A review by mamabh
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith

1.0

I read this as a Battle of the Books coach because it’s on our region’s list. I had to force myself to read it until about page 200 when the story got mildly interesting. First of all, the title is quite misleading; there is hardly any actual cryptid hunting. The writing is choppy, trite, and obvious. The characters are all archetypes, and I personally don’t appreciate how the female characters are handled, especially Grace. She has little personality except being small and fearful and disdainful of her brother’s (cousin’s) behavior. The dialogue feels like it was written by a child. The pacing is inconsistent at best. There are loose ends and hints of future adventure and romance (and a sequel), which is not a satisfying way to end a book. And, of course, the technology at this point is super outdated (which I can’t fault the author for). The book tries too hard to be fun and cool and interesting, but it just falls flat. As a friend said, it feels like it was written in hopes of being adapted into a tv show or movie. Absolutely. Ugh. My 10yo didn’t care for it, either. He thought it was boring and slow.