Lori

I enjoyed this until the very end, where the pacing went from 50 mph to 100 in 2 pages. In other words, the author had a steady pace with the story line going on, but at the very end, she decided to push all the action into 2 or 3 pages, it seemed. I think the story would have been better served with more details at the end.

I enjoyed the illustrations and the story line and would recommend it to others. Just know, the ending might not be as satisfying as the rest of the book.

The 4th book of The Secret Zoo series, Traps and Specters, was better than the 3rd. The girls had more dialogue and I appreciated the action a lot more.

I did not appreciate the multiple two page chapters about half way through the book (Halloween). I believe he was trying to show multiple points of view rapidly like you'd see in a movie, but it just made it disjointed for me.

I also did not enjoy the flirting between Noah and one of the Defenders. Seemed very awkward and thrown in there just to have some romance. Don't think it helped the story line at all.

This book has the most action so far, three major action scenes which make reading the book go by quickly. There is some sad moments at the end, but they give the reader something to care about and help you to want to read the next book to see how it all resolves.

Overall, I'd say this one is my second favorite of the first four, but it's definitely been a journey getting here.

This was an okay read. The subject was a good one, a girl working for a magic library where one can check out magical items, but I just never connected with the main character, Elizabeth. This wasn't a difficult read, but I did struggle to finish reading it. Mainly because I just didn't care to find out what happened next. The last few chapters do pick up the pace a bit, but overall, not something I'll likely want to re-read.

I had never heard of this book before until I read a chapter to the kids I was subbing for. I immediately wanted to go back to the beginning and read the whole thing.

Melody never gives up and always keeps on trying no matter how hard her life is. The book made me laugh; it made me cry. My heart was breaking for her at the ending but she was a much better person inside than 100% healthy people are.

I gave it 5 stars and it really deserves that rating. My only critique is we were not given a final scene between Melody and her mother and I think that gives the book a big disservice considering the last time we see them together.

Even if this isn't your normal type of book, even if you are an adult and don't usually read middle grade books, read this one!