Official Review: The Goblin King and the Rare Dragonfly

[kismoody]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Goblin King and the Rare Dragonfly" by Kiara Loganathan.]

---

Share This Review

---

Princess Willow is a fairy princess. Her whole family lives in the Spirit World. Her dad is the Goblin King, her brother is Frankenstein, and her other brother is a zombie. Her mom is also a fairy, but doesn’t always live with the family. One day, without telling her father, she goes to visit her mom in Greece. Her dad gets furious and sends out his minions. After, her parents ground her for a year and on her birthday no less. One of her present, however, was very special: a Norwegian Dragonfly, which had a rare diamond stone. In the wrong hands, her dragonfly’s power could be used for bad. For example, its power had the ability to destroy 4,000,000 pound giants. Imagine what that could do. And, now to make things really bad, her brothers are trying to use the power to take over the world. Will she discover her brothers’ scheme in time to save the world or will she lose her dragonfly forever?

When her greedy brothers discover that the dragonfly has unusual powers, they try and take it for their own with the help of Medusa. They find a potion that will allow them to transfer the dragonfly’s powers, so that they can control them. They even manage to trick their mom into believing that the potion they are feeding the creature is shining it and its stone. All they need is a full moon to finish the transfer. Things only get worse when her cousins, Dracula and Magnolia come to visit. The two vampires round up more people to join in on Henry and Frank’s evil plans.

Strange things keep happening to stop the two from finishing the process, however. First, Henry’s new bandages disappear at the office, then their potion gets taken, and then they find it in the attic, but up higher than either one can reach. Next, Medusa starts acting really weird. What is causing these strange occurrences? Will the two succeed in their plan or will Willow catch on?

The plot was unique and simple enough to follow, but had enough complexity to keep a reader’s interest. The text, on the other hand, needs a little editing and feels, at time, like it’s being condescending to the reader. I liked how the author made each chapter feel like a short story within a larger story. The book’s flow within each chapter and in-between them lacked natural story flow. The ending also felt a little quick and not as climatic as I expected.

The illustrations are detailed, masterfully drawn, and eye-catching. The characters, however seem forced and a little one-dimensional. A cute early chapter book, but it has a few problems. I would give this book 3 out of 4 stars. Despite its problems, I’ve read a lot of early chapter books in my professions and it’s still better than the average early chapter. It just needs a little polishing. I would recommend it for fans of books like Rainbow Fairies, books that have mythical creatures, school settings, or fantasy fiction will enjoy reading this book.

***
Buy "The Goblin King and the Rare Dragonfly" on Amazon
Buy "The Goblin King and the Rare Dragonfly" on Barnes and Noble
View hassle-free sample of "The Goblin King and the Rare Dragonfly"

[kio]

Sounds cute, I'll have to try it.

[MorteCacciatore]

It's interesting and unique... and a bit confusing...