Review by
Cheyenne
Where are the schemes, friendship, and trust that we love so much?
Charlie Bone and his friends must band together once again to save the day. Count Harken, The Shadow, was forced back into his world because of Charlie Bone in the last book but he is back, this time through a painting. Charlie's curiosity gets the better of him and he attempts to look at the painting. The painting grabs hold of Charlie and drags him into the world of Badlock. Charlie's a traveler (can travel into photos and paintings) and with his wand, Claerwen, he is able to escape Count Harken and his troll army. But Charlie wasn't the only one sucked in. Billy, in his quest to free Runner Bean from the painting, was sucked in too. Now Charlie and his friends must work together and save Billy before it's too late.
This book was okay. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't wonderful either. Just okay. I gave this book a 4 and not a 3 because the rest of the series is amazing and I really admire the main character Charlie.
Charlie is a great character. He's honest, humble, adventurous, kind, friendly, smart, knows right from wrong, curious, strong in his opinions, pretty independent of his parents but trusting of his friends, won't give up, and tons of other great traits that are amazing to find in a 12-year-old.
Tancred, Lysander, Emma, Olivia, and all of the other friends of Charlie seemed distant. Charlie was doing a lot of things on his own and I missed the scheme-creating that was so dominant in the earlier Charlie Bone books.
Charlie Bone and the Shadow created a lot of new questions without answering most of them. The ending felt lopsided. When you end a book, the ending should somehow relate to the beginning to the book. The beginning of the book went straight to the root problem, but the ending dealt with the branches. The root problem was left unsolved though all the branches were solved. This unfortunately left the beginning of the book and the end disconnected.
This installment lacked in the schemes, friendship, and trust that I loved so much about the series. I hope that the next book, which is also the last in the series, will fix what was broken in Charlie Bone and the Shadow. 4 out of 5 stars
