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bigotterbooks's review
4.0
The Scarab Heart by Michael Gallagher
4 stars
A good book. The story took a while to get started and I was confused over the set-up of who was who and why they were going to Egypt! Once it started rolling, this book was really good. A YA paranormal mystery with excellent Egyptology details. Gallagher did his homework; the settings and characters ring true. The story switches between the main story and ancient times in a believable way and that subplot makes perfect sense in the larger story. I like the way Gallagher structured the book and it all flows very well. My only 3 complaints are minor: first would be the 'voice' of the narrator Lizzie. She is supposed to be 14 and the story takes place in the late 1800's but the speech, expressions and tone sometimes unexpectedly mature as well as modern. Not a deal breaker for the book but a couple of times it was a little jarring. The romantic part was a little odd-I felt like Gallagher was trying so hard to keep it 'G' rated and within the confines of the Victorian era that it could have been downplayed even more and still certain parts (spoilers!) of the story intact. The last thing is the cover-it is a total turn off. What were they thinking with this thing? Very weird looking illustration, the colors are gross and the text is hard to read; definitely no 'shelf appeal' here. Having said all that, I did enjoy the book and especially thought Lizzie's talent as a ghost bridge is a super neat twist on the usual psychic/medium. The mystery was more than what I expected-not your average tomb raiders plot and was very neatly wrapped up with all clues accounted for and the culprits apprehended. I do look forward to reading more from Michael Gallagher.
I received a copy of this book to review.
4 stars
A good book. The story took a while to get started and I was confused over the set-up of who was who and why they were going to Egypt! Once it started rolling, this book was really good. A YA paranormal mystery with excellent Egyptology details. Gallagher did his homework; the settings and characters ring true. The story switches between the main story and ancient times in a believable way and that subplot makes perfect sense in the larger story. I like the way Gallagher structured the book and it all flows very well. My only 3 complaints are minor: first would be the 'voice' of the narrator Lizzie. She is supposed to be 14 and the story takes place in the late 1800's but the speech, expressions and tone sometimes unexpectedly mature as well as modern. Not a deal breaker for the book but a couple of times it was a little jarring. The romantic part was a little odd-I felt like Gallagher was trying so hard to keep it 'G' rated and within the confines of the Victorian era that it could have been downplayed even more and still certain parts (spoilers!) of the story intact. The last thing is the cover-it is a total turn off. What were they thinking with this thing? Very weird looking illustration, the colors are gross and the text is hard to read; definitely no 'shelf appeal' here. Having said all that, I did enjoy the book and especially thought Lizzie's talent as a ghost bridge is a super neat twist on the usual psychic/medium. The mystery was more than what I expected-not your average tomb raiders plot and was very neatly wrapped up with all clues accounted for and the culprits apprehended. I do look forward to reading more from Michael Gallagher.
I received a copy of this book to review.
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