoff’s novels. Of course, there’s a bad guy who’s ultimately responsible, and this bad guy ain’t Denver Kristoff – it’s the evil Wind Witch, who claims that the Walkers’ new house belongs to her and banishes the kids to the fictional world in the first place.

Once they’re there, they have to somehow find their way back, and so there are many similarities between this book and the second in the series. That said, both books have a character of their own, and if anything there are even more twists in the second book – you certainly won’t be bored, especially if you’re a teenager or if you’re reading to young adults.

House of Secrets

One other point to mention – I’d strongly recommend reading the series in order, unlike myself. It’s not that the books don’t work as standalones, but there are a few in-jokes here and there in the second book that you’d only understand if you’ve read the first one. It’s also cool to see how some of the recurring characters manage to develop over time.

The House of Secrets series hasn’t exactly blown my mind, and there are better YA fantasy series out there (see Shane Hegarty’s Darkmouth), but it’s still a good-quality book and an interesting read. If you’re a fantasy fiend or if you love YA books, get it.