Nightmares in Paradise by Aden Polydoros

Nightmares in Paradise (Ring of Solomon #2)
Aden Polydoros
Inkyard Press
Published April 2, 2024

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About Nightmares in Paradise

Zach Darlington saved the world from total apocalypse and all he got was grounded. He’s not even allowed to watch his favorite horror movies anymore, and now his parents want to ship him off to boarding school!

But before Zach can talk some sense into his parents, his little sister, Naomi, lands in an unexplainable coma. Zach’s friend Ash (yep, Zach and the King of Demons are friends now) knows this was the work of Ash’s eternal nemesis, the Archangel Uriel. And the only way to revive Naomi is with the fruit from the Tree of Life. Yeah, that tree. Like, from the actual Garden of Eden .

Zach and his friends will have to face terrifying angels, monsters, and a serpent to get to the tree and save Naomi’s life. He just hopes he won’t be grounded till the end of time if they ever make it back.

My Review

I’m a little late to this series (I haven’t read the first book), but I loved WRATH BECOMES HER by Aden Polydoros. WRATH is an immersive, dark YA novel, so when I learned that the author also writes middle grade, I had to check it out. I couldn’t imagine a middle grade book in the same writing style as the young adult book I’d read. NIGHTMARES IN PARADISE is written in a completely different style than the YA novel I read, which is great, and shows the incredible range of this author.

I love that this is a fantasy series based on Jewish mythology. It’s such a cool idea. I also love that the book includes the relationship between an older brother and a younger sister. Their relationship feels very real. There’s some sweetness but lots of frustration as they navigate their relationship.

Zach has a little bit of an attitude, but it’s balanced by his fears and worries about his identity as a gay boy. He deals with a bully at school and the knowledge that the world nearly ended, something hardly anyone knows and he really can’t tell anyone about. So, he’s a pretty complex guy.

The pacing was the only thing that I found a little bit challenging. It might be that I just expected something different from the plot based on the back cover copy, or maybe I missed something somewhere in the book. It seemed like the middle ran a bit long, and the end of the story happened very fast. I also couldn’t tell if the ending concludes the series? The description of the first book in the series calls it a trilogy, but I wonder if, because Inkyard Press has closed, maybe the Ring of Solomon series has become a duology? I guess we’ll find out!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Zach and his family are Jewish. Zach is also gay. His best friend is Ecuadorean American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A boy bullies another boy because he’s gay.

Romance/Sexual Content
Reference to a couple who used to date one another.

Spiritual Content
Zach’s family celebrates Passover. A relative asks him if he would like to have a Bar Mitzvah. Uses Jewish mythology. Some spiritual characters, like angels and the king of demons.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to battles with a sword that bursts into flames. Some monstrous creatures, such as a giant worm that eats stone. References to the creation story in the Garden of Eden.

Drug Content
None.

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Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays. Check out other blogs posting about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.