Title: The Vampire Returns: Secret Portal 2
Author: Reno Charlton
Illustrator: Sarah Higgins
Age: 8-12
Pages: 178 (paperback)
Publisher: Createspace
Jack, Simon, James, and Dean all attend Earls, where it's had its fair share of abnormality. Last year the four boys had found a portal to a second world. A world filled with angels, gnomes, witches, and vampires. Of course, as the title says, it was a secret portal and only the four buddies, as well as a few other friends from the other world knew about it. The portal looked liked an innocent adventure to a magical land, until a dangerous vampire named Gore, slipped through to the human world and almost managed to escape. The vampire sure did deal quite a few casualties and also left his mark. In this new exciting novel, the vampire is BACK! Without the help of the two worlds Gore may be able to roam the world freely and create havoc wherever he walks!
Reno's second novel of the series was wonderful! She did a great job intertwining both worlds. I did enjoy that it contained much more plot twists then the first one. It was somewhat predictable, but not too the point where it becomes a bore. At one point I was actually quite pleased with myself because I predicted a plot twist, then I found out that another one was added and I was sourly wrong about my first prediction! The story is simple but effective. It can be read without having read the first book of the series, yet you won't get confused nor get bored if you haven't. Reno did an amazing job leaving some information out, and some might find that disgraceful, but for me it just makes me love it more! The ending was extraordinary! It summed up everything quite well and left the reader on a clfft-hanger. It's a very good method also used in the Harry Potter novels and many more!
The fact that this novel could be read without having read the first one is a good thing. Although it seemed like the author assumed we had read her other book in the series and thus the characters aren't that complex and somewhat dull. If you do write a second novel and you make it a semi-stand alone novel, you must make sure to add in the characters qualities and flaws.
Sadly, this book lacked the "fantasy" aspect. Yes I know, what more fantastic can you be given then witches, vampires, and magical spells? My answer to that is: The fantastic world that goes with it. We couldn't and didn't see much of the environment and the surroundings. You cannot have a fantasy novel without the landscape to go with it! For a second and last novel of a series, this book was very well done. I really liked it and I encourage any young readers to at least read the first few chapters.
Available on Amazon
Rating: 3/5
This is the second book of the series. If you haven't read the first one ----> Click Here
2 comments:
Interesting review Nic, the plot sounds quite intriguing and I really enjoy novels that as you say are 'simple and effective'
Keep up the good work with all your reviews!
- Alex
Thanks Alex, this novel really did go straight to the point, which is one of it's strong suits. I shall post an Author interview for this book today so if you want to go take a look be my guest!
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