D&D Dungeon Club Series by Molly Knox Ostertag & Xanthe Bouma

  

Last week, I read the D&D Dungeon Club series by Molly Knox Ostertag & Xanthe Bouma. This graphic novel series that combines realistic fiction and adventure is about Jess Descheene and Olivia Aguilar, best friends who have loved making up stories since they were little kids and now enjoy playing the fantasy roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons, as eighth grade students. In the first book, Roll Call, when Olivia wants to create a club and add new players to their group, Jess struggles with the idea of sharing her best friend and their game with Tyler Rubio, the boy who decides to join the club. In the second book, Time to Party, although she loves being the Dungeon Master, Olivia begins to stress out about their game after they add two more players, Sam Geller and Sammi Mitchell, and the plotlines gets more complicated. It doesn't help matters when her sister, Lu, suggests that D&D isn't important when she's home from college, making Olivia doubt her hard work. In the third and final book, Final Face-off, Tyler still has an imaginary friend, Sunny, who is also his character when he plays D&D. After Sunny pushes Tyler into confessing his feelings to Sam, his crush since they had a moment at the Halloween Dance, through a letter that goes missing from his backpack, Tyler demands that Sunny leave him alone. Without Sunny, Tyler must stand up to his bully, Kelly Bruler, and learn to trust that his friends will have his back.

This series was a quick read and I had a lot of fun reading it, even if there was a moment in Final Face-off that nearly made me cry. Although I've never played D&D myself, I definitely found the characters' everyday problems relatable because I've been through the hardships of middle school. I loved how Jess, Olivia, and Tyler grew through the challenges that they faced: friendship conflict, identity questioning, managing priorities, bullying, and more. I also liked the different dynamics between the characters, including Olivia and Jess's friendship of five years, Sam and Sammi's friendship, and Tyler's developing connection with Sam. My favorite part, though, was actually being able to see the story they created with their D&D campaign. It was interesting how Sir Corius was almost a perfect reflection of Jess, while Sunny was the complete opposite of Tyler and someone he strove to be more like even when it got him into trouble. Additionally, I enjoyed Sammi's character, Snowball, and Sam's character, Leumas, because they were absolutely hilarious and delightful. The D&D story itself was amazing, too, with Sir Corius looking for his sister, Corinth, and realizing that she had betrayed him, only for Corinth to need rescuing after after she opened the portal to the abyss and Prince Graz'zt imprisoned her. Sir Corius going from being a lone wolf to having a group of a friends on which he could rely was another great development. As for the Dungeon Master, I thought it was cool how sometimes Olivia was inspired by their real lives, like when the club's characters went to a ball after they went to the Halloween Dance in their real lives. The D&D Dungeon Club series is both versatile and heartwarming with vibrant illustrations, and I recommend it to those who love fantasy adventures, especially D&D fans, and friendship stories.

Don't Want to Be Your Monster by Deke Moulton

 

On Friday, I finished reading Don't Want to Be Your Monster by Deke Moulton. This mysterious horror novel is about two brothers, ten-year-old Adam and fourteen-year-old Victor, who are vampires with very different perspectives. While Adam wants to use his vampire abilities to help mortals, Victor's favorite movie is The Lost Boys and he wishes that their mom, who works in a hospital, brought home young blood more often so that he can tap into all of his vampire powers. After the bodies of two murders are found in their hometown of Lacey, Washington, Adam tries to solve the mystery on his own with the help of two mortal kids, Shoshana and Luis. Meanwhile, Victor comes across Luis's older sister, Alejandra, who searching for the alleged vampire that murdered her friend. When it becomes clear that a vampire hunter is after their family, Adam and Victor must put aside their differences to stop the killer before he murders anyone else.

I've read a lot of vampire novels in the past, so I was very excited to read this story and ended up enjoying it a great deal. The mystery was suspenseful and I appreciated how the identity of the vampire hunter wasn't revealed until close to the end because it built up anticipation. The climax of the novel was very nerve-wracking, even if I felt sure that none of the main characters would die, because of the conflict between Adam and Victor and how it separated them when they needed each other the most. I also loved the unique mythology that Moulton developed for the vampires in her story. I've read enough vampire stories and seen enough TV shows and movies that I know that they aren't always evil, but I thought it was fascinating that vampires went into hiding after being persecuted even though they could heal mortals using blood magic. The one thing I didn't like was how the author used Shoshana as a spokesperson about racism and prejudice. I agree with the author's message, but it felt heavy-handed. On the other hand, I did like how Shoshana helped Adam learn about his Jewish heritage because he was only a baby when he was rescued and turned into a vampire. Additionally, Adam and Victor definitely felt like real brothers. They sometimes make mistakes and miscommunicate even when it's obvious how much they care about each other. I adored the dynamic of their family of two moms and an older sibling, Sung, and they really came together in the end. Sung was particularly helpful when Adam needed someone from their family right away. Although there is an author's note covering her inspiration at the end of the book, I took a particular interest in the explanation of locations because I thought it was cool that Moulton used real life places in Don't Want to Be Your Monster. Overall, there are many more good aspects about this book than bad, and anyone who is a vampire fan and/or enjoys murder mysteries should read it.

The Myth of Monsters by Katherine Marsh

 

Last week, I finished reading the first two books of The Myth of Monsters series. This fantasy series is about Ava Baldwin, a seventh grade girl who struggles control her anger and learns that she is a descendant of Medusa. In the first book, Medusa, Ava's parents send her and her brother, Jax, to the Accademia del Forte, a mysterious international boarding school in Venice, Italy, after she accident freezes her classmate, Owen, for talking over her one too many times and taking a book she wanted to check out from the library for her Greek mythology project on Athena. At the Accademia, the descendants of mythological monsters are taught to control their powers and emotions. Soon, Ava befriends Fia, Layla, and Arnold. When Fia is almost expelled for challenging a teacher, they go on an adventure to find out the secret that the school is hiding about Medusa. In the second book, The Gods' Revenge, Ava, Jax, and their friends return to the Accademia for the next school year. When Layla is accused of biting a new student, Angus, at the Carnival Ball and banished, Ava leads them on a rescue mission while learning the truth about Layla's ancestor, the original Empusa.

Although these books could be a little preachy at times, I truly enjoyed reading them because of the adventure and world-building. I've long loved Greek and Roman mythology (Hercules is one of my favorite Disney animated movies) and it was fun and interesting reading a series that focuses on the monsters of Greek myths. I feel like I learned a lot about some of the lesser known characters, especially the female ones. Ava is a wonderful protagonist, and I really liked how she, Jax, Fia, Layla, and Arnold used their strengths to work together as a team in both Medusa and The Gods' Revenge. Additionally, it was very cool how they went to different places, like Tartarus, Olympus, the Stygian Marsh, and Mount Etna. I was also surprised at how many of the islands in the Venice area I recognized from my own trip there two summers ago in July 2024. That's another reason why this book series especially piqued my interest: I felt like I could actually imagine the setting accurately, which isn't often the case, and I'm very appreciative of fantasies that are rooted in the real world, like Harry Potter and Amari and the Night Brothers. Overall, The Myth of Monsters series is engaging and vibrant, and those who love fantasy and mythology should read it. I'm certainly looking forward to the third book.