Scan barcode
ambert's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Four Books that peaked at #2 in the series.
Book 1: This book is almost exclusively exposition, and, while I understand that this us supposed to be a journal from a teenager, Ryan (Male MC) takes his sweet time getting to the point of whats going on. Ryan and Sarah (Female MC) spend the book investigating a mysterious mining operation, while literally the entire town is employed trying to keep these two apart which is just wild. Sarah uploads these videos - which seemed better made when I was reading this in middle school - full of lip biting while looking at the camera, awkward pauses, and the most annoying mouth noises (for some reason Sarah has a camera that can connect to the internet when there is no phone signal, but doesn't have a pop filter on her microphone at home). The book ends when they finally go back to the dredge and get locked inside a secret room, ending on a cliff hanger. Like I said before, the book is mainly exposition with a little action right at the end. 3.5 stars
Book 2: The series honestly peaked here. It continues directly where book 1 left off, Ryan and Sarah are trapped in the dredge. Then they suddenly aren't? The door just opens again. This book in the series is much more interesting, and has more action and intrigue. In my mind, this is just the second half to book 1. they shouldn't have been split up since book 1 is basically the exposition for this book and I know I would have been pissed if I was reading them as they came out. In my opinion, this series should have been two books, Skeleton Creek and Ghost in the Machine merged together, The Crossbones and The Raven merged together, but I digress. Book 2 ends satisfyingly with the 'ghost' being unmasked as Ryan's Dad's best friend Henry, and the gold that was hidden by Joe Bush found by Ryan. I said it before, and I'll say it again, book 1 and 2 should have been put together and then the rest of the series shouldn't have been written. It should have been a standalone book. There was no need to continue the series after this. 4.5 stars.
Book 3: Suddenly this series becomes the adventures of Ryan, the fishing enthusiast? Books 1 and 2 mentioned his dad and Henry fishing, while Ryan didn't seem to have any strong feeling about fishing other than saying he went with his dad and never kept the fish he caught. But now, almost half of the book is talking about fishing and the other half is the actually interesting mystery bit. Sarah has moved to Boston, and despite being on the other side of the country, Ryan's parent still don't want his talking to her. He gets his phone taken away for just checking it to see if Sarah has texted him. He and Sarah saved the town and gave everyone 100k of the gold they found, but for some reason she's a bad influence on him from 3,000 miles away. This book annoyed me and bored me. I don't give a flying fuck about fishing and fishing does not connect tot he plot whatsoever, Ryan's dad was more unreasonable in this book than in the other 2 and was just generally unlikable. I did, however, like Sarah's characterization in this book better than in the last 2, and I think that is due to the change in the actress portraying her in the little videos. Shit sucked, 1 star.
Book 4: I was really running out of steam at this point. The series peaked at book 2, and this was the longest book of the 4. My main notes were about how much I missed the little illustrations for each of the passwords. I guess Patrick Carman gave up on that in book 3? As well as how Ryan's parents still didn't want Ryan talking to Sarah despite living in different states. It really infuriated me that at 16/17 They were taking his phone and looking at his private messages with her still. I also hated how Ryan, who wrote down that he has read Frankenstein, called Edgar Allen Poe the creator of science fiction. after that point I hoped the raven killed him. Also, felt like Sarah's character was really getting sidelined. for the past 2 booked she has been doing a massive amount o legwork to get all the clues, driving across America TWICE, only for the final clue/solution to the puzzle to be back in skeleton creek where Ryan got to waltz over to and uncover. It seemed like Sarah was getting the short end of the stick. I solved the twist pretty early on, so this book didn't have as nice and tight of an ending as book 2 did. 2 stars.
Book 1: This book is almost exclusively exposition, and, while I understand that this us supposed to be a journal from a teenager, Ryan (Male MC) takes his sweet time getting to the point of whats going on. Ryan and Sarah (Female MC) spend the book investigating a mysterious mining operation, while literally the entire town is employed trying to keep these two apart which is just wild. Sarah uploads these videos - which seemed better made when I was reading this in middle school - full of lip biting while looking at the camera, awkward pauses, and the most annoying mouth noises (for some reason Sarah has a camera that can connect to the internet when there is no phone signal, but doesn't have a pop filter on her microphone at home). The book ends when they finally go back to the dredge and get locked inside a secret room, ending on a cliff hanger. Like I said before, the book is mainly exposition with a little action right at the end. 3.5 stars
Book 2: The series honestly peaked here. It continues directly where book 1 left off, Ryan and Sarah are trapped in the dredge. Then they suddenly aren't? The door just opens again. This book in the series is much more interesting, and has more action and intrigue. In my mind, this is just the second half to book 1. they shouldn't have been split up since book 1 is basically the exposition for this book and I know I would have been pissed if I was reading them as they came out. In my opinion, this series should have been two books, Skeleton Creek and Ghost in the Machine merged together, The Crossbones and The Raven merged together, but I digress. Book 2 ends satisfyingly with the 'ghost' being unmasked as Ryan's Dad's best friend Henry, and the gold that was hidden by Joe Bush found by Ryan. I said it before, and I'll say it again, book 1 and 2 should have been put together and then the rest of the series shouldn't have been written. It should have been a standalone book. There was no need to continue the series after this. 4.5 stars.
Book 3: Suddenly this series becomes the adventures of Ryan, the fishing enthusiast? Books 1 and 2 mentioned his dad and Henry fishing, while Ryan didn't seem to have any strong feeling about fishing other than saying he went with his dad and never kept the fish he caught. But now, almost half of the book is talking about fishing and the other half is the actually interesting mystery bit. Sarah has moved to Boston, and despite being on the other side of the country, Ryan's parent still don't want his talking to her. He gets his phone taken away for just checking it to see if Sarah has texted him. He and Sarah saved the town and gave everyone 100k of the gold they found, but for some reason she's a bad influence on him from 3,000 miles away. This book annoyed me and bored me. I don't give a flying fuck about fishing and fishing does not connect tot he plot whatsoever, Ryan's dad was more unreasonable in this book than in the other 2 and was just generally unlikable. I did, however, like Sarah's characterization in this book better than in the last 2, and I think that is due to the change in the actress portraying her in the little videos. Shit sucked, 1 star.
Book 4: I was really running out of steam at this point. The series peaked at book 2, and this was the longest book of the 4. My main notes were about how much I missed the little illustrations for each of the passwords. I guess Patrick Carman gave up on that in book 3? As well as how Ryan's parents still didn't want Ryan talking to Sarah despite living in different states. It really infuriated me that at 16/17 They were taking his phone and looking at his private messages with her still. I also hated how Ryan, who wrote down that he has read Frankenstein, called Edgar Allen Poe the creator of science fiction. after that point I hoped the raven killed him. Also, felt like Sarah's character was really getting sidelined. for the past 2 booked she has been doing a massive amount o legwork to get all the clues, driving across America TWICE, only for the final clue/solution to the puzzle to be back in skeleton creek where Ryan got to waltz over to and uncover. It seemed like Sarah was getting the short end of the stick. I solved the twist pretty early on, so this book didn't have as nice and tight of an ending as book 2 did. 2 stars.
innae's review
4.0
These four books were fun and innovative and I loved them. If you don’t want to jump in with the omnibus, the books are best in pairs (1&2, 3&4).
More...