Review: An enjoyable read. 4.5 Stars.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 23, 2012
This book drew me in, though it is clearly intended for a younger audience. I liked Tony, the very secular protagonist. He was a perfect outsider that I could cheer for, very akin to Harry Potter. I liked the other characters, like the Browns (his foster parents), the other students at Kalos academy (especially Jubie), the creepy teachers Hammon and Carver (one of whom I think was in league with the Satanists), and the mysterious man in black, Sinthos, that kept showing up with this "cursing stick" trying to convince Tony that he was the cause of all the terrible things that are happening. These secondary characters were all well developed, and intriguing.I couldn't tell what was going to happen, and I enjoyed being taken along for a ride. The dialogue was well done, and the book was well written. I also enjoyed the Tetris mention, and all the math-related lessons, as it made me remember how enthused I was when I discovered them in the classroom myself.My criticisms:There seemed to be some weird formatting issues, where in each new chapter in several spaces the words would run together oddly. I could figure out what it was supposed to say, but each time it threw me out of the story. Words were hyphenated that should not have been throughout, like Er-icka, sec-onds, and wood-en. Also a bunch of missing quotes here and there, though these didn't detract from the story.For a young adult book or pre-teen, there are parts that are complex enough that I had to read a few times to completely understand, and so they may be overloaded with information.Overall opinion: If you like the Harry Potter stories, you'll probably like this.