Early Reader Review: Bad Magic by Pseudonymous Bosch

Bad Magic by Pseudonymous Bosch
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date:  September 16, 2014

 

Format: ebook
Source: Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this book in no way effects the below review or my opinion.

Rating:





 

Goodreads Synopsis: 

A magical new series from Pseudonymous Bosch, the bestselling author of the Secret Series


Magic is BAD.
As in fake. Cheesy. Unreal. At least, that's what Clay, who has seen one magic show too many, thinks.

When words from his journal appear mysteriously on his school wall as graffiti, he never imagines that magic might be to blame. And when the same graffiti lands him at Earth Ranch, a camp for "troubled" kids on a remote volcanic island, magic is the last thing he expects to find there.

But at Earth Ranch, there is one strange surprise after another, until Clay no longer knows what to expect. Is he really talking to a llama? Did he really see a ghost? What is the scary secret hidden in the abandoned library? The only thing he knows for sure is that behind the clouds of vog (volcanic smog), nothing is as it seems. Can he solve the riddle of Earth Ranch before trouble erupts?

Elusive author Pseudonymous Bosch introduces an extraordinary new series that will have you believing in the unbelievable.

 Review: 

I am not sure what to think of this book. It started out so fun... a journal that may be magic, Clay the main character being a hater of magic, Shakespeare, being stuck on an island... all things that I was excited to read on about. I guess the ending just all kinds of threw me for a loop and now I am torn.

Clay has been given a journal and by some crazy turn of events, what he has written in the journal has appeared on a wall at school as graffiti. He is briskly shipped off to an island camp called Earth Ranch were he has a llama in his care, has to eat loads of vegetables, and he cannot go outside the Wall of Trust - the boundary of the camp. 

The lure of the mysterious palace that lies outside of the boundary pulls Clay into a crazy tale of ghosts, a rich man, and a library... but all of this is even more crazy because of how he landed at the camp in the first place. Is there really magic? Is everyone crazy?

I felt like this book was a whirlwind of crazy ideas, information and people. It was very creative story and I loved the interspersing of Shakespeare throughout. I really liked Clay. I liked where the story was headed and found myself hoping for a certain ending... what I got was not what I expected. It was fun but almost over the top silly. I wish I could tell you more but think I would overly spoil it for future readers. I enjoyed the book but it wasn't one of my favorites.