 | All these monsters Author: Tintera, Amy | |
| Price: $8.19 | ||
Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Clara runs away from home to join a vigilante monster-flghting squad, only to discover that sometimes the most dangerous monsters are where you least expect them.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: UG Reading Level: 4.30 Points: 15.0 Quiz: 514473 |
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 05/01/2020 When the son of a billionaire CEO forms an international monster-fighting squad, Clara impulsively hops on a recruitment bus to Atlanta for tryouts, desperate to escape her failing grades and abusive father. Tintera’s (Reboot, 2013) latest sf thriller, the first in a duology, is set in a world similar to ours, but one facing an epidemic of scrabs, monsters with armor-like skin who use sharp claws to kill everyone in their path. Europe is particularly hard-hit, so Clara’s team is sent to Paris. Her strikingly handsome team leader, Julian, takes Clara under his wing from the first day of training and sparks fly. The actual monster fighting doesn't materialize for awhile; rather, character and relationship development within the team takes center stage. This gives Julian time to become overly controlling and readers time to form attachments before the death toll mounts. Unfortunately, when the team is betrayed by an ugly conspiracy, the human villains prove exaggerated and unlikely. However, Clara is a strong character, and many readers will follow her into the concluding volume. - Copyright 2020 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 06/01/2020 Gr 8 Up—Clara has decided to drop out of high school, leave her dysfunctional, abusive family, and join a privately run monster defense firm poised to take on the "scrab" insurgency in Europe. The recruiting agency will pay for a one-way ticket, but those who wash out are on their own when it comes to getting home. For Clara, however, there is no turning back. She's lived in fear of her father for years, and this opportunity is her golden ticket even if it ends up a death sentence. Scrabs appear in different forms across the globe but have certain commonalities: They are ruthless, impenetrable, snarly monsters. Following a harrowing escape from her father, Clara is accepted onto American Team 7—comprised of all teens. They are green around the gills, but internet darlings with a strong social media presence. The book is all action: Every time the team is on its way to training, it is interrupted by a rogue scrab attack. Meanwhile, Clara finds herself in the romantic clutches of her controlling, older team leader who will remind readers of Clara's father. The character development is powerful and action sequences are well conceived, but the story barely wraps up at the end, leaving questions about leadership motives and the possibility that the scrabs are not the enemy. VERDICT A sci-fi action dynamo with romantic overtones that screams for a sequel. Recommended.—Leah Krippner, Harlem H.S., Machesney Park, IL - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
