I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and was under no obligation to post a review. No compensation was received for sharing this review and all opinions are my own.
Series: The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding #1
Published by Disney Hyperion on September 5th 2017
Source: Netgalley
Genres: Action & Adventure, Family, Fantasy & Magic, General, Multigenerational, Young Adult
Pages: 368
"I would say it's a pleasure to meet thee, Prosperity Oceanus Redding, but truly, I only anticipate the delights of destroying thy happiness ."Prosper is the only unexceptional Redding in his old and storied family history-that is, until he discovers the demon living inside him. Turns out Prosper's great-great-great-great-great-something grandfather made-and then broke-a contract with a malefactor, a demon who exchanges fortune for eternal servitude. And, weirdly enough, eight-hundred-year-old Alastor isn't exactly the forgiving type. The fiend has reawakened with one purpose--to destroy the family whose success he ensured and who then betrayed him. With only days to break the curse and banish Alastor back to the demon realm, Prosper is playing unwilling host to the fiend, who delights in tormenting him with nasty insults and constant attempts to trick him into a contract. Yeah, Prosper will take his afterlife without a side of eternal servitude, thanks. But with the help of his long-lost uncle, Barnabas, and his daughter, Nell, a witch-in-training, it seems like Prosper has at least a fighting chance of ridding himself of Alastor before the demon escapes and wreaks havoc on his family. Little does Prosper know, the malefactor's control over his body grows stronger with each passing night and there's a lot Alastor isn't telling his dim-witted (but admittedly strong-willed) human host From #1 New York Times best-selling author Alexandra Bracken comes a tale of betrayal and revenge, of old hurts passed down from generation to generation. Can you ever fully right a wrong, ever truly escape your history? Or will Prosper and Alastor be doomed to repeat it?
The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding is the first book that I’ve read by this author. I admit that I took this book solely because of the cover and I enjoy an occasional middle-grade fantasy, Serafina and the Black Cloak come to mind.
I have to admit though, I just couldn’t get into this book. The dialogue rambled on and on for pages on end and I began to bore of it. When I start to skim dialogue and not missing the plot, that’s when I know a book just isn’t doing it for me.
Like other young adult-middle grade books as of late, this one fell for repetitive words and phrases. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. My own children do not speak repetitively.
“No, no, no.”
“Good morning, good morning”
“Wait, wait, wait.”
This type of repetition grates on my nerves. It just does and I’ve yet to read a single book that has been written in this style that I’ve enjoyed.
The story fell flat and the characters were overly smug. I put up with page-on-end dialogue for the story to end in a cliffhanger…
About Alexandra Bracken
Alexandra Bracken was born and raised in Arizona. The daughter of a Star Wars collector, she grew up going to an endless string of Star Wars conventions and toy fairs, which helped spark her imagination and a deep love of reading. After graduating high school, she attended The College of William & Mary in Virginia, where she double majored in English and History. She sold her first book, Brightly Woven, as a senior in college, and later moved to New York City to work in children’s book publishing, first as an editorial assistant, then in marketing. After six years, she took the plunge and decided to write full time. She now lives in Arizona with her tiny pup, Tennyson, in a house that’s constantly overflowing with books.
Alex is a #1 New York Times bestselling and USA TODAY bestselling author. Her work is available across the world in over 15 languages.
The reviews of this one are so mixed. Some people say they love it and some people can’t get into it no matter how much they wanted to love it. You definitely aren’t alone in not liking this one. The cover is gorgeous though! Lol
Aww, sorry you didn’t love this one. I’m going to keep it on my TBR for now. I went to get it from Netgalley, but was too late! Thanks for sharing. <3
You may like it! I seemed the odd one out on Goodreads. ?
Aww…sorry it fell flat!!
the cover is pretty though! :)
Sorry this one didn’t work out for you, I had some issues with getting into Alexandra Bracken’s writing too (with her other books) because of the pacing. Great review! <3
I seriously just wanted to skip ahead through the dialogue to get back to the story :D