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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
۲۷ آبان بود که اولین جلد این مجموعه دستم رسید و خوندنشو شروع کردم و امروز ۱۳ آذر کل شش جلد تمام شد
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*Catching up blah blah blah, so this is lacking details and from a distant memory.*
This was a really fun conclusion to the Alcatraz books, and was a fun change of pace after #5 got pretty dark and Alcatraz shifted to being an understandably angsty POV character. I've always liked Bastille and it was fun to get so much of her, not to mention it was great to have some answers to the way that things worked. Glad that I finally was able to see these ones all the way through!
This was a really fun conclusion to the Alcatraz books, and was a fun change of pace after #5 got pretty dark and Alcatraz shifted to being an understandably angsty POV character. I've always liked Bastille and it was fun to get so much of her, not to mention it was great to have some answers to the way that things worked. Glad that I finally was able to see these ones all the way through!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the entirity of this series, the first four books really helped me during the pandemic lockdown. I definitely think it's a good middle grade series for children and more people should pick this series up!
However, I could've done without the romance plotline in this one personally - I feel it was way more heavy handed in this installment, and I feel like it was heavy handed in this book just because we were following a female character because /of course/ a female main character just has to have a romantic plotline *snore* I would've preferred without. We didn't need to know if they got together in the end or not - this is a middle grade, not a YA or adult romantasy.
And for some reason I really didn't like how meta every chapter opening was in this one. A good chunk of every single opening was very meta and breaking the fourth wall and I think it was (again) a lot more heavy handed than in previous Alcatraz books.
Also apparently Alcatraz is so traumatised by what happened in this final book that he refuses to write it is WEIRD. Because everything super bad that happened was in book 5, not this one. I can completely understand Bastille writing the parts Alcatraz was in a coma for, but the rest of the book went pretty smoothly and no where near as much bad stuff happened as what did in book 5, so I really don't understand why Alcatraz couldn't have written this final one.
I wish Sanderson had written and finished this final one too.
BUT it was great to see the conclusion to this series, and I really enjoyed seeing Sharks, Kitties, and a Gak in this final installment! (I am also very happy we got a mention of the dinosaurs again in this one!)
However, I could've done without the romance plotline in this one personally - I feel it was way more heavy handed in this installment, and I feel like it was heavy handed in this book just because we were following a female character because /of course/ a female main character just has to have a romantic plotline *snore* I would've preferred without. We didn't need to know if they got together in the end or not - this is a middle grade, not a YA or adult romantasy.
And for some reason I really didn't like how meta every chapter opening was in this one. A good chunk of every single opening was very meta and breaking the fourth wall and I think it was (again) a lot more heavy handed than in previous Alcatraz books.
Also apparently Alcatraz is so traumatised by what happened in this final book that he refuses to write it is WEIRD. Because everything super bad that happened was in book 5, not this one. I can completely understand Bastille writing the parts Alcatraz was in a coma for, but the rest of the book went pretty smoothly and no where near as much bad stuff happened as what did in book 5, so I really don't understand why Alcatraz couldn't have written this final one.
I wish Sanderson had written and finished this final one too.
BUT it was great to see the conclusion to this series, and I really enjoyed seeing Sharks, Kitties, and a Gak in this final installment! (I am also very happy we got a mention of the dinosaurs again in this one!)
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
[Disclaimer: I am Facebook friends with the first author.]
Middle-grade book series are odd, in that their release schedule often outpaces the age of their target audience. That's particularly the case for the Alcatraz Smedry sextet, which published its first four novels annually from 2007 to 2010, then a fifth volume in 2016 and now this final tale after another six years. Yet the main characters are still 13, as readers who have grown up over the past decade-and-a-half may be frustrated to find (especially after being primed for increasing maturity in the progression of certain other children's fantasy series). The Alcatraz books do get somewhat darker and more mature as they go along, but they never lose the tween zaniness inherent to a premise of evil librarians secretly ruling the world or heroes with special powers like "getting lost," "breaking things," and "arriving late."
Those goofy Smedry talents have always been the primary appeal of these stories to me, and my biggest critique of this finale is that we mostly just see repeats of earlier ones, rather than much in the way of new inventiveness. There's also not really any noticeable payoff from the switch to a new narrator perspective, or from the contributions of co-writer Janci Patterson following five installments from author Brandon Sanderson alone. This title offers a solid conclusion to the remaining plot concerns, and I'm glad we finally have it in our hands after such a long wait, but I'm not seeing anything on the page that would clearly justify that delay. I suspect the series might work better overall for people who are able to read the story straight through, whatever their age at the time.
[Content warning for gun violence.]
This volume: ★★★☆☆
Overall series: ★★★☆☆
Volumes ranked:
4 > 3 > 2 > 6 > 1 > 5
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
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https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
Middle-grade book series are odd, in that their release schedule often outpaces the age of their target audience. That's particularly the case for the Alcatraz Smedry sextet, which published its first four novels annually from 2007 to 2010, then a fifth volume in 2016 and now this final tale after another six years. Yet the main characters are still 13, as readers who have grown up over the past decade-and-a-half may be frustrated to find (especially after being primed for increasing maturity in the progression of certain other children's fantasy series). The Alcatraz books do get somewhat darker and more mature as they go along, but they never lose the tween zaniness inherent to a premise of evil librarians secretly ruling the world or heroes with special powers like "getting lost," "breaking things," and "arriving late."
Those goofy Smedry talents have always been the primary appeal of these stories to me, and my biggest critique of this finale is that we mostly just see repeats of earlier ones, rather than much in the way of new inventiveness. There's also not really any noticeable payoff from the switch to a new narrator perspective, or from the contributions of co-writer Janci Patterson following five installments from author Brandon Sanderson alone. This title offers a solid conclusion to the remaining plot concerns, and I'm glad we finally have it in our hands after such a long wait, but I'm not seeing anything on the page that would clearly justify that delay. I suspect the series might work better overall for people who are able to read the story straight through, whatever their age at the time.
[Content warning for gun violence.]
This volume: ★★★☆☆
Overall series: ★★★☆☆
Volumes ranked:
4 > 3 > 2 > 6 > 1 > 5
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog