Woo boy, it’s been a while since I read my first RE-view. It took long enough for me to get to the second book in the series, but here we are. We’re diving back into my pre-teen favourite!
Well, not quite. And I think my opinion still stands.
Jack and Jade Shield, now under the training of their grandma, have much exploring of their newfound powers to do. As these powers create much antics and they keep this secret from their mother and newfound school friends, other magical anomalies catch their eye. Rumors circulate about the fabled monster of Portland sightings, cats within the town are on the brink of war, and the twins soon learn that The Evil they vanquished may still remain in their new home.
I remembered this novel being the weakest out of the four books in this series. Still enjoyable, yes, but ultimately the first book beat it by a lot. Maybe it’s to do with when the world was first being explored back in the first Troubletwisters book the true magic and whimsy of the series came forth, and now all that’s left is to expand the world.
The characters improved a lot here, especially as Jack and Jaide start to come of age and become their own people. They were truly becoming their own people here as their insecurities took over, onces gained from the trauma of the previous book. And they weren’t dumbed down either thanks to their shared curiosity and selflessness. A perfect balance of youth and maturity for their age. The supporting characters were great as well, those knowing of The Evil and those ignorant really built up the world. Tara was a favourite of mine, especially when she connected with the twins.
Although in spite of that the plot was lacking. This novel almost felt like filler. Or maybe it is there to set up what’s coming in books 3 and 4. Regardless, the twins more or less started and finished in very similar places. They gained a best friend at school I guess and are able to understand their powers and the world around them better, but altogether finishing the book in terms of plot was just a massive and kind of happy “oh”.
I say almost like filler because there was some good worldbuilding and things being revealed here. This was what wound up being the most fascinating part of the novel to read. To learn more about how The Evil works was one thing, especially with it owning one of my favourite villain tropes. But we met more Wardens and learned about their abilities too! I think some parts of the worldbuilding felt insignificant as I don’t remember them ever coming up again, but they were fun in the moment.
That would summarise this book – fun in the moment. But it did kind of leave me wanting more, something a bit more substantial. Luckily two books remain, which if my memory serves me were pretty dang good.
The Monster gets a score of 3/5. I hope this world hasn’t gone stale that fast because it still captured me a bit.
Yours in writing
Amy