Download And Enjoy Curse Of The Boggin (The Library, #1) Originated By D.J. MacHale Supplied As Print
nominee. Students who love scary books will really enjoy this, and its always good to know something besides RL Stine when they ask for the scary books.
Id happily recommend it. Wonderful start to a new series by MacHale, Marcus faces the boogeyman as well as his feelings about having been adopted, His friends Lu and Theo get caught in the trouble that emerges when the Boggin, disguised as an old woman comes to demand the surrender of the key.
But what key Where is it Who has it This leads Marcus on a very harrowing chase to find the answers, He learns of a magical library that holds the books of finished and unfinished lives, the goal of the Library "agents" being to finish the open stories so that the spirits may rest.
I loved all of the characters, especially Everett, the librarian, The magical but dangerous nature of the story will keep kids turning pages, It is scary, but not too scary, MacHale's descriptions and action sequences fit right into the narrative and keep the flow, Marcus is a fearful, but courageous kid,
NOTE: This review will appear on my library's social media book review channel in the future, This is book one in The Library series, about a magical library that helps spirits whose stories have been disrupted by supernatural events, After Marcus finds the key that opens the door to the library, he is confronted by a creepy old lady who demands that he "Surrender the key.
" Along with his friends, Lu and Theo, Marcus must fight an ancient enemy and protect the library,
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did an excellent job, The forward gave interesting information about the author and the other books in this series, complete with creepy laugh, The only slightly annoying part was when the narrator read for the librarian who has a Scottish
accent, It was a bit distracting,
While this book was much shorter than what I'm used to, the length is perfect for young readers, I was a bit disappointed when it ended so soon, Middle grade readers will want more of this scary, thrilling adventure, Some may find they want to leave the lights on after reading, but the story is worth it,
This book has also been released as Surrender the Key, There is one more book in the series so far Black Moon Rising, and book, The Oracle of Doom, will be released in October of this year.
After reading this book, I am interested in checking out other series by this author including The Pendragon series, and The Morpheus Road series.
Has anyone out there read either of those or something else by MacHale
Recommended to: Readers in gradeswho are looking for a scary adventure series.
'Curse of the Boggin' is a freaky and fun children's novel that's a perfect read for the Halloween season, It's the first book in a new series that follows our main character, Marcus, as his normal teen problems turn much worse and weird.
He sees strange visions that he can't explain, is put in crazy dangerous situations, and meets a ghost who won't give up until she gives him a key.
The key opens the door to a library full of secrets and impossibilities it also holds the truth about Marcus' past along with a collection of unfinished stories.
Marcus is a great main character for the book, He's a realistic teenage boy with normal everyday problems school, friends, getting in trouble, and issues with his adoptive parents, He's easy to identify with early on in the book, which makes things almost conceivable when they turn paranormal, I loved getting to know Marcus and watching him learn more about his past and himself throughout the story, He really comes into his own during the book, and I'm excited to see where the next book will take him and his friends.
The plot was a fantastic mix of fantasy, paranormal, adventure, and action that keeps the reader on their toes for the entire ride, I found myself sucked into Marcus' wild adventure early in the book and couldn't stop reading until I had finished the entire thing, The writing is well done with great attention to detail and vivid imagery that brings the world and the story to life in front of your eyes.
I'm not normally a big reader of middle grade fiction, but I'm glad I gave this one a chance, I'm already looking forward to the next installment and what craziness awaits inside it's pages, Definitely recommended for fans of children's fiction, middle grade fiction, fantasy, adventure, action, and paranormal fiction!
Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Marcus is having some really weird things happen to him, While at detention, a rhinoceros chases him, he sees a ghost, and the words “surrender the key” keep showing up in weird places, Can he figure out what is going on and save himself, his friends and his family
While this book does have a distinct Goosebumps feel to it, I mean even the authors first name is just initials, Curse of the Boggin is definitely much spookier work with much more developed characters.
I love it that Marcus, on the surface, appears to be a troublemaker but in truth Marcus just dislike bullies, When a teacher is bullying students, Marcus knocks the teacher down a peg or two and gets detention as a result,
I loved Marcus dynamics with his parents, Teen relationships with parents are never easy sailing, Relationship with teens are fraught with arguments and tension, I love it that DJ McHale doesnt try to sugar coat it or kill off the parents, Instead they have arguments and hurt feelings but underneath though can tell they really love each other,
I also really enjoyed both of Marcus friends,
The story was imaginative and well thought out, I enjoyed the world building, I also like how the books are linked but not in a linear fashion,
PG Scary and intense scenes, A man jumps off a roof, Ghosts. Our lives stories are being written and kept in "The Library", Most books are finished and shelved, but some books remain unfinished and need help for the story to be completed, Marcus, Lu and Theo are the trio honest, brave and true enough to complete the stories, Unfortunately, completing the story usually means coming up against a supernatural being who doesn't want the story completed in this case a boggin,
There aren't many horror stories written for the middle grade reader, This is a good one, It's scary and full of action, This is a great read for kids who will grow up to read Dean Koontz and Stephen King, D. J. MacHale has just penned a great horror story for the tween set, I really liked the way he set the tone for the novel in the introduction, The reader now knows that there will be more books in the seriesyeah! and that each book is it's own entity, You don't have to read them in order! What I loved about this book is the serious creepy factor, D. J. perfectly blends horror with believable scenarios, I finished this book indays, It's a great read for tweens who like something scary but good,
I'm looking forward to the next one, I really enjoyed this story, It was very fun to read! I was expecting a horror story and it wasn't at all, Lots of fun . In curse of the boggin Marcus has been given a key that unlocks to a secret library but Marcuse has a curse coming after him known as the boggin.
