Tag Archives: Ally Condie

Review: The Beast by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,
The Beast by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs

The Beast (Darkdeep #2)
Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Published September 24, 2019

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About The Beast

Nico, Opal, Tyler, Emma, and Logan survived their worst fears come to life, and saved their tiny Pacific Northwest town of Timbers from a monstrous figment invasion. Now they just want to keep their heads down, enjoy Halloween, and explore the secrets of their mysterious houseboat clubhouse. And also figure out their new Torchbearer responsibilities as keepers of the Darkdeep, an ancient whirlpool hidden in Still Cove that can make both dreams and nightmares into reality.

But when a dangerous new breed of figments starts appearing on their own, and the very environment around them begins to spiral out of control, the friends realize they have no idea what they are doing-or how they’re supposed to restrain the Darkdeep. They must uncover the pool’s origins, as well as those of the freaky Thing in a Jar, a seemingly lifeless green creature Opal believes is communicating with her. To make matters worse, a trashy YouTube series has rolled into town intent on finding the Beast, the legendary local sea monster suddenly stirring up the countryside.

As threats rapidly close in around them, the friends must fight to protect their secrets, defeat new enemies, and save Timbers and all that they love.

Told from alternating points of view, this chilling sequel from bestselling duo Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs will once again have readers sleeping with the lights on.

My Review

If you liked DARKDEEP, hang on, because THE BEAST packs even more of a suspenseful ride. I love the way the characters come together as a team, and the way they’re all different from each other. Emma is my favorite– her spunky, can’t-be-kept-down attitude would probably annoy me in a real life crisis, but she adds a lot of pizzazz to the story.

I think THE BEAST is a bit scarier than THE DARKDEEP. I think THE DARKDEEP was eerie and strange, but maybe because Nico and Opal were only just figuring out what was happening, it didn’t really ramp up in intensity until the end of the book. But with THE BEAST, Nico, Opal, Tyler, Emma, and Logan are already in trouble and desperately trying to get things under control.

This is definitely a quick read– because so much keeps you on the edge of your seat! It’s hard to find a place to drop a bookmark and stop. I think fans of THE DARKDEEP will really like this sequel and enjoy seeing where the series goes next. If you haven’t read THE DARKDEEP, you need to read it first before starting THE BEAST or you’ll have a hard time following the story. See below for content information.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Very little physical description of characters.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A couple references to passing gas.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Nico and his friends encounter beings that are only supposed to exist in movies and stories, like gremlins, monsters, aliens, etc. They interact with the source of the beings and have to figure out how to make them disappear.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Facing monsters, being trapped underwater, etc.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of THE BEAST in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Darkdeep by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Middle Grade 8-12, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, , , , , , ,

The Darkdeep (Darkdeep #1)
Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Published October 1, 2018

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About THE DARKDEEP

When a bullying incident sends twelve-year-old Nico Holland over the edge of a cliff into the icy waters of Still Cove, where no one ever goes, friends Tyler and Ella – and even ‘cool kid’ Opal -rush to his rescue… only to discover an island hidden in the swirling mists below.

Shrouded by dense trees and murky tides, the island appears uninhabited, although the kids can’t quite shake the feeling that something about it is off. Their suspicions grow when they stumble upon an abandoned houseboat with an array of curiosities inside: odd-looking weapons, unnerving portraits, maps to places they’ve never heard of, and a glass jar containing something completely unidentifiable.

As the group delves deeper into the unknown, their discoveries – and their lives -begin to intertwine in weird and creepy ways. Something ancient has awakened… and it knows their wishes and dreams – and their darkest, most terrible secrets. Do they have what it takes to face the shadowy things that lurk within their own hearts?

My Review

Equally spooky and full of heart, THE DARKDEEP is part campfire ghost story and part celebration of friendship and small town life. I remember really loving R. L. Stine’s books when I was in sixth and seventh grade, so when I saw the endorsement on the cover, I figured THE DARKDEEP would have at least some of the same spooky/otherworldly stuff in it, and it definitely does!

The friendships and adventure of the story make this a great read for late elementary school and middle school readers. There are some monster elements, but some humor mixed in, so that while the kids face dangerous situations, they’re not terrifying. I’m super curious about the next book in the series, THE BEAST, which comes out in October 2019.

Representation
None.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None in the text. There might be a couple places where it says something like “so-and-so cursed” or something.

Romance/Sexual Content
None. There’s some I-like-you energy between a boy and girl, but nothing beyond that.

Spiritual Content
When Nico and his friends perform a certain action on the houseboat, they awaken a figment of something they had in a memory. Maybe a cartoon they once watched or game they played. It might be something they’re afraid of. The figments gain power the more Nico et al interact with the houseboat.

Violent Content
Some situations of peril. Nico faces constant verbal bullying from a peer and his friends.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which cost you nothing but help support my blog.

