Explorers at Pirate Island

The Explorers' Club #5

by Alex Bell

In their fifth thrilling adventure, the explorers journey deep into the Bubble Ocean on their quest to stop the evil Collector, but time is running out . . .

The Poison Tentacle Sea was home to the powerful Bone Current. As they had feared, it gave a sudden surge and pulled them in.

Half-mermaid Ursula Jellyfin has always longed for adventure, and this time the stakes are higher than ever. The Collector is holding a group of children prisoner on Pirate Island, and it's up to Ursula and her friends Jai, Max and Genie to set them free. Armed with a magical mermaid trident, and with new recruit Zara the pirate fairy on board, their mission is filled with danger. The explorers must face zombie skeletons, make a daring rescue from a whirlpool and travel through a dinosaur graveyard. But even if they do make it to Pirate Island, can they fool the Collector and get in to an impenetrable fort?

Fast-paced, magical storytelling in a breathtaking underwater world. Alex Bell's inventiveness and attention to detail is a joy to read.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Adventure, Magic

405 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2021

About the author

Alex Bell signed her first book deal at nineteen and, since then, has written multiple books for both adults and young people. After completing a law degree, she now works for a legal advice charity. Alex lives in Hampshire with her husband, sons and Sphynx cats. She also writes as Alexandra Bell.

Reviews

[Belles Middle Grade Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH!! I love how it just keeps evolving, from the 1st trilogy with that club of explorers, to this trilogy with explorers from Ocean Squid. I’m so excited for where this series will continue to go in the future. I grew even more attached to these amazing characters in this book. The author does such a great job writing incredible characters, & also does superb world & story building. These are so atmospheric. Everything we see underwater & above is described in such vivid detail-& the details themselves are incredible! Sea witches, zombie skeletons, underwater dinosaur graveyard, pirate fairies, & more-AMAZING! So fast paced, & gripping. Highly recommend this whole series, & I can’t wait for the next book! Another stunning cover & illustrations sprinkled throughout by Tomislav Tomić as well!💜

[Aleshanee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rezension folgt ...

[Amy (Golden Books Girl) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a HUGE fan of the Explorers series since the month the very first one was released, so it won’t come as a shock to anyone who’s been around since I started this blog that I just fell in love with this too! It follows the crew of the Blowfish- Ursula, Jai, Genie and Max- who are pretty much the only members of the Ocean Squid Explorers’ Club not trapped in one of the Collector’s globes, thus meaning they are pretty much the only ones who can stop her carrying out her nefarious plans. I already liked the crew of the Blowfish but I definitely grew much more attached to them in this book, and I think there were a few things that specifically contributed to that: the exploration of Ursula being part human and part mermaid, the struggle both she and Genie have with friendship and how to navigate friendship when it’s so new to them, a very heroic thing Jai does that would be a spoiler to tell you about and Max’s desperation to save his sister Jada. And as the characters are my favourite part of this series, especially as it contributes so much to how cosy these books feel despite the action being pretty high stakes. I LOVED the new addition Percie a whole lot and I really want her to reappear in another book, I also thoroughly enjoyed meeting Julian and I full on wept over the characters from the first trilogy all appearing. Especially my darling Beanie!!! I’m surprised my heart didn’t actually burst getting to see them all again. I have a few more I am unbelievably excited for what I’m assuming is the concluding book of this story arc, but I also desperately hope that there will be trilogies for all of the other Explorers Clubs we’ve only met in passing so far, because I don’t think I will ever tire of exploring new parts of the incredible world Alex Bell has created.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has probably been my least favourite of the series but the end brought it back up for me. It took me an insane amount of time to read this and I just found I was lacking interest. I think it could have been a good 50-100 pages shorter but I’m looking forward to seeing where the next one goes.

[ghostly_bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

CAWPILE- 7.71

I adore this series, and that cliffhanger ending!
I've already preordered the next and can't wait to read it.
Fantastic writing, wonderfully imaginative and the illustrations are awesome.

[Dreximgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series so much, its amazing. The world, the characters, the storyline, I love it all.

[Amanda K · Rating 3 out of 5]

More 3.5 stars.

This took me over 2 weeks to read this. It was enjoyable enough and I liked the world and the characters, but my intrigue was so low. I don't know if it was me or the book.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This world continues to be great fun, and I love that we finally had our two little teams of explorers interact some more. I am also enjoying getting to see more of the world. I particularly liked the bone current!

Pirate Island is great fun, as is everything they have to do to get there - I like that nothing is straightforward and the quest isn't just "go here". And that they don't know everything either - this is to be expected perhaps, but it was nice to see them struggle with not having all the information. Especially when it comes to skeleton repellant! :D

I can't wait for the next book in the series!

[Stacy Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

We waited a long time to catch up with Ursula Jellyfin, mermaid explorer and her band of Ocean Squid explorer friends. This book follows them on their quest to find The Collector and return the Ocean Squid explorers club to its rightful place. What happens involves pirate fairies, Krakens, Sea Witches and their otters, smugglers, and the dreaded Bone Current. It’s fantastical and imaginative while also maintaining the adventurous spirit this book is known for.

[Richard Skolek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Všechny ingredience tu jsou, všechno by mělo fungovat, přesto je tato kniha o poznání slabší než ty předchozí. Ostatní díly jsem pokaždé „přelouskal“ za dva dny, tento jsem četl přes týden. Působí to trochu unaveně, jako by se do toho autorka musela nutit. Pozvedl to naopak konec, ten mě vyloženě potěšil.
Jsem rád, že už zbývá pouze jeden díl, a doufám, že se podaří znovu najít tu magii, díky níž byly předchozí knihy tak skvělé.

[ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 STARS- I loved this book. I could not put it down. I have read all the other books in this series and I can't wait for the next book to come out in November. My favourite moment was when the kraken kept getting resised after getting rescued from the smugglers pub. I also liked when the two explorers clubs joined together unintentionally at the end.

[Beata · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one seemed more sluggish than previous installments, but those last 20% made up for it for the most part. I've been hoping for Julian to turn out alive pretty much from the beginning, but once Beanie's father was found alive I thought it was wishful thinking. I'm so glad to have been wrong!

[Jessica Kellogg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a read aloud with my 7 year old. We’ve really enjoyed the Explorers Club Series, but this one has been the least favorite. The characters from the first three were more engaging.
But still worth the read, and we will continue with the 6th book.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked where the plot went in this book, especially in the last third. It was a pleasant surprise seeing the return of some characters from the first few books in this series and seeing their storylines merge.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one just missed the mark for me.
The OG trilogy was so good. This second trilogy is just missing the spark.

[Tammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this much more than the previous instalment in this series, very excited for the next one now.

[Debra Devin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is by far my favorite out of the five. Alex Bell's description of everything is absolutely outstanding. My boys and I can't wait until the next book comes out.

[Delanwy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Emily Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good!

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like the characters, but the writing is so bland. The action scenes lack dynamic, high-stakes storytelling. It's like you're not really in the middle of the action, but "watching" it from afar in a safe little bubble, knowing that nothing bad will ever happen to any of the characters. I just couldn't get through this.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* I have really enjoyed this series but I have found that I haven’t enjoyed it as much since it moved to the Ocean Squid Explorer club characters. I was beginning to get bored as they sailed to yet another place for another adventure; thankfully about 2/3rds of the way through it picked up pace and got more interesting. As always it was very inventive with fantastic places and characters.

[Anne-Laure · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,75 ✨