Early Review – Skyfall (Troll Hunters, Book 1) by Michael Dahl (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Children’s
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 112 pages
Publisher: Stone Arch Books
Release Date: January, 2012
ISBN: 978-1434233080
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Troll Hunters series
Source: eGalley through NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

I got an eGalley of this book to review through NetGalley.com. It was a fun read and a great spooky beginning chapter book for kids. I loved the drawings throughout and thought the book was well written with a good level of spookiness for kids.

Four kids discover that there are creepy things hidden in the woods. They also discover that they have the power to help save the town from these evil monsters.

The premise of this story is simple but well done. Definitely intended for a younger audience but still interesting enough that I enjoyed reading it as an adult as well. Basically these four kids get involved in some scary events and find out that Trolls are causing all these odd events. They end up discovering that they have the means to fight these monsters.

The book was creepier than I expected. I found some of the parts to be a bit scary, so I wouldn’t recommend for really young children. Although the book is written with pretty simple language; I thought that the surroundings, characters, and events were well described and engaging. I loved the addition of pictures throughout the book; this really added to the eerie atmosphere of the book and help conveyed some of the harder to picture monsters and actions that happened throughout the story.

I love books about monsters/mythological creatures and about the people that fight them. This would be a wonderful book to introduce kids to the creepier aspects of trolls and such.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It is definitely meant for a younger audience so young adult and older readers might find the story a bit too simplistic. Still, the story was well done and extremely creepy. The wonderful pictures throughout added a lot to the story and really drove home the eerie atmosphere of the story. It’s a quick read, but a fun one. I look forward to reading future books in this series. I recommend this book for younger readers who love fantasy, reading about monsters, and don’t mind a little bit of scary in their stories.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
– 100+ Reading Challenge
– E-book Reading Challenge