If you haven't read The Eighth Day, stop reading and see my review. This may give away details of the first book.

 

I loved this series. Unknown to "normals," there is an eighth day between Wednesday and Thursday called Grunsday. The people that know about this day are descended from King Arthur, Merlin and others from that time. Some of them are "transitioners" who are able to live in normal days as well as Grunsday. Some are "kin" and are stuck only living on Grunsday. Merlin created the eighth day to trap the kin and Merlin's descendants are the ones keeping the magic of Grunsday alive. There are only two descendants of Merlin left and everyone wants to protect or control them.

 

That's the basic idea, without giving anything away from the second and third books. Basically, if you like fantasy or adventure, read this series. I loved it!!

 

The eighth day was filled with horrible people who blew up entire families during engagement parties, used blood for magic, and imprisoned a teenage girl just because her ten-times-great-grandfather had been a legendary wizard.

-- Chapter 17

 

 

This book. Wow. I really enjoyed it and I'm excited to read book 2. In fact, I'll be checking the library for it as soon as I'm done here. I knew the story was going to involve some magic, but I had no idea. This book takes the legend of King Arthur, Merlin, and the Lady of the Lake and uses it to create a brand new story. 

 

Jax is a great character. He is dealing with the loss of his parents and living with a new guardian that he doesn't like and isn't even family. One day, everyone has disappeared and Jax has no idea what is happening. For all he knows, he is the last person left alive. Turns out he is a transitioner - a person who can live in both the normal seven days and in the eighth day. He gradually learns the secrets of the 8th day and more about who his father was. He makes some naive mistakes that I knew were going to be a problem, but they fit in well with his character.

 

The last third of this book had me on the edge of my seat and I could not put it down.

 

This book is a fun, quick read; like a fairy tale retelling (which I love), but with the legend of King Arthur as inspiration. It is an original idea and the author did a great job with it.

 

Recommended to:

Grades 5 - 8. A fabulous fun story that kids will enjoy. Takes the excitement of the King Arthur legend and brings the magic into the current day.

what better to keep company with, when suffering from insomnia then a great book

The Caged Graves really grabbed me from the very beginning. It was not as creepy as the description made it sound, but that was ok with me. There was a mystery to figure out and while I figured most of it out pretty early on I still enjoyed reading this. The book is meticulously researched. The time period felt authentic and the characters felt well developed. There is a love triangle in this book, but I actually liked it. It was well done and didn't feel just thrown in for no good reason. It was actually an important part in the development of the main character. I liked things about both love interests, but the one she ends up choosing in the end was definitely the best choice. The mystery surrounding the graves is what drew me to this, and the fact that there really are caged graves near the town in this book. No one knows why the real graves have cages around them. I liked the fact that the author actually used the names on the real headstones in the book and created a history and a reason for the cages.

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

When I first read the blurb for this book, I was worried. It seemed as though Jax was going to make certain decisions that would make me shake my head and wonder where  the Jax I knew had gone. I needn’t have worried. Jax is still as fabulous and he did me even more proud this time around.

Jax is still dealing with the aftermath of finding out that his whole life may have been a lie and this leads to a lot of doubts. He wants a family but there seems to be nobody around who wants him just for him and that sometimes results in him missing some very obvious things (like the fact that Riley does in fact care for him) BUT, it’s understandable.

I love how brave Jax is. He is never fearless but he is brave. He goes to such lengths for his friends and I cannot help but love him for that. What makes his character such a pleasure to read about is that he reads like a kid his age. He is incredibly brave and smart and mature but that doesn’t make him seem like some grown up, it just makes him seem like Jax. His personality especially shined through in this installment.

Before I began the book, I had no idea that we'd get a second POV and when I first started reading from this character’s POV, I wasn’t sure how I felt but as I read more and more from his POV, I could see why it was essential to the story and I grew to love Dorian too. Dorian is a member of the Dulac family, the sworn enemies of Jax and sadly, also the closest relatives (as it turns out). Dorian however, at the beginning of the novel, is the complete opposite of Jax, or so he would think. He doesn’t see himself as brave, he doesn’t see himself as a ‘hero’. But he is one, in his own right. He may not be outgoing like Jax but growing up the way he did, I don’t blame him. He is brave in his own way. He risked himself trying to protect his sister who is constantly tortured by their father. He risked himself when he warned Jax and he further risked himself when he chose to help them.

The funny thing about all of this is that while Dorian’s father is not seen as the good guy, he was never seen as pure evil, just someone overly ambitious and I kind of liked that take. I liked that it wasn’t just about hating on the ‘evil’ parents.Dorian, in spite of everything, still cares enough about his parents.

What I did miss in this installment was a certain Riley. I may have a little crush on him. Just a little bit. And I wish he had been there more so that I could have seen him shine as well.

I still haven’t warmed up to Evangeline and I am waiting for that moment to come. It’s not that she isn’t a good character, it’s just, like I said in my review for book 1, we don’t know enough about her so I still don’t know what to think. I know that she is willing to risk herself for her friends but is that enough? I know a bit of her back story too but I feel like something is just missing.

What really had me excited was that Dianne explored the world. We had some sciencey explanations and I really liked that. It definitely made the nerd inside of me excited to get some explanations about how things worked in this world. I especially liked that we were introduced to some new magical creatures and even new sciency bits. This book really does combine science and magic in a fascinating way and I really cannot get enough of the world Dianne has created.

The plot definitely kept me on my toes and I am glad I had the suite to myself so no one could hear me yelling out random things. Dianne knows just how to pace her stories. She builds up and she takes us on a fantastic ride and you cannot help but feel satisfied at the end.

I haven’t decided which one of the books I enjoyed better, but I have to say, this was definitely a great addition to the series and I cannot wait to see where the next book will take us! Hopefully to magical places and beyond  and maybe even on a fun mythical ride.