Marcus and hisfriends are faced with a lot of pressure on their shoulders, Shall they Surender the key to the boggin or should they try to take on the boggin with the faith in each other, I feel the concept of this book was cool, but it felt like it took a long time to get to the action of the story.
The pace just felt really slow to me, I also found it took a whole for the characters to have much form of development at all,
I didn't really like Marcus either, he seemed rather immature and rash for a main character, He didn't seem to have any care for his friends safety while trying to rescue his parents, which I understand wanting to rescue your parents but to disregard your friends safety, I just didn't like it.
I guess I am not the best judge entirely not being the target audience and maybe kids would get into it a bit more, but it still felt slow to me and I found a hard time connecting to the characters.
It also felt like it took a while to set up the story, I don't think it is a series I personally would continue reading, “Curse of the Boggin” a frightening adventure in a world where magic and ghosts exist opens with noises under nine year old Alex Swenors bed, cryptic writing on his floor about a mysterious key, an attack by a vicious dog and the death of his father after saving him from toppling over the roof of his apartment building.
When seventh grader Marcus OMara finds himself in trouble at his middle school he not only is given a detention and finds himself in the hotseat with his adoptive parents but is suddenly seeing the ghostly apparition of a man in pajamas handing him a key as well as a creepy old woman who wants it.
Delving into the mystery Marcus meets Alex Swenor and his mother who give him the “Paradox Key” which sweeps him through any door into a library run by Everett a enigmatic librarian who looks after uncompleted stories that require an ending.
But the danger has only just begun for Marcus who enlists the help of his friends Annabella Lun and Theo Mclean after learning that the old woman terrorizing them with her creation of realistic and terrifying illusions is a “Boggin” whos determined to possess the key so that she can destroy the library.
Fastpaced this welldeveloped initial story in the Library series introduces Marcus OMara a bold and fearless middleschooler who with his adventurous friends, the loyal and feisty Annabella Lu and the analytical, smart and nerdy Theo McLean collide with a crafty and sinister old woman, the Boggin who wants the key at any cost.
With colourful and likeable characters who are faced with a dangerous and formidable adversary D, J. McHale quickly builds suspense especially when Marcuss parents go for an outing on their sailboat only to face a hail storm, a fog bank and have to be rescued by the three friends in the Lus speedboat.
Middleschoolers will love the action and dark intensity of the plot as Marcus, Annabella, and Theo confront their worse nightmares which include a vicious dog, black ooz, spiders and a girl with a dolls face.
Amid all the excitement other mysteries begin to unfurl like the motive behind the death of Marcuss biological parents, the disappearance of Annabellas cousin, and the fortune that has Theos life as he knows it ending on his fourteenth birthday.
I thoroughly enjoyed “The Curse of the Boggin” and am sure it will appeal to middleschoolers who love a spooky adventure, I gave this book three, this was being generous, I found that it was slow to start and boring, Not something I would recommend to someone, .Silver Stars
with Golden Sparks
why there's no half of a star yet!is too unfair, it deserves better, butis also too much, considering.
Surrender the Key,
"Surrender the Key" previously published as "Curse of the Boggin" was one of my most anticipated books, because it would be my first MacHale's book out of Pendragon saga.
I'm glad I ended up liking it, maybe more than some middle grades I've read Recently,
as you know probably, if you read my other reviews or been following me long enough, I don't like Horror well, now you know! but in this book, it's not merely Horror, it spiced up with something fantasy amp mythical, something people told stories about, like "the Monster under the bed".
also ghosts amp demons are interesting by themselves, plus the premise of the story is magical amp supernatural, middle gradeish style,
so yeah, you could say I like horror as long as there is something fantasy amp cool going on, not mere unknown terror.
vibes: Supernatural amp the Librarians tv shows as middle grade
Welcome to the Library, . . an otherworldly place when ghosts tell their tales, . .
this story had an intriguing emotional start, such a fascinating first sentences that actually made me dive into the book instantly while I actually grab it to see if it is interesting enough so I stop bouncing on other books, because that's what happens when I don't know what to read.
amp I'm telling you, it WAS what I needed, a Great fun amp light amp cute Middle Grade continued by Marcus getting in trouble amp unknowingly, unwantedly fell into a thrilling supernatural mystery.
Quick easy read
Fast Pace
mysterious Plot
Funny
Cute
Spooky
Emotional
Believable
Good Realistic characters, I liked Michael, Marcus, Jim, Lu amp Everett.
the only problem that held me back from giving itamp affected my general satisfaction toward the book, was: the thrilling excitements weren't enough for me, or maybe just the plan in the end was kind of disappointing maybe I'm too strict!
I'm still thinking.
. .
I decided to go lenient on a story I liked so much that it turned to be my alltime favourite even something happened there was stupid amp I feel connected to the characters.
Maybe if I was in my teenage year, I would enjoy it more amp giving it a solidStars, but I really liked it now too.
I'm glad I'm not too old for Adventurous stories amp Middle Grades, amp I definitely recommend it to my future kid amp also to you, if you have an Active Inner Child amp you like a Spooky fastpaced Middle Grade with a Library of ghost stories amp funny characters.
Plot
Characters
Writing style
World Building
general idea,