Rise of the Evening Star by Mull, Brandon [Aladdin, 2008] Paperback [Paperback]

Fablehaven #1-2

by Mull

Rise of the Evening Star by Mull, Brandon [Aladdin, 2008] Paperback [Paperbac...

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Adventure, Childrens, Young Adult

Paperback

First published January 4, 2011

Reviews

[Cooper Lytle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not a big advocate for medicating kids because they can’t sit still, but watching Seth bring fablehaven to its knees in a mere days because he has zero impulse control was like watching the world’s most convincing advertisement for adderall

[flora ☾]

dnf-ed about 50-60%

I wanted to love it because everyone else did, but it has just been sitting on my desk. And now it’s time for returning, so oh well…

sry to my irl friends, just was kinda boring for me 😭

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

i LOVED this hole series!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, well written, fantasy romp. This book appears to be marketed at 9-12 age bracket. I think it would expand the vocabulary of many at that age.

[Shannon Latour · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 3.5 star rating. I did enjoy this book, and would recommend it as a 'read-aloud' story for pre-teens (more the 8-10 year old range).

The first half of the book has a 'spiderwick chronicles' vibe - with the house in the forest surrounded by magical creatures. The second half seemed a little 'all-over-the-place' starting first outside of Fablehaven in school, and then Kendra and Seth are back at their Grandparents house surrounded by almost too many characters to care about. We are introduced to them and new adversaries before a speedy plot forces them to look for the artifact, which (as far as I can tell) only serves the function of healing the wounds they sustained in retrieving it!

Here are the Positives:
every chapter is an adventure (made me think of D&D adventures many times), there is equal attention given to both Kendra and Seth's individual stories, excellent word usage, very imaginative, love the logical debates about what to do next (critical thinking from our main characters)

Here are the Negatives:
some very weird, almost too hands-on solutions for problems (i.e. milking the cow, massaging the troll, all the fairies kisses for Kendra, asking Kendra to kiss Warren - ?), some violent solutions to problems in the second half of the book with little to no regard for pain/loss of life just to 'survive' or continue on their mission (breaking imps legs?) - - the feeding of the live ox was pretty awful too, Seth's lack of respect for following the rules should have had him banned from Fablehaven ages ago FOR LIFE- but his Grandparents and sister seem able to forgive and forget pretty easily.

Overall a decent enough beginner-fantasy for young adults. Hopefully it will spark many questions from your kids - or help them think critically about what should happen next.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this series. I did like it. But I almost didn’t the first book because I felt that the handling of race was… ignorant. In a book like this, I think describing the race of the main characters isn’t necessary for the plot. I think it makes the main characters less relatable for non-white children. The house staff are describe first and foremost as non-white.

Mull clearly put race descriptors into his writing intentionally. It’s unclear to me if this is a subtle and botched attempt to bring more diversity into his characters or if it’s simply unconscious bias of him describing the world as he sees it: white people as the center and non-white people as outside secondary characters.

There are many ways to bring culture and diversity into a boom without cringy descriptions of skin color. Especially since his characters travel the world in the later books.

All that aside, the plot is easy to read and generally entertaining. Clearly written for children but sadly I would not recommend to anyone who doesn’t already have the skills to see how this use of race is problematic.

[Baze]

I really liked this book it has tons of interesting stuff and there is so much different stuff in it than in the first book. This book is good cause it is fiction. I like fiction cause I like to see what authors have come up with in the book and see how creative it is. Fiction just gets your imagination going and when you read it you get stuck into it.

SPOILERS

In the book there is a girl named Kendra and she is like a servant to a fairy queen. She went to the fairy queen and the fairy queen gave her powers and now she can talk to fairy's and help with spells etc. Kendra has a little brother named Seth. In the book Seth gets eaten by a giant troll. In the book there is a really in tense part when there is a three headed flying panther that can spit acid in the book. The panther spit acid on lots of people and injured them. Kendra had a special liquid that cured all of the people who got injured.

