Review – Amulet Keepers (TombQuest, Vol 2) by Michael Northrop (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Adventure Fantasy
Length: 192 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: April 28, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-0545723398
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd volume in the Tombquest series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the second book in the TomQuest series. There are five books planned for this series; books 4 and 5 are supposed to publish in 2016. This series is meant for middle grade aged kids and is one of those serial types of series (think The Spirit Animals or 39 Clues). However I think it is a much better series than either of those. As an adult I really enjoy all the mythology and creepiness in these books. I would like to say I got these because my son is reading them…but I didn’t I got them for me to read (although I promise I will share with him).

In the first book Alex’s mom read from the Book of the Dead in order to save Alex’s life and awakened some evil things she shouldn’t have. Now Alex’s mom is missing and it is up to Alex and his best friend Ren to journey to London. There they must stop a powerful Death Walker from destroying London and solve the next piece in the puzzle of how to stop anymore damage from the Book of the Dead.

These are really quick reads for me (maybe 30-40 minutes to read the whole book) but I really enjoy them a lot. I love all of the Egyptian mythology in here and love that they books are kind of creepy and dark (but never too scary).

The story has some interesting dynamics to it. Alex has been sickly all his life and now suddenly he has superhuman energy and strength; it is interesting to watch him deal with this vast change. Additionally it is interesting to watch as Ren and Alex’s friendship struggles and grows through all of these life changing events.

I love how the books all have one main mystery that is solved in the book but are also part of the larger storyline; this is my favorite type of series. I also love how the author breaches old Egyptian curses such as blood rain. The whole thing reminds me a bit of The Mummy movies or a young Indiana Jones.

One of my favorite parts was the inclusion of a helpful yet kinda creepy mummified Egyptian kitty; I love it! The stories have a bit of edge to them; there are some creepy parts and some parts that are a bit gross and gory…it’s never over the top…it’ just enough to make you go ewwwwww.

Overall these have been very well written and engaging middle grade books about Egyptian mythology that I think adults will enjoy too. I know, I know these are meant for kids…but I really really like reading them and they have such neat covers… I would recommend to those who enjoy reading about Egyptian mythology and don’t mind a bit of creepiness in their story.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Mythology Reading Challenge