Book Review: "Artemis Fowl and The Atlantis Complex" by Eoin Colfer

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

When Artemis invites Holly and other members of the LEP to witness his latest invention, things go wrong when they are attacked. Foaly realizes these machines that attacked were built by him but they are being high-jacked. To make matters worse, Artemis seems to go insane and it's up to Holly to save them. And when it turns out that Atlantis is being targeted, she has to try and save the city as well.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Artemis is not really in the story. Returns in chapter eight, more than halfway through the story. Leaves by chapter three, but he goes nuts well before then.

Orion is Artemis' alter ego. He is oddly annoying, and so out of left field that I got sick of him after a few minutes. Although to be fair, he said a few things that were amusing. And even had one reaction that was kind of funny. But for the most part I hated every scene with him.

Holly is the main character in this story. Since Artemis is not in the story much, there relationship does not develop. Although in the beginning, she admits a motherly desire to defend him.

Foaly for the first time, is there in the flesh, and not back in Haven. But the interaction he gets with Artemis face to face adds no extra dimension to their relationship. As is Artemis is never there.

Butler notices Artemis' odd behavior but doesn't take any action. Such as informing his parents, or informing Holly, or doing anything. He just drops everything and runs to Juliet's aid when Artemis says she is in trouble.

Juliet has lost her memories about the People but eventually regains them. She isn't shocked, and doesn't seem to view Butler or Artemis any different. Nor is she mad at her brother for keeping her in the dark.

Turnbull Root is the brother of Julius Root that was never mentioned for some reason. He hates his brother, who is dead. So, yeah. Anyway he is in prison for some crimes but wants to get out to see his human wife before she passes on. Also wants revenge on those who put him in jail.

POT SHOTS AT ARTY...AGAIN

In the beginning of the story, Artemis reveals his plan to save the planet, but no one believes him. I mean, he has only saved the planet multiple times before, putting his own life on the line, so, yeah, this is a major change in him.

It's odd how with each book Colfer expects us to believe that Artemis is the same child as in the first book. I have to wonder if he despises his own protagonist.

PACING

The story goes back between Artemis and company, and then to Juliet and Butler and Turnbull Root. But I just had little interest in any of the stories.

DATING THE BOOK

I've always had this thing about stories. I don't like when authors put in elements that will date the book a decade from now. Like mentions of pop culture, whether it be movies or music. Nor political elements. By the time I read this book, the culture had moved on from “global warming” to “climate change”. And no doubt in another decade they will change the name or discover another crisis.

ARTEMIS'S MORALITY

Once again, we are led to believe that Artemis has grown morally but not through any personal interactions. He does not treat anyone any better, as far as we know, and is still quite selfish and juvenile. (It's mentioned he punished a teacher he didn't like.)

Instead, since he doesn't' want the planet to live on to die, and is using his own money to save it (he's the child of millionaires) then he must have had a major epiphany. For the love of God, I just want him to be nice to people.

EVIL MUD MEN

It's revealed that many in Haven just want the humans to die out. I was shocked at the hatred they had. They have previously been painted as saints in comparison to the mud men. And the fact that Artemis doesn't bat an eye at this revelation is disturbing. Even more so that neither Holly or anyone else seems ashamed.

WHAT PART OF ARTEMIS?

Orion as an alter ego made little sense to me. We all have thought of who we would be if we were more bold, said what we were thinking, and were less afraid of what people thought of us.

Apparently Artemis' alter ego would have the intelligence of toddler who recites Shakespeare, believes in fairy tales and is basically helpless. I felt the whole idea was not only illogical, but an insult to his character. It was as if the whole idea was to humiliate him. The only scene of any introspection was when Orion said that Artemis is nasty to everyone. Is this Colfer admitting that Arty hasn't grown morally at all?

I kept thinking, an alter ego would share his feelings more and would in general act more like a regular teenage boy. If guilt created this complex, why wouldn't he simply share his guilt then? Why not simply make him more emotional, so he had a harder time making decisions? That would be a huge handicap to him. Not to mention it might bring him and Holly closer.

There are so many issues for Artemis to deal with, mainly how he will live the rest of his life and if he has to rely on the fairy world for intellectual stimulation. Or how he is having a hard time growing morally. Or his relationship with his family, which we know little about besides a small scene when he talks on the phone with his mother.

A NEW VILLAIN-SPOILERS

I am not going to lie, as a villain, I was completely indifferent to Turnbull. Too much of the story was in his perspective in my opinion. I really didn't care. He was slightly cartoony, but not nearly as bad as Opal has been. I found his story about how he met his wife to be interesting. But I couldn't sympathize for him, because he easily discarded of others lives. So there was no real depth. No real three dimensional character. Which was sad, because the potential was there.

