Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Book Review: Arch Enemy by Frank Beddor

This is the 3rd, and final, book in "The Looking Glass Wars" trilogy. When I started this book I was very intrigued about how Beddor was going to wrap up all the loose ends from the first two books in the series. I have to say I was not disappointed. The only frustration I had with the book was the very abrupt end. The endings to the other two books were awesome, but I have to say that the ending to this one lacked a little bit in my opinion. It did the job of tying everything up but it was so abrupt that it almost felt like he couldn't figure out a proper way to bring it to an end.

Despite the ending I would highly recommend not only this book, but the entire trilogy to anyone that is an avid YA reader. These books take you into the world of Wonderland in a way that I could have never imagined. The trilogy encompasses a great story with many twists and turns that will keep you entertained throughout. It gives a fresh life to many of the classic characters that you remember from Alice in Wonderland. This trilogy does a great job of bringing these characters to life for a new generation of readers to enjoy for years to come.

Overall I would give this book a solid 4.5/5

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Seeing Red by Frank Beddor

This is the second book in "The Looking Glass Wars" by Frank Beddor. I'm always nervous about the second book in a trilogy because it always seems to be the weakest link of all of them. Usually it is just a book full of story build up so that the author has something huge to end it with in the last book. This wasn't the case with this one. Beddor does a fantastic job of making this a fun to read part of the overall story.

The characters progress along very well from the first book and through this one. As you can probably tell from the title the book focuses a lot on the character "Redd". It's fascinating to watch what becomes of her and her cohorts and how that relates back to the other main characters in the trilogy. Along the way there are plenty of twists and turns that you don't see coming at all.

While, in my opinion, this book isn't your typical middle book in a trilogy because it has such a great story that could stand by itself; it does do a wonderful job of making you eager to read the final book. There are plenty of open story lines and ways that this whole thing could still play out. Beddor is a wonderfully refreshing author and I can't wait to read the third and final book in this trilogy.

Overall Rating: 4/5