About


My name is Ardis and I am an avid reader and budding writer. I want to share my love of books with others. I work with kids and am interested in finding and creating books that will ignite the reader in everyone. Contact me at: ardis.atkins@gmail.com

Follow Me

Follow

Followers

Powered by Blogger.

Blog Archive

MsArdychan's bookshelf: read

I Owe You One
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Love, Hate & Other Filters
The Wartime Sisters
The Belles
The Gilded Wolves
Hey, Kiddo
Blackberry and Wild Rose
Queen of Air and Darkness
Firestarter
The Retribution of Mara Dyer
The Evolution of Mara Dyer


MsArdychan's favorite books »

Total Views

Thursday, July 13, 2017

ARC Review: Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Please Note:  I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions of my review in any way.

Synopsis (From Goodreads):
1990. The teen detectives once known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in the Zoinx River Valley in Oregon) are all grown up and haven't seen each other since their fateful, final case in 1977. Andy, the tomboy, is twenty-five and on the run, wanted in at least two states. Kerri, one-time kid genius and budding biologist, is bartending in New York, working on a serious drinking problem. At least she's got Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the team. Nate, the horror nerd, has spent the last thirteen years in and out of mental health institutions, and currently resides in an asylum in Arhkam, Massachusetts. The only friend he still sees is Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star. The problem is, Peter's been dead for years.

The time has come to uncover the source of their nightmares and return to where it all began in 1977. This time, it better not be a man in a mask. The real monsters are waiting.


Review:
Take four middle -school kids (and their trusty dog) with nothing to do for the summer in a sleepy, small town. Throw in a mystery, a mansion, and buried treasure, and you have all the makings of a Scooby-Doo cartoon.  But,what if the kids felt like they actually had seen some evil, supernatural, ghoul (in addition to unmasking the bad guy)?  What if their adventure left them traumatized?  What kind of adult would these children become?  Meddling Kids, by Edgar Cantero aims to answer that question.  He creates an adventure that is scary, but populated with fun characters that the reader will want to follow.

What I Liked:
Characters:
I've taken the liberty of creating a dream cast of the main characters...
Andy:

Jade Eshete
Andy had the most mysterious past.  How come she seems to know so much about weapons and fighting?  Andy often is the tie-breaking vote when the trio makes decisions, making her the de-facto leader of the group.  Even though she is confident about her skills, she is still unsure how to interact with the people she cares about, especially Kerri.  She is the kind of person who go charging in to protect her friends.

Kerri:  

Katherine McNamara
Kerri seems the most damaged of the group.  She was the one that was left alone in the dungeon when they were kids.  She loves her friends, but has trouble letting go of her feelings of anger and abandonment. Kerri is smart, but can't seem to finish what she starts.  Does she have a fear of failure, or success? 

Nate:

Tom Holland
We first see Nate in a Psych ward of a hospital.  He has enormous guilt about what happened when the group "solved" the first mystery.  Could he have unleashed an unspeakable evil that night?  He self-loathing seem to manifest itself by Nate seeing (hearing) the ghost of Peter.  Peter has a running commentary in Nate's head of all the mistakes Nate makes.  So, of course, Nate cannot seem to make a decision or have any confidence in his abilities.
 
Peter:

Ansel Elgort
At First, Peter was the golden boy, becoming a successful movie star.  Until he suddenly is found dead, from an apparent suicide.  Only Nate can see Peter, but that doesn't stop him from commenting on all the action in hilarious asides.  Peter has/had a personality where he was the natural leader.  But he is/was also kind of a jerk.   Can Nate see past Peter's jabs and understand that each person in the group has their own strengths?  

Tim:
   
The Weimaraner of my dreams!
The dog, Tim, is such a delightful character that any time he was commenting (in thoughts only) I was smiling.  Tim is not like Scooby-Doo.  He is loyal, smart, and feels like he is an important part of the group.  And he is.  I loved how the book showed the relationship between Tim and Kerri (his human companion).

What I Was Mixed About:
Backstory:
I also would have liked even more information about what did happen to each character in the ten year gap between the original adventure and now.  There are a lot of hints as to what happened to each person, and if the author wanted to keep things vague, I understand.  But maybe he could have at least gone in to more detail about how they were emotionally affected.

What I didn't Like:
Action Scenes:
I found the writing confusing when the action got particularly intense.  There was just so much going on that it was hard to follow.  Also, I felt the scenes went on too long.  It's hard for the reader to maintain that "edge of your seat" feeling when the scenes go on and on.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32905343-meddling-kids?ac=1&from_search=true

https://www.amazon.com/Meddling-Kids-Blyton-Detective-Adventure/dp/0385541996/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499928058&sr=8-1&keywords=meddling+kids+by+edgar+cantero

https://www.bookdepository.com/Meddling-Kids/9780385541992

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/meddling-kids-edgar-cantero/1125052235?ean=9780385541992


Rating: 




Release Date:  July 11th, 2017

Genre:  YA Mystery

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  ARC E-Book

Recommendation:  There are a lot of F-bombs and adult situations, so I would not recommend this book to younger teens.  For older teens, and adults, this is a fun take on Scooby-Doo. 
SHARE ON: Share to Pinterest

1 comment :

  1. Ooh nice! I can't believe I missed hearing about this one earlier on! I love Scooby Doo and having a book that's sort of Scooby-ish gets my childhood self screaming with joy! Lol!! Sounds like it might be my kind of read after all! Though I already feel bummed knowing that one of the gang is dead! Great review!

    ReplyDelete

GoodReads

2022 Reading Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge
MsArdychan has read 7 books toward her goal of 96 books.
hide

Badges

80% 80% 200 Book Reviews 2016 NetGalley Challenge
clean sweep 2017

Popular Posts

Grab My Button

http://ponderingtheprose.blogspot.com
<a href=“http://ponderingtheprose.blogspot.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><img src="
http://ponderingtheprose.blogspot.com

Blogs I Follow

Search This Blog