Official Review by GKCfan: Monster Squad by Christian Page

[GKCfan]

[Following is GKCfan's official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Monster Squad" by Christian Page. This book was reviewed by two of our official high-level reviewers. Both recommended the book! Following is GKCfan's review.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Monster Squad– Book 1: The Iron Golem, is an amiable lark of a book, where seemingly ordinary young lives are forever changed by the introduction of characters from some of the great horror novels. With a premise vaguely reminiscent of the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Dr. von Frankenstein, Mina Harker, Igor, and numerous other characters from classic horror stories are introduced, as young people from the tellingly named Grimm Academy are recruited to a society of special people that battle aliens and other monstrous creatures.

The series is geared towards younger readers, although the better one knows the inspirational source material and horror movies and stories in general, the more the reader will enjoy the work. Knowing the names of famous characters, writers, and actors connected to classic horror adds depth to the reading experience. As the story begins, a seemingly ordinary (at least initially) young girl named Blaine Davis is growing up in Oregon. It goes without saying that Blaine’s future will not be nearly as normal as one might think at first, and soon she is joining friends and new allies in an epic adventure.

If there is one serious problem with this book, it is the fact that it suffers from the unavoidable issue of being the first book in a fantasy series. I call this problem “expositionitis.” This is an issue that affects even the best writers to varying degrees. The first book in a series is often bogged down in places as the writer introduces the fictional world and characters. There’s nothing really wrong with this exposition, indeed, it’s generally very necessary. The issue is that the action tends to be slow and choppy for a while, and the plot only starts to accelerate until rather late in the story. Still, it seems unfair to criticize too harshly for this point, since it’s absolutely necessary to the narrative to set up this complicated plot, introduce characters, and differentiate certain characters from their original iterations or inspirations, all before the action (involving WWII struggles with Nazis, aliens, and mad scientists) really starts to accelerate.

The future of the Monster Squad series looks promising, according to an excerpt from the second book attached at the end of the premiere novel. It seems that a pair of characters from one of my favorite horror novels will be introduced, and the prospects are intriguing.

I give this book three out of four stars.

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Monster Squad
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Like GKCfan's review? Post a comment saying so!

[bookowlie]

Thanks for the well-written review. I also giggled a little when you were discussing "expositionitis".

[gali]

Thank you for the great review.

[GKCfan]

You're welcome!

[Stevefromtheblock]

Thanks for a nice review. Sounds like a good story. It was interesting to read two reviews on the same book!

[TammyO]

Very nice review. I enjoyed reading both reviews as well. This sounds like a very entertaining read. I agree with you, most of these series starts off with character and plot developments which slows the pace a bit, but it is necessary. I hate it myself at times but I do understand why the author has to do it..

[ALynnPowers]

Sounds like a complex yet interesting read. Thanks for the review.

[GKCfan]

You're welcome!

[Rachaelamb1]

This sounds like a fun book! I actually love first in the series books. There is something about getting to know brand new characters that excites me. I find the second book doesn't always hold the same amount of charm for me. Thanks for the review!

[GKCfan]

You're welcome! Thanks for reading my review!