thechildrenofthelost

Judge A Book By Its Cover

Book Reviews and Synopses

The Children of the Lost

David Whitley

Whitley, David. The Children of the Lost. Roaring Brook Press. New York, New York. 2011.

The Agora Trilogy has finally been finished. The last heart-pounding sequel has been named The Children of the Lost, giving the readers a chilling beginning by just looking at its cover. The mysterious fantasy novel sucks readers in from the first heart stopping line. David Whitley has delivered a stunning sequel.

Lissa and Marvel have never liked each other. In fact, they have been enemies from the first time they saw each other in the first grade. But when tragedy strikes, they are forced together to overcome the ferocious storm of evil. In the first two books, Lissa and Marvel hide away in the the capital, Agora. They sneak through the shadows of the immense city, fighting officials and trying to find their way to the General. The General is the leader of Agora, the one with the power to stop and start wars at the flick of a finger. The General is the reason they are orphans, and they manage to defeat him in the end.

In the final installment of the Agora Trilogy, the General is back, and is more powerful and menacing than ever. Marvel and Lissa hide out in the Forest of Teeth and Claws, terrified of the General’s uprising once more. They do not know that the forest that they chose to hide in holds a very dangerous secret; a secret that might kill them. After many frightening encounters with strange supernatural beings in the forest, they try to run for their lives. But they find that, when they try, the forest never ends; and that they are stranded in the dark shadows.

The strange and frightening encounters continue in the Forest of Teeth and Claws. Marvel and Lissa are helpless and weak, and each new meeting with the terrors in the forest are driving them into a living hell. During one attack, Marvel stumbles away through the undergrowth, delirious and barely hearing Lissa’s screams for him. He drags himself on for what seems to be forever, has no sense of what is happening, and he doesn’t see the General’s minions watching him from the shadows. He just limps on, hearing voices in his head. He trips and sprawls on the forest floor, suddenly realizing for the first time where he is, and what he ran away from. He feels the loss of his mental focus, and turns back in a desperate attempt to save Lissa.

With Marvel and Lissa’s terrifying encounters, the readers will feel their fear from the author’s magnificently spun words. The only problem is that it is rated as a children’s book, but has many violent and frightening scenes that are not for young people.

4 out of 5 stars

Contributed by L. Hansen

April 3, 2012