CLIMAX-SPOILERS

The climax was anticlimactic. Turnbull Root turned out to be lame villain. His wife convinces him to stop what he is doing. He complies and walks away with her, suddenly willing to give his own life away. Even Orion notes that the ending is strange. For once I agreed with him.

CONCLUSION

Colfer creates a surprisingly dull story where Artemis is basically not in it. As of such, there is no development of his character. There are a few parts I found mildly amusing, but the for most part, I was speed reading, just praying that Artemis would come back. Because unlike the author, and most of the characters, I actually like him and believe he can develop. Nothing of consequence happens anyway. So I would recommend skipping it altogether. I give “Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex” one a half stars.

Book Review: "Island of the Aunts" by Eva Ibbotson

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

When two kids named Fabio and Minette wake up, they fine they have been taken to an island and chosen to be tested. If they pass, they can be caretakers. Eventually the kids learn that the island is special, and home to magical creatures that must be protected. And when an inhabitant is kidnapped they have to set out and rescue him, even if it means putting their lives on the line.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Minette is the English daughter of a divorced couple. She claims the divorce wouldn't be so bad if only her parents didn't hate each other so much. She does whatever she can to please them, even altering the way she dresses and does her hair.

Fabio is the son of an Englishmen and a Brazilian woman. After his father died, it was supposedly his dying wish that Fabio be raised and England, so his mom sent him there. But Fabio misses his home and his mother. He is mistreated at the boarding school he goes to.

Lambert is a spoiled child who is accidentally taken to the Island. Unlike the other children, he hates it there and wants to go back home. He never develops, but is used to push the story along to its climax.

Myrtle, Coral and Etta are three elderly sisters who have never married. They take care of their father as well as the island they inherited from him. They are odd but honest, often to the point of bluntness. They love their island more than anything but are rather naive.

PACING

The pacing isn't fast, nor is it slow. Minette and Fabio are taken to the island pretty fast, and learn the truth about it by chapter four. And by chapter nine we have a ticking time bomb, Lambert's dad, who is looking for him.

HUMOR

Ibbotson uses her charming style of humor throughout the story, usually through the aunts. They always tell the truth, especially about children. I found myself smiling throughout most of the book.

Also, she puts Lambert's seafaring father in one predicament that had me laughing, proving she doesn't' need funny characters to be funny. She can write funny scenes with serious ones as well.

CREATURES OF THE ISLAND

There are all sorts of creatures on the island, from the mermaids, the selkie, and the giant bird, the boobrie. Alittle less than halfway through the story we learn about the mysterious creature that has arrived. But he's not really a mystery if you look at the cover.

SON OF THE BEAST-SPOILERS

After the mystery creature leaves, his son is left in the care of Fabio and Minette. I thought he was adorable, and it was nice to have another creature that could communicate with humans. The mermaids were kind of silly creatures, and no relationship really forms between any of them and the kids.

FORESHADOWING

There are hints of the future when how a selkie can change into a human is pointed out.

The kids learn that the son of the beast cannot learn to sing by being taught, it simply learns when the time is ready. This hints that later on he will do it at the right time.

When another sister shows up with two kids in tow, this sets up for the ending.

STEREOTYPES

I suppose you could criticize the book for the use of stereotypes, but I never found it annoying or over the top. Minette's parents are selfish and care only for themselves. Lambert is a spoiled brat. If every character was like this, it would be overwhelming. But Minette's parents are only in a small portion of the story, and Lambert is mostly ignored.

I have to admit, Ibbotson does this in all of her books. The greedy relatives. The spoiled child. And it can bother me. For example, in “Journey to the River Sea” I thought it was annoying how the tribes were considered some sort of utopia, and everyone else was just too ignorant to know it.

But usually, Ibbotson never says everyone is like a certain stereotype, she simply points out these people because we all know someone like that. For example, it's obvious that Fabio's relatives are racist towards him because he is half Brazilian, but never does Ibbotson make the claim that all of English society is like that.

HERBERT THE SELKIE

Near the end of the book, there was a big discussion about if Herbert should be a human or a seal. I don't know why, but I didn't feel particularly interested. Perhaps I didn't feel like I got to know him enough.

CLIMAX-SPOILERS

When Lambert's father shows up, this sets the stage for the climax. Trouble ensues and they have to mount a rescue mission. Both Herbert the selkie and the beast are utilized. There is a long aftermath, and although it's not action packed, it's just as entertaining.