[Max]

Fablehaven was always my favorite book in middle school, something about the story line always captured my attention no matter how much I read it, and this time was no exception. The story is about young siblings that stay at their grandparents farm over the summer while their parents are on a Cruz. After completing a scavenger hunt leads to a magical bowel of milk they realize there trip isn't going to be as boring as they expected. The book is filled with magical creatures, a great adventure and amazing setting description. The gold line I chose is "the pleasures of mortality, the thrills of living, come with a price. Pain, illness, the decline of age, the loss of loved ones." (Mull 147). This quote embodys why I love adventure books. The suspense and excitement always have me at the edge of my seat.

[M.A. Wohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really is a fun novel, but one I had trouble with for the first 200 pages.
The only thing that kept me going was the wonderful world Brandon Mull has created.
Otherwise, frankly, it was all filler chapters up until page 193, then the what I was expecting to happen finally happened.
I'll read the whole series, because overhaul, it is a real bewitching story and, once I reached the middle of the middle, I couldn't put it down.

[Brahim D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fablehaven is one of my favorite books. It's one of the best magical / fantasy books ever. Seth and Kendra and their grandparents are great characters. All the magical creatures they meet are so cool.

[Conor Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are so good, I have to finish the rest of the series.

[Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

awesome book caught me off guard great ending it makes you just want to read more.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great books love the adventure that Kendra and her brother Seth have, super fun and entertaining.

[Lacey Bard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing start to a series inhallen to stumble upon. Perfect for YA or a fun adult read!!!

[Perci Madla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just read this again out of nostalgia, the portrayal of some of the women in this series make it clear that it is a male author which is somewhat uncomfy, but in general it's a great story.

[Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!!!!

[Emma Jackson]

This book was very entertaining and magical😏.

[Natalie Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Predictable outcomes throughout most of the book but it's a good read if you want something easy and fun.

[Cindy C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seth was heading to the bus until he recognized a familiar man in an outmoded suit?. Seth asked Kendra if he had hear the noise that Seth had heard. Kendra had said that they wouldn't see Seth anymore. Seth told Kendra that he had to leave because he didn't want to miss his bus and left.
Seth was trying to find out stuff because there was this frog that he had seen. On a piece of paper it said do not feed the frog. Seth wanted to find out that if he had feed the frog what would happen. Seth was doing stuff he wasn't supposed to be doing he tried picking it up to see if it was heavy or not it wouldn't budge at all from it's place. Seth needed to find out what he was going to do because the Frog wouldn't move from its place and wanted to see if it was heavy or not which it was. He wanted to know what was behind the frog what's special about it. He just left the frog and left the funeral home he said that he had nothing to do there so he left and just took the dog biscuit that was left over.
I like this book because I like that Seth likes to discover things and not leave it behind he likes to find out what's important about whats he trying to find out of. Seth can teach lot's of lesson like example find out stuff you notice that always appears where ever you go and whatever you find out it does or what it means then stick with it because it was lead to you for reasons. The book is also very entertaining it's a book were yes it does some drama but it also deals with adventures and discovering out new things.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent children's/ YA book. The language is sophisticated enough to keep adults happy but will also enhance a younger reader's vocabulary. The plot is simple enough with strong doses of action and consequence to make it a pretty moral tale, but the fantasy and characters are vivid and interesting. It was a very fast read but pure enjoyment. I will definitely try the next installment.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this to engage with my 10-year-old son. I didn't expect to enjoy the writing, but I was held captive by the imagination of author, Brandon Mull. His take on the fairy kingdom is ingenious and refreshing. Though I am loathe to read a five-book series, I might have to . . . It's not for me, it's for my son. :)

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good start to the series. Was slightly disappointed in the big battle at the end. I thought that Bahumat was built up so big and then didn't do anything really at the end. But still a good read.

[Channah · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun and imaginative series

[Kayla Gerry]

i think fabelhaven was a great book because of all the wierd but cool characters but i didnt like the person on the front cover

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, a very kiddy read. I have to read the rest of the series now though.

[Melat.habtu]

It's one of my favorite books it's about a girl and a boy who finds out that their grandmother and grandfather who they don't spend time with are keepers of a magical preserve called Fablehaven.

[Lyllian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little slow at first but it gets better with each book.

[Suburban Homeschooler · Rating 4 out of 5]

KID review

[Arhaan Lokhandwala · Rating 5 out of 5]

The day before the end of the year