Review: Reached by Ally Condie

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Reached
Ally Condie
Penguin
Published on November 13, 2012

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After leaving Society to desperately seek The Rising, and each other, Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again. Cassia is assigned undercover in Central city, Ky outside the borders, an airship pilot with Indie. Xander is a medic, with a secret. All too soon, everything shifts again.

My Review
Reached was my favorite book in this series. Through all three books, poetry has served as a kind of rallying point, encouraging Cassia and Ky and others to oppose the Society. In Reached, though, Cassia takes her love of art further by beginning to create her own and to gather others who do the same. At first, she’s told that creating new things doesn’t matter. Even The Rising, which she values so highly, doesn’t hold any love for creativity. Cassia doesn’t agree with them, so she faces a choice on whether to be totally devoted to The Rising, which she’s always dreamed of, or to be kind of on her own side. A free agent, more like Ky has always been.

In some ways this story reminded me of the Matrix trilogy, where things are not at all as they seem. The Society. The Rising. The pandemic sweeping through the provinces. There’s always more going on beneath what they’re telling Cassia, Xander, and Ky. I loved that layered feeling it gave the story. And I loved that it made the story about more than an uprising and shift in power. The answer wasn’t as simple as swapping The Society for The Rising. Which made the story a lot more interesting to me.

I definitely recommend the series to readers looking for clean dystopian books. The second book was a little draggy to me, but on the whole, I thought the series was good.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Cassia wonders about what people experience after death as she’s flying and seeing the sky and clouds.

Violent Content
A vicious illness spreads rapidly through the population, unleashed by one group as part of a battle strategy.

Drug Content
The Society gives each person a case with three pills in it. The red pill causes memory loss, and is used by the Society to make people forget things they’ve done or seen.

Review: Crossed by Ally Condie

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Crossed (Matched #2)
Ally Condie
Dutton Children’s
Published on November 1, 2011

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Crossed
The Society chooses everything.

The books you read.
The music you listen to.
The person you love.

Yet for Cassia the rules have changed. Ky has been taken and she will sacrifice everything to find him.

And when Cassia discovers Ky has escaped to the wild frontiers beyond the Society there is hope.

But on the edge of society nothing is as it seems…

A rebellion is rising.

And a tangled web of lies and double-crosses could destroy everything.

My Review
For me, Crossed has that droopy feel of a second book where it’s all about setting up the final story in the series. I wasn’t hooked by the journey from the Carving to look for the Rebellion. I think I wanted the stakes to be different. Cassia wants to find the Rebellion to join them, and while I understood Ky’s reason for opposing her, I didn’t really find Cassia’s curiosity very compelling.

I liked the part of the story where Cassia has to navigate the river. It’s dangerous and foreign to her. The stakes are high. But it’s a short piece of the story.

The characters hooked me enough that I still want to finish reading the series. I also love that the story is pretty clean other than some brief violence. See below for content information.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing and embracing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Ky witnesses the deaths of his family and friends. The Society sends boys into battle with faulty weapons.

Drug Content
Red pills from the Society are supposed to cause someone to forget what has happened to them. Blue pills may aid or inhibit survival (different characters believe different things about them.).

Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Matched
Ally Condie
Dutton Books for Young Readers
Published November 30, 2010

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Cassia has looked forward to her Match Banquet for as long as she can remember, and nothing could be more wonderful than sharing that day with her best friend, Xander. She is elated when the Society choses Xander to be her very own match. He is right for her in every way, a confirmation to Cassia of the Society’s perfection.

So she believes until a rare malfunction occurs and another face flashes across Cassia’s screen. Ky Markham’s face. Confused, Cassia allows the Society leaders to reassure her that everything is fine. Her doubts resurface in the form of a gift from her grandfather: words from a forbidden poem. Cassia knows she must destroy them, but can’t help reading and savoring them again and again. She begins to fall in love with the mysterious poetry and the boy who shares them with her. Ky. And now she must choose between Xander, who knows her through and through and Ky, who knows things she can’t yet understand.

Matched is a romance set against a dystopian backdrop: a world carefully balanced and controlled by the elite members of the Society. Only select forms of artwork have been preserved and allowed. All others are outlawed. All actions and even sleep are monitored. For Cassia, it is a safe and perfect world until Ky enters it and awakens dreams she shouldn’t have, desires she can’t understand and a growing distrust of the world she thought protected her. It is difficult indeed even for the reader to choose between Cassia’s loves. Condie elegantly weaves a story of disillusionment and hope and propels her readers through the twists and turns of Cassia’s story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild.

Sexual Content
Very mild. Kissing. Some reference to adults having the option to stay single rather than being matched and choosing to have casual physical relationships, but no details given and no bearing on the story itself.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Very limited violence.

Drug Content
Society members keep three tablets with them at all times, to be taken for specific purposes, with usage carefully monitored. One is a sleep aid.

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