Zelli is a young, human girl currently living and learning
in an academy for monsters. Seeing as how monsters view humans as the most
despicable creatures, she must be careful that other students and teachers
can’t see through her minotaur disguise. She’s been adopted by two minotaurs
which creates an amusing mental image of completely mismatched characters.
Zelli is inquisitive and daring as she often seems to be the one character most
concerned about strange happenings around, and under, the academy. She’s
uncovered some forgotten secrets that spell potential danger and she’s
determined to get to the bottom of them.
Zelli is surrounded by good and loyal friends who are aware
she’s actually human. They’ll never break her confidence and they trust her
judgment, as she trusts theirs. Along with Zelli, the Danger Club is comprised
of an owlbear named Hugo, a kobold named Snabla, a mimic named Bauble, and a
blink dog named Flash. They have a blend of talents that enabled them to defeat
a necromancer named Lord Carrion (another word for dead, putrid flesh) in the
first book. Zelli is the leader of the gang, Bauble is the brains, Hugo is the
“muscle”, Flash can be a distraction, and Snabla is the daring one. By the end
of the book, they’ll add one new club member but two of them will be lost.
I had trouble at times remembering what the characters look
like but the book includes illustrations to help. The black and white pictures
are detailed and depict various events from the plot. It helps to visualize
Zelli’s clunky costume and reinforces the humor of a little girl dressed as a
terrifying minotaur. Some characters have extra eyes or other body parts and
don’t frequently appear in the story. The illustrations help readers picture
the minor characters when they pop up. The narrative and graphics work well
together to present the Danger Club’s exciting adventure.
What didn’t work as well:
Readers can probably enjoy this book without reading the
first one but some significant events have clearly already happened. It might
be nice to read the story of how a human girl ended up attending a school for
monsters. Also, Zelli and her friends have already defeated Lord Carrion and
they’re being haunted by his mental messages from prison. This book mentions both
of these past events but readers may want more details. Solution? Read the
first book!
The Final Verdict:
Honestly, the Tourney of Terror in the title isn’t a huge
part of the plot other than it brings dragons into the story. The plot moves at
a nice pace and action scenes are mixed with solving the mystery of a missing
Nexus. Young readers will enjoy the strange assortment of characters and the
humor shared between the Danger Club members. I recommend you give this book a
shot.
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