About the book:
Title/Author: Bad Luck / Pseudonymous Bosch
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Date of publish: February 2016
Pages: 288
Recommended Ages: middle grades to young adult
Book Links: Amazon  Bad Luck (The Bad Books)
/ Goodreads / Barnes & Noble / Riffle / BookLikes

I will admit, I requested this book from Netgalley based on the author’s name alone. It is about Earth Ranch, a summer camp for kids with magical abilities set on volcanic island with an obscure history and a personality of its own. In this tale the campers must solve the mystery of certain cave drawings and discover a bit of history about their island because outsiders know about it, and them, and are after something, no one has dared to believe might still be there. It is up to Clay, with his new found magical ability, and his friends to stop them anyway they can.

This is the sequel to Bad Magic. I was not aware that this was a second in a series and it stood alone very well. The ‘Author’s’ narration and delightful footnotes are more than enough to recommend this book. This is the kind of book that will catch a kid’s attention and hold on to it right until the last page. There is not a single insignificant character in the entire story and it is quite magical how each of them seem to leap off the page and make the book more than just a reading experience. The set up for book three is spectacular. I can’t wait to catch up on this series and then move on with the next books.

I received this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads Summary: At Earth Ranch, things can get a little magical (some might say strange). Intrepid readers will discover a runaway boy, fishy cruise ship, strange cave paintings, dragon-like footprints, and other mysteries that Clay and his friends need to solve. Danger, adventure, mischief, mystery, llamas, and a delightfully irreverent and hilarious narrator make bestselling author Pseudonymous Bosch's anticipated new novel irresistible. 

Author Info: http://www.pseudonymousbosch.com / Twitter

Pseudonymous Bosch is the anonymous pseudonymous author of the Secret Series and The Bad Books. Not much is known about him other than that he has a passionate love of chocolate and cheese and an equally passionate hatred of mayonnaise. Rumors of Boschian sightings are just as frequent and about as reliable as reports of alien abductions. If you ever meet anyone claiming to be Pseudonymous himself he is almost certainly an impostor. The real Pseudonymous is said currently to be hiding in a cave in a remote jungle (although there are contrary reports that he is somewhere in Greenland).

Clay is not a stranger to bad words. He learned his first one at the young age of three. There is not much that he has not heard before. But, there is one word that causes him to cringe every time he hears it -- magic.  It is a word that crushed everything that Clay believed in. It filled his childhood with lies, empty promises, and confusion. Magic also caused Clay's older brother to disappear. He has not been seen since. Now, years later, magic has returned with a vengeance in Clay's life. He was expelled from school and banished to a isolated camp for "bad kids" because he was blamed for someone else's magic trick.
Earth Ranch: A Camp for Wayward Teens
As it turns out, isolated island camps are not as normal as Clay thought. Llamas are the primary residents along with a couple of campers and countless warrior bees that surround the camps border.
White vog (volcanic ash + smog) coated the island in a suffocating haze. The blackened lava and stifling heat made living on the island very different from your normal resort. But no amount of vog could cover the island's mysterious secrets, puzzling people, and the occasional ghost or two.White vog (volcanic ash + smog) coated the island in a suffocating haze. The blackened lava and stifling heat made living on the island very different from your normal resort. But no amount of vog could cover the island's mysterious secrets, puzzling people, and the occasional ghost or two.

This book was cute, mysterious, and just plain old quirky.

Find out the rest of my thoughts on the book in the original review. 

Before reading: GUYS I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! I just got a copy of Bad Magic as a Christmas present (I get to open one present on Christmas Eve) and I AM SO HAPPY!!!! I loved the Secret Series also by Pseudonymous Bosch and cannot wait to start reading this new book! Fingers crossed I love it (pretty sure I will :)

Happy Holidays, everybody!!

After reading:

Well. Definitely not as good as The Secret Series (of course, that's a hard series to beat), but still enjoyable nonetheless.

I did like Clay, not as much as Cass or Max-Ernest, but he was nice. And funny sometimes. I liked the camaraderie between the other boys at Earth Ranch and Clay. The ending was quite surprising (in a good way) and I liked that most everything was solved but there are still a few loose ends leaving material for the rest of the series. And of course, Pseudonymous Bosch's writing is as good as ever. I liked that this time, most of his authorial interruptions were in the footnotes, not the actual story,

But one thing I did not like: I feel like all Bad Magic did was set the stage for the rest of the series and I was left feeling inexplicably disappointed.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I NEED THE SEQUEL RIGHT NOW!!!

I like it when a book is talking to me and this is what this book accomplishes, the author writes as if he’s talking to his readers. Clay and his brother Max-Ernest are “bad brothers,” bad is their bond which started over a discussion over swear words. Max-Ernest, an amateur magician performs his magic at home and Clay learns while watching him. Max-Ernest disappears one day without any explanation leaving his family asking lots of questions. Years later, while at school inside one of Clay’s journals the words Magic Sucks! are sketched inside one of the pages. A few days later, graffiti outside on the school walls, Magic Sucks! screams for all to see. Clay is accused as being the artist and his parents make him choose his punishment. Is he being rebellious? Then after performing in The Tempest, Clay has writer block and can’t write out an essay for his teacher. The teacher offers him Prospero’s Magic Book which was used in the play and an alternative assignment, but something wrong. Magic and Clay just don’t mix. Camp brochures arrive in the mail and one stands out, Earth Ranch. Camp for youth making poor choices, behaving inappropriately and it’s a survival camp that Clay thinks might not be so bad. With a great set of roommates, Clay is the last to arrive at camp and is greeted by a Spanish-speaking llama where he sets off to find the find campsite. The camp is anything but typical as the campers must find their own food, stay away from the Wall of Trust, and listen to the tales of the ruins. Great creativity in this story and I really enjoyed all the references to the books and the mystery keep me entertained. Clay was determined to get to the bottom of things and nothing stood in his way. His relationship with Leira was cheerful with their joshing around and playful moments. I think you need to know a bit about Shakespeare to fully understand this story.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Hachette Book Group in exchange for an honest opinion. Thank you.

Summary: The final book of the Secret Series! When Cass, Max-Ernest, and Yo-Yoji's class goes to a local museum, they accidentally damage an old mummy and find themselves in a whole heap of trouble. Meanwhile, Cass is on an urgent mission to find the Secret before the evil alchemists of the Midnight Sun do. Can Cass, Max-Ernest, and Yo-Yoji find the Secret, replace the broken off finger of the mummy, and graduate the 8th grade in one piece? 

My thoughts: The last book of a favorite series can sometimes be disappointing, but this book was not a disappointment at all! This book has possibly one of the best endings ever! It leaves some things open to the interpretation by the reader, but it also wraps up the series pretty nicely. Overall a great conclusion to a great series!

The Secret Series:
The Name of This Book is Secret
If You're Reading This, It's Too Late
This Book is Not Good for You
This Isn't What It Looks Like
You Have to Stop This (this book)