Welcome to my tour stop for Cedar Fort's tour of Luminescence by Braden Bell!
Luminescence
(Middle School Magic #3)
by Braden Bell
by Braden Bell
Middle Grade, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Paperback, 309 Pages
March 11th 2014 by Cedar Fort Publishing & Media
Paperback, 309 Pages
March 11th 2014 by Cedar Fort Publishing & Media
Summary
Determined to rescue their favorite teacher, Conner, Lexa, and Melanie confront their worst fears and use their powers in unexpected ways to defeat Lady Nightwing, the treacherous Darkhand leader. But when the trio makes a terrible choice to save Dr. Timberi, their powers may not be enough to keep everyone alive. A thrilling conclusion to the Middle School Magic series!
Read an excerpt from Luminescence here, here, and here.
Read some deleted scenes from Luminescence on the author's blog here.
Read an excerpt from Luminescence here, here, and here.
Read some deleted scenes from Luminescence on the author's blog here.
Other Books in the Series
My Review
This series is really fun and perfect for middle-grader readers. My son, who is nine years old, read all three books in the series in just a few days. He could not put them down! After he finished Luminescence he said: "I hope there are more books." He loved these characters, their magical powers, and their fight against the darkness and Lady Nightwing. This is the end of this series, but I know that I can pick up Braden Bell's future books for my son and not be disappointed.
Luminescence picks up pretty much right after Penumbras. The kids, or "four musketeers" as the call themselves, are still trying to learn how to wield light and figure out how they work together. They know that Lady Nightwing has got to be planning something big, but they don't know what that will be or when she will strike. There was quite a bit of explaining going on. Probably a little more than I would have liked as an adult reader, but for my son, it was perfect.
The characters were flawed and realistic of their ages. Each of them had insecurities, as they should. They also had strengths, great loyalty, and love for each other. I enjoyed watching them continue to grow and mature, and of course, save the day again. One of the things that I really like about this series is that the kids aren't ever just out on their own. The adult characters are heavily involved and I feel like this is much more realistic of how a story like this would play out than kids being completely trusted with doing everything on their own.
The plot was engaging and exciting. I wasn't always sure who could be trusted. I just knew that the kids had to work things out and somehow save the day. There were quite a few mysteries resolved in this final book as well and it was nice to know if my conclusions were right or not.
If you enjoy reading Middle Grade, especially Urban Fantasy, and about characters with exciting magical skills, then I would definitely recommend this series.
Content: Clean
Source: From the publisher/author, which did not affect my review in any way.
Luminescence picks up pretty much right after Penumbras. The kids, or "four musketeers" as the call themselves, are still trying to learn how to wield light and figure out how they work together. They know that Lady Nightwing has got to be planning something big, but they don't know what that will be or when she will strike. There was quite a bit of explaining going on. Probably a little more than I would have liked as an adult reader, but for my son, it was perfect.
The characters were flawed and realistic of their ages. Each of them had insecurities, as they should. They also had strengths, great loyalty, and love for each other. I enjoyed watching them continue to grow and mature, and of course, save the day again. One of the things that I really like about this series is that the kids aren't ever just out on their own. The adult characters are heavily involved and I feel like this is much more realistic of how a story like this would play out than kids being completely trusted with doing everything on their own.
The plot was engaging and exciting. I wasn't always sure who could be trusted. I just knew that the kids had to work things out and somehow save the day. There were quite a few mysteries resolved in this final book as well and it was nice to know if my conclusions were right or not.
If you enjoy reading Middle Grade, especially Urban Fantasy, and about characters with exciting magical skills, then I would definitely recommend this series.
Content: Clean
Source: From the publisher/author, which did not affect my review in any way.
About the Author
During his middle school years, Braden Bell was the least-stable, lowest-achieving student in the history of the world. He shocked every former teacher by graduating from high school and college, and then going on to earn both a Master’s degree as well as a Ph.D. A teacher by day and a parent by night, he is around teenagers 24/7. He teaches music and directs plays at a private school, much like Marion Academy inThe Middle School Magic series. Whether he fights evil after hours is something he cannot disclose.
During his middle school years, Braden Bell was the least-stable, lowest-achieving student in the history of the world. He shocked every former teacher by graduating from high school and college, and then going on to earn both a Master’s degree as well as a Ph.D. A teacher by day and a parent by night, he is around teenagers 24/7. He teaches music and directs plays at a private school, much like Marion Academy inThe Middle School Magic series. Whether he fights evil after hours is something he cannot disclose.Braden Bell holds degrees in theatre from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. from NYU. A committed educator, he has been directing plays and teaching school now for over twenty years. Braden lives with his family on a quiet, tree-lined lot outside of Nashville, TN, where he teaches theatre and choir at a middle school. The author of The Road Show, The Kindling, and Penumbras.
You can see an interview with Braden on Cedar Fort's blog here.
The author is also running a giveaway that you can enter here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I bet my girls would love these! Thanks for putting them on my radar.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tressa. That was a wonderful review. I'm so glad your son liked it! I really appreciate your time.
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I love this series, too!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they would! My son just ate them up!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really fun and serious, but not too serious. Perfect for my kids!
ReplyDeleteOh, he loved it! You can be sure that your books will be on pre-order from here on out. :) Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great series. I do love middle grade fantasies, they can be so much fun!
ReplyDeleteI am so super excited for O'Dell, and this book sounds freaking wonderful. I love the creepy vibe of the cover. The color is awesome! Definitely a book that I would pick up in a bookstore, no doubt about it!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this cover. It sounds like such a great series! I love this kind of thing :). MG books are so much fun to read.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fun series. Definitely for a younger audience, but still very fun.
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely less intense most of the time and these were easy reads.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely has that eerie feel to it. I'm definitely curious who the Redeemers are. Hopefully you end up liking it!
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