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sigrundr's review against another edition
4.0
KVond dit boek oprecht zalig om te lezen, ondertussen al 6 jaar geleden.... Een van de boeken die ik nooit ben vergeten.
bigbeardedbookseller's review against another edition
4.0
Continuing the adventures of Darkus, Victoria and Bertolt, ‘Beetle Queen’ is another wonderfully crafted book. Written by M.G. Leonard, illustrated by Elisabet Portabella and published by Chichen House Publishing, and as with ‘Beetle Boy’ the special edition has a decorated fore edge.
Lucretia Cutter has got away at the end of ‘Beetle Boy’ to continue here evil, dastardly plans and Darkus’ dad is concerned for the children’s safety and forbids them to investigate Lucretia further and wants them to stay away from their beetle friends. Circumstances unfold which makes this impossible and Uncle Max helps once the children and their beetle friends once more.
Humphry and Pickering were imprisoned and have become even fouler and more desperate, still adding to the danger that the children face, but they’re also fast becoming two of my favourite characters for their comic relief.
The story goes deeper into the motives of Lucretia and her plans for the world and how she uses beetles to achieve this. Novak, Lucretia’s daughter has a larger and intriguing role to play in this book, and Darkus’ dad gets to have a much bigger part in the story also.
Wonderfully written, well-paced throughout another great book by M.G. Leonard and I am so looking forward to the story’s conclusion with ‘The Battle of the Beetles’.
Lucretia Cutter has got away at the end of ‘Beetle Boy’ to continue here evil, dastardly plans and Darkus’ dad is concerned for the children’s safety and forbids them to investigate Lucretia further and wants them to stay away from their beetle friends. Circumstances unfold which makes this impossible and Uncle Max helps once the children and their beetle friends once more.
Humphry and Pickering were imprisoned and have become even fouler and more desperate, still adding to the danger that the children face, but they’re also fast becoming two of my favourite characters for their comic relief.
The story goes deeper into the motives of Lucretia and her plans for the world and how she uses beetles to achieve this. Novak, Lucretia’s daughter has a larger and intriguing role to play in this book, and Darkus’ dad gets to have a much bigger part in the story also.
Wonderfully written, well-paced throughout another great book by M.G. Leonard and I am so looking forward to the story’s conclusion with ‘The Battle of the Beetles’.
bookishperseus's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
mat_tobin's review against another edition
4.0
I devoured this second installment. There are many things that I enjoy about Leonard's writing but it's the absolutely precise balance of plot that I find incredible. She seems to see these stories in a filmic quality and it's clear that her theatre work not only lends a sense of the dramatic and well as perfect pacing, but character, timing, knowing when to move from one scene to the next, the role of dialogue and action - she just had a real masterly of the lot. This time, I loved the growing involvement of adults in the book and there was a strong theme throughout of children and adults being treated as equals. Brilliant stuff: about to jump into the final book in the trilogy.
glimfeather's review against another edition
3.0
I discovered an upturned stag beetle on a hot pavement coming home from work last week. It waved a leg and I THOUGHT IT WANTED TO BE MY FRIEND
puckhoos's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
the_fabric_of_words's review
5.0
This series was interesting because we have a bunch of beetles where we live -- gorgeous green iridescent fig beetles, stink beetles, June bugs, Palo Verde beetles, Mesquite bugs and more. Of those, the only one I'd even remotely entertain on my shoulder would be a fig beetle and they tend -- unlike the beetles in this series -- to be exceedingly stupid and bonk into, well, whatever's in their flight path. And never handle a Palo Verde beetle - they bite!
Lucretia Cutter is back with a vengeance, and we get to see her full glory -- gory -- beetle attributes. In many ways, she's a great villain -- beetle legs, a carapace, multi-faceted eyes that must remain behind sunglasses so as to not freak everyone out.
Darkus gets his father back, and while recuperating with his Uncle, Darkus, Virginia and Bertolt focus on the beetle hide-away in the sewer. They know Lucretia is out to find the beetles, and it's just a matter of time before she does just that.
But, before she does the unthinkable (and this was a nice, tragic twist, I might add, for an MG book, and no, I'm not going to reveal what it is, because then you wouldn't enjoy reading it as much, would you?), Darkus' father decides he must stop Lucretia and protect Darkus -- by giving himself over to her.
No, I won't spoil how it ends. Yes, there's a third book, but my library only has it as an audiobook, and well, I don't really enjoy reading audiobooks (takes too long), so... shame. Oh well. I'll wait a bit and get it as an ILL from another collection, when it's older.
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: http://amb.mystrikingly.com/
Lucretia Cutter is back with a vengeance, and we get to see her full glory -- gory -- beetle attributes. In many ways, she's a great villain -- beetle legs, a carapace, multi-faceted eyes that must remain behind sunglasses so as to not freak everyone out.
Darkus gets his father back, and while recuperating with his Uncle, Darkus, Virginia and Bertolt focus on the beetle hide-away in the sewer. They know Lucretia is out to find the beetles, and it's just a matter of time before she does just that.
But, before she does the unthinkable (and this was a nice, tragic twist, I might add, for an MG book, and no, I'm not going to reveal what it is, because then you wouldn't enjoy reading it as much, would you?), Darkus' father decides he must stop Lucretia and protect Darkus -- by giving himself over to her.
No, I won't spoil how it ends. Yes, there's a third book, but my library only has it as an audiobook, and well, I don't really enjoy reading audiobooks (takes too long), so... shame. Oh well. I'll wait a bit and get it as an ILL from another collection, when it's older.
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: http://amb.mystrikingly.com/
abstan's review against another edition
5.0
No soggy middle here!
Better than the first book. With the best villain I have read in ages.
Better than the first book. With the best villain I have read in ages.