Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven #2) by Brandon Mull - Starting February 7th 2020

[Justin]

Courtney and Justin will read this in February

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

At the end of the school year, Kendra and her brother Seth find themselves racing back to Fablehaven, a refuge for mythical and magical creatures. Grandpa Sorenson, the caretaker, invites three specialists -- a potion master, a magical relics collector, and a mystical creature trapper -- to help protect the property from the Society of the Evening Star, an ancient organization determined to infiltrate the preserve and steal a hidden artifact of great power. Time is running out. The Evening Star is storming the gates. If the artifact falls into the wrong hands, it could mean the downfall of other preserves and possibly the world. Will Kendra learn to use her fairy gifts in time? Will Seth stay out of trouble?

[Justin]

It looks like I'm starting this earlier than I thought. It's less than 7 days early, so I think I'm still following the rules, if I read them right.

Chapters 1-5
(view spoiler)[ Before Seth and Kendra even return to Fablehaven, fantastical creatures and the feared Society of the Evening Star have been interacting with the children. Erol, an agent pretending to be an exterminator and a friend of a friend of their grandpa, gains the children's trust by deceit and nearly persuades them to travel far away with him, no doubt to kidnap them. Once the children finally get in contact with their grandpa, however, they realize their folly, but not before Seth has been bitten by a demon and marked for death.

They flee back to Fablehaven with a trusted friend of Grandpa Sorenson but nearly get ambushed on the way. They barely get away with some tricky automotive maneuvers. Once they get back to Fablehaven, they learn the extent of the dangers that they are already involved in. They also learn that they will be mentored by three magical connoisseurs, including their get-away driver, Vanessa.

Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson entrust a lot of information to a 7th grader and a 9th grader. If it were me, I wouldn't have told them so much, at least not Seth. In my opinion, Seth has not earned that trust yet. I still partially blame him for what happened in the first book. Kendra, on the other hand, has proved her trustworthiness and has been verified trustworthy both by magical law and by the Fairy Queen. It was her obedience that gave her so much immunity in the first book. (hide spoiler)] I think it would have done Seth some good to be left out of the loop a little until he proved some more developed character. I'm starting to think that the Sorensons are either too trusting or too desperate for help.

[Courtney]

Your good to start :) I will be catching up to you soon.

[Courtney]

Justin wrote: "It looks like I'm starting this earlier than I thought. It's less than 7 days early, so I think I'm still following the rules, if I read them right.

Chapters 1-5
Before Seth and Kendra even retur..."

Definitely desperate for help.

[Courtney]

Chapter 5 (view spoiler)[ Even knowing how this turns out I still cant hate Vanessa. (hide spoiler)]

[Courtney]

Chapter 8 (view spoiler)[ Coulter still comes off as an ass in this chapter. (hide spoiler)]

[Courtney]

Chapter 11 (view spoiler)[ Oh Vanessa!!! Why???? (hide spoiler)]

[Courtney]

Chapter 18 (view spoiler)[ I forgot that Warren came back in this book. Good job Seth! (hide spoiler)]

[Courtney]

Finished. (view spoiler)[ Vanessa's letter was quite the plot twist (hide spoiler)]

[Courtney]

Let me know if you wanna read the next one anytime soon :)

[Justin]

Chapters 6-10
(view spoiler)[ Back onto my kick of "Are the Sorensons desperate?" I feel like inviting Tanu, Vanessa, and Coulter to Fablehaven is more of a plot device than an actual necessity. With Warren already available, Hugo developing sentience, and Grandma Sorenson, they ought to have been able to do some of this research without endangering the integrity of the preserve by inviting possible traitors. Especially after they find that Vanessa's biters were unleashed by a traitor, they should have sent the three newcomers away immediately. Then again, even if they had, (hide spoiler)] (spoiler for the end of the book next) (view spoiler)[ I guess it wouldn't have made much difference, since Vanessa had already bitten people. I don't quite remember, but I think that now that they've been bitten, distance doesn't help them. Vanessa could be outside the gates and might still be able to influence them. Then again, they said Nero wouldn't normally be able to see inside the house because of the magical protections. I wonder if the same would apply if Vanessa was thrown off the property. I'll have to keep an eye out as I continue reading to see if there could have been another solution to their predicament. (hide spoiler)]

[Justin]

Courtney wrote: "Let me know if you wanna read the next one anytime soon :)"

I have a 4-day weekend coming up this week. I could probably start the next book then. Let's make it official and get a buddy read page for #3, starting February 15?

[Justin]

Courtney wrote: "Chapter 5 [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ Really!? I think she's so creepy and manipulative! (hide spoiler)]

[Justin]

Courtney wrote: "Chapter 8 [spoilers removed]"

Definitely agree.

[Courtney]

Justin wrote: "Courtney wrote: "Let me know if you wanna read the next one anytime soon :)"

I have a 4-day weekend coming up this week. I could probably start the next book then. Let's make it official and get a..."

Thats fine with me :)

[Courtney]

Justin wrote: "Courtney wrote: "Chapter 5 [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ I think it is because in the end she turns out to be good. (hide spoiler)]

[Justin]

Courtney wrote: "Chapter 18 [spoilers removed]"

Same! As I was getting near this chapter, (view spoiler)[ and all the characters started getting disabled and locked up. I was having trouble remembering who it was that would assist the kids inside of the tower. I totally forgot about where Warren came into the picture. (hide spoiler)]

[Justin]

Finished.
Final review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Justin]

Courtney wrote: "Finished. [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ I thought it was a little predictable that there would be a secret letter, given the umite wax. It was definitely a cliff-hanger, but I also don't think Sphinx possibly being the bad guy is much of a twist either. We know he is manipulative based on the way he treated Kendra vs. Seth. We expected bad guys to be waiting outside the gates of Fablehaven, and who's there waiting? ...the mysterious Sphynx. The timing of when the Sphinx got there is too perfect; with that timing, he can play the good guy or the bad guy. Since he was there for the end, though, he looks like he helped save the day and wins even more trust. He hasn't contributed anything, though. He even recommended a traitor into Fablehaven: suspicious. He's got to be a bad guy. (hide spoiler)]

[Courtney]

Justin wrote: "Courtney wrote: "Finished. [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"
After I rea dthe whole series I was able to put that all together, but I was really hoping that wasnt the case.