CONCLUSION

Ibbotson has created another story full of charming characters and sprinkled with her usual sense of humor. I found the aunts the most funny although there are other scenes that have nothing to do with them that are hilarious as well. The side characters are often stereotypes, but they don't keep the story from being enjoyable. As the two main characters, Fabio and Minette, learn to grow and stand up for themselves. I give “The Island of the Aunts” four stars.

Book Review: "The Summer of Moonlight Secrets" by Danette Haworth

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Allie Jo lives with her family at the Meriwether, a hotel in Florida. She is used to meeting strangers, but then she meets a girl with a strange secret. Along with Chase, a boy who has come to stay, they have to decide how to protect this girl, all the while wondering if she is who she says she is.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Allie Jo is talkative and outgoing. She loves living at the Meriwether, while at the same time she worries about what others think of her. She is alittle naive but also very kind and hardworking.

Chase is the only son of a travel writer. He loves skateboarding and can be reckless as well as sometimes defensive.

Tara is the mysterious girl who shows up at the Meriwether. She is a pretty teenager with a hidden past, an odd accent, and an ignorance of the world.

PACING

Each chapter goes back and forth from Allie Jo and Chase's perspectives. Allie Jo does not meet Tara until chapter seventeen, but the chapters are rather small. So this isn't nearly as far in as it sounds. And we learn Tara's secret more than halfway though the book, so the majority of the time Allie Jo and Chase are in the dark. So the pacing is okay.

CHARACTER ARCS-SPOILERS

The nice thing is that both of the main characters have character arcs. We don't learn everything about them at once. At first glance, they both seem really happy. But eventually we learn that Allie Jo doesn't have much confidence in herself. She worries what the popular girls from her school think of her and admits she only has one friend.

Chase hides the pain of a mother who abandoned him and his dad by getting away with reckless behavior. He admits he can get away with things because his dad doesn't have all of the time to parent him. It's this that gets him in trouble at the beginning of the story, when he decides to break the rules and skateboard in a closed off part of the hotel.

But although Allie Jo learns to have more confidence, Chase has no reason to be less unhappy about being abandoned by him mom. He is just happier, perhaps because he had a brief romance with a girl at the inn?

HINTS ABOUT SECRETS-SPOILERS

We don't get all of the information about Chase and Tara's secrets at once. Instead we get hints. Chase is annoyed when Allie Jo romanticizes a story about adultery. At first he says his mom is visiting someone. Later we find out the truth.

Tara doesn't share everything about herself at first either. We just see her odd behavior and it seems obvious that she is keeping a big secret.

It's nice that we get information sprinkled throughout the story. It helps the reader grow interested.

IS TARA CRAZY?-SPOILERS

An interesting aspect of the story is when a man shows up looking for Tara. He claims that his daughter is not mentally healthy. Suddenly a seed of doubt is planted. Allie Jo wonders if perhaps Tara needs help, but not the kind she is being given.

Allie Jo and Chase argue about the issue, Chase still believing Tara over the man who is looking for her.

If the story had been longer, perhaps real doubt could have been planted in my mind as well. But no real evidence is given for this argument.

CAN TARA CHANGE?

Allie Jo and Chase plan to help Tara stay with them and teach her to change so she fits in better. Allie Jo daydreams of having an older, amazing sister. There are small hints that this can never happen, but I never thought it would anyway.

I LOVE THE 80'S

There a few vague references to the this story taking place in the eighties. Allie Jo says all of the popular girls have perms. Chase and his dad rent a video called “Teen Wolf”. I am not sure why this is important. It has no bearing on the plot, and could easily be missed. There may be no references to cell phones and internet, but I didn't notice.

ALLIE JO'S MISTAKE

Allie Jo makes a mistake, and I liked the idea of it (as I often find characters too cardboard and unrealistic). But her motivation is strange. Instead of realizing how naive she was to believe Tara's fantastic story, she thinks that Tara needs a family to help her. And the reason that Chase doesn't understand, is that he only has a dad, not a mom and dad like she does.

This makes no sense. If anything, because Chase doesn't have an intact family, he would see how important it is to Tara. While Allie Jo might not understand, having grown up with a family and not knowing how it was without one. After all, she gets punished by her parents twice in the book, and even seems embarrassed that her dad only has a two year degree.

CLIMAX

The climax is rather short actually, and nothing overly surprising happens. The villain of the story is easily bested after he learns of Tara's location. And besides a little running and hiding, not much happens.

CONCLUSION

Both Allie Jo and Chase are likable and relatable. Both have their own problems and their kindness leads them to look after Tara. There is a good use of humor throughout and plenty of charm. But I never really believed that Tara was crazy (as there was no proof) nor did I believe that she would stay at the Meriwether forever. So the story is rather predictable. I give “The Summer of Moonlight Secrets” three stars.

