Review: More quirky characters and adventures
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 9, 2013
I'm very happy to say that RL Naquin's follow-up to her first book, Monster in My Closet, is just as quirky, emotional, and sweet. In the first book, Zoey was thrown into the world of the Hidden without an operating manual and stumbled along as best she could while trying to get her bearings. In this book, she still hasn't a clue what is going on most of the time, but her sweetness, heart, and grit really shine through. Because she cheated death in the last book, in this book, the agency that governs all of the hidden creatures is now testing her to determine whether she really is an Aegis, a human with special abilities to help the Hidden, or if she is just a lucky human who cheated her fate and therefore should now die. Rather than allowing herself to be punished by them, she fights back by doing what she does best - helping others regardless of who (or what) they are, and what they need. Just like in the last book, the tone of this one is by turns both light and humorous, and dark. More quirky creatures show up, including a sea serpent who needs help giving birth and does so in Zoey's pool, a pooka who takes up residence in her guest room and won't leave (bringing bad luck with him), and a couple of gremlins. The dark plot elements are provided by the Leprechaun mafia who've moved into town and are terrorizing all of the humans with magical abilities to try to get them to pay protection money. In the end, Zoey manages to muddle through with the help of her friends, while in the meantime getting pulled even deeper into the world of the Hidden, where there is something terrible going on that will provide plot lines for further books. I'm happy to say that although there is clearly a bigger plot in this series, each book has a satisfying ending, with no cliffhanger nonsense. I'll be looking forward to the next one.