Review – The Black Reckoning (Book of Beginning, Book 3) by John Stephens (4.5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 432 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: April 7, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-0375868726
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in The Books of Beginning Trilogy
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
This is the final book in The Books of Beginning series and ties up the story nicely. There is a lot of action and dimensional travel. I ended up enjoying it a lot.
Emma, Kate, and Michael need to get the third and final Book of Beginning, The Book of Death, before the Dire Magnus does. However, the getting of the third book is left largely to Emma; only she can journey to the Land of the Dead and retrieve The Book of Death. Additionally the three siblings have found out that The Books of Beginning are tearing the world apart and there is only one way to save the world; first the Dire Magnus much be defeated and then the Books must be destroyed.
This was a well done conclusion to this series. There is a lot of action and adventure. The book changes point of view a lot, alternating between Emma, Kate, Gabriel, and Michael. We also finally get to meet our Emma, Kate, and Michael’s parents.
Strangely I don’t have a ton to say about this book. I really enjoyed watching Emma journey to the Land of the Dead. I continue to enjoy the tension between Kate and Rafe (the Dire Magnus). I loved some of the scenes with Wilhelmina (the elf princess Michael has a crush on) fighting as a dragon.
My only complaint is that the book felt really long. I think it was paced pretty well, it just felt like it was a long read. It was almost like two books were smooshed together in this one book.
Overall this was a great conclusion to this middle grade fantasy series. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, and the action. I would definitely recommend this series to middle grade fantasy fans out there. Stephens did a great job of tying everything up and I am curious to see what he writes next.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Series Enders Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