Book Review: "The Leap" by Jonathan Stroud

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

After she watches her best friend drown, Charlie can't move on with her life. Especially since no one believes what she saw. Then Charlie starts having dreams that feel much too real. Turns out these dreams may provide a way to save Max after all.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Charlie is reluctant to open up to anyone after she was called crazy. Instead, she hides all of her feelings away. She often loses her temper and is obsessed with Max. She seems oblivious to the chaos she creates and is rather naive about the other world.

Max was Charlie's best friend. But he never really got on with anyone else, not even her brother, James. He is hardly in the story, and mostly shown as a far away figure. Even so, I never questioned Charlie's desire to save him.

James, Charlie's older brother, worries about his sister a lot. But he doesn't know how to get her to open up to him. Even so, he is the only one who makes a real effort to figure out the truth.

Kit is a mysterious man that Charlie meets in the other world. He seems friendly enough, and gives advice to help her find Max faster.

Charlie's mom see's whatever facade her daughter puts out. She is oblivious to the truth.

PACING

The story goes back in forth, between Charlie's perspective, and her brother's perspective. As well as in between Charlie's dream world and the human world. Because of the switch in perspectives, the story moves fast.

Charlie has her first dream by chapter eight (chapters are rather short). It's page 48 of a 233 page book, so we really aren't kept waiting. Halfway through the book we get our goal, where Max is heading. We get a ticking time clock.

FORESHADOWING

There are enough hints of what is to come to keep the readers interest. Like when Jamie sees Charlie's notebook vanish. He gets suspicious and we know he plans to find out more by sneaking.

Also, Charlie lets is slip that she cannot leave Max. Implying he is still around. Jamie never sits down with her to talk, but he knows something is seriously wrong with her. We get hints like these we're we know something has to happen in the future.

MYSTERIOUS SECRETS

Stroud has an intriguing and furious way of only telling the reader just what they need to know. What is this other world? Who are these people? Were they all once alive? Do they mean well, or harm? He leaves it all up to you to speculate about it. This could be maddening, or it could be rather clever writing. Let the reader imagine things more horrible then Stroud could ever write.

LIFE OR DEATH?

It's obvious to all around her that Charlie can't let go of Max, and it's creating a rift between her family and friends. Her friends all abandon her because of this change in her, but she no longer cares. Living seems like a waste, when she could be searching for Max in her dreams.

Again, I found philosophical underpinnings to the story, like I did with “Buried Fire”. You can easily interpret it to represent someone who has become obsessed with a behavior that may not be good for them, be it alcohol, drugs, or a relationship. And instead of taking heed of warnings from loved ones, the person just shoves everyone away; Assuming the problem is with the world, and not with them.

Charlie has to be brought to the brink of chaos in order to realize she is in trouble.

CHARLIE

I actually didn't find many of the characters really likable. I was indifferent most of the time. Don't get me wrong, I felt bad for Charlie. But she keeps everyone at an arm's length. I really wished there had been at least one character she had confided in. But then again, that might have ruined the tension. The whole plot is about her and her secret, which causes trouble for her and her family. It's when this secret is finally exposed does the journey to try and save her start.

PLOT DRIVEN

I feel like “Buried Fire”, this story is really plot driven, rather then character driven. But how can that be, when it's Charlie's obsession with Max that propels the story? It's because we don't get to see Charlie's relationship with Max. It's all past tense. And that's fine, the reader still wants her to save him. But it's the fact that everyone thinks she's crazy that makes us want her to succeed. Not her friendship with Max which we know nothing about.

WHAT'S THE RISK?

If Charlie is merely in a dream world, there doesn't seem to be much of a threat. But eventually we see that the world may not be what it seems. And Charlie has more to worry about back in the real world than making her family upset. Stroud eventually lets us know that there is real danger, and that if she gets hurt in that world, it may affect her real body.

CLIMAX-SPOILERS

Parts of the other world cross over to the real world, and put Charlie in danger. But eventually in the dream world she makes it to the fair. And her dream activity starts to affect her real world body. Jamie has to go after her but this proves easier said then done. The scenes cut back and forth to help the pacing.

AFTER THE CHAOS

Like “Buried Fire”, the story seems to cut away just as we want to see what happens. I wanted to see James and Charlie discuss the madness that had occurred, I think simply because relationships in stories are what matters to me the most. But Stroud leaves that to the reader to imagine. The story ends when the action ends. It left me wanting more, but perhaps that is a good thing.

CONCLUSION

Stroud creates an original, well paced story with plenty of danger and mystery. The reader is left wanting more and keeps turning the page in hopes of finding out if Charlie can indeed save Max. The only criticism I have is that the characters are not the most likable. I give “The Leap” four stars.