Five - Out of the Dark Review

Five - Out of the Dark by Holli Anderson
Synopsis

Five teenagers who’ve recently discovered they have magical powers and are living in the Seattle underground feel it’s their responsibility to protect unsuspecting humans from otherworldly foes. Things are going well until Johnathan, their unofficial leader and the boy sixteen year old Paige is in love with, is bitten by a changeling – the venomous saliva causing him to metamorphose into a ravening beast with each full moon. Paige vows that, no matter the cost, she will find a way to cure Johnathan of the evil that has embedded itself in his soul.
Johnathan’s monthly transformation and daily personality roller coaster isn’t the only problem they have to deal with. The Five are also gearing up to face their toughest and most dangerous enemy yet—a powerful and ruthless Warlock who will go to any means, including high school, to build his Dark Army.

Lisa's Review - 4 out of 5 stars

Remember Enid Blyton's Famous Five books? Well say hello to the modern, magical and mythical version of those books!
This series may fit into the Young Adult genre, but I think it can be enjoyed by people young and old.
Step into the world of Paige, a 16 year old girl whose family disowns her when she discovers she has magical powers. Alone in the world, soon she meets Johnathan, who is just like her, and soon the two become the Five. Learning more about their powers as they try and make do in a new world full of Fairies, Imps, Ogres and much more. Battling to save the world from these demons, they soon learn that there is a reason the five of them came together, But things go wrong when Johnathan is bitten, and turns into a viscous form of werewolf once a month. As well as trying to save him, Paige and the others must save a high school full of teens who are being poisoned by a Warlock disguised as a head teacher who is trying to form a Dark Army.
I found the start of this book quite hard to get in to, and at one point almost gave up. Everything seemed very rushed - the Five all coming together, the moving around, learning their powers... - it was very quickly written and some things which seemed important were really skimmed over. Thankfully, once the story got going when Johnathan was bitten, the flow of the story seemed to kick in and the pace changed, and more detail was put into the writing.
Once I got past that first phase, I was so glad I did as I couldn't put the book down, and really ended up enjoying it. As I said at the start of my review, I couldn't help but see the Five as the new Famous Five - I really enjoyed the adventures in the Enid Blyton books as I grew up - and these were just like those books, but with magic, and mythical creatures. I loved the characters, and all of the Five are likeable characters that I couldn't get enough of, and the Ogres and Trolls are written in a way that is enjoyable to read even though you don't like them!
The joy of this book is that I have read it and loved it, and I can pass it on to my daughter to read and I know she will love it too.

Links

Goodreads     Holli Anderson

Purchase Links

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