Curse of the Boggin - D.J MacHale [Review]

Title: Curse of the Boggin (The Library #1)

Author: D.J MacHale

Genre: Horror, paranormal, children

Publishing date: September, 2016

Pages: 256

Price: 11.38 USD

Buy it: Amazon

Rating:

★★★✩✩

I knew about this book at comic con, I was passing by and someone told me they were giving copies of it for free, so I picked up one despite not knowing what it was about.

            Curse of the Bogging tells us the story of a boy named Marcus O’Mara, a not so social kid that has a bad relationship with his parents. One day he sees a ghost that tries to give him a mysterious key, and since then he starts seeing frightening illusions that try to give him the same message “surrender they key.” The key opens the door that leads to a mysterious and supernatural library where there are books with the life stories of everyone, some of these stories are finished and some others are not. Marcus and his friends Lu and Theo will have to become library agents that will finish the unfinished stories to help the spirits to rest in peace, but before that happens, Marcus must protect the key and the library of a supernatural and evil entity that will endanger his life and the lives of his beloved ones.

 

            D.J MacHale is an author specialized in the supernatural genre. He is the creator of the Nickelodeon show “Are you Afraid of the dark?” and he is also author of several books as the Pendragon series, the Sylo Chronicles and Morpheus Road.

            This is a book for middle grade children, with an age range of 8 to 12 years old. Obviously I’m not a kid anymore and I know my opinion will not be the same as the one of children; even so, the book is interesting and makes you want to know more.

            In the first pages of the book there are reviews of children saying they “couldn’t put it down” and actually, me neither. Since the first chapter it hooks you up with a mysterious vibe full of suspense and action. The book is written without fillers, when it starts to slow down something intense occurs and makes the book fast paced again and keeps it interesting.

            Definitely Marcus is the most remarkable character; the book is in his point of view so he appears almost all the time. Something that caught my attention is that Lu and Theo, Marcus’ friends, are supposed to be protagonists too, or that is what the synopsis makes you think, but they actually have a minor role and their scenes slow down the story. It’s not until the last chapters when they have a more important role in the story.

            The villain is an interesting entity, it appears since the prologue and all the time has this sinister aura, and is a cruel villain. The reader doesn’t know its intention until half of the book, it’s until then we learn who or what it is, and its real intentions. At first it’s just an enigmatic and creepy character.

            MacHale has the ability of describing in a way you can actually feel what it’s written, he knows how to create the right mood in each scene. There is a scene with spiders and, believe me, I could feel them walking on my arms.

            The finale of the book makes clear that the story will continue. Also, speaking of the ending, I didn’t like it at all. I got the impression that the final battle wasn’t as impressive or dramatic as other confrontations with the Boggin (that’s the name of the villain, and the reason behind the title). I won’t give spoilers, but there is a confrontation scene at Theo’s house, and I think it was better than the final one.

            According to the author’s website, the title of the second book is Black Moon Rising and will come out in spring 2017.

            Curse of the Boggin is a light novel due to the audience it’s targeted to, but that doesn’t make it less interesting or enjoyable. If you want to have a good time reading a light supernatural book, I recommend it J