Reviews

The Dark Island by Scott Chantler

bookph1le's review

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4.0

4.5 stars

Heart. Broken.

SpoilerFisk! *sobs

roseleaf24's review

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5.0

Arg! I have to wait now! The twists are starting to tie things up and bring the story together. Good balance of reveals that were a surprise and suspicions confirmed. It does move very quickly, and while I would love to see this fleshed out as a novel, the brevity in this format works very well.

geekwayne's review

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4.0

'The Dark Island' by Scott Chantler is book six of the Three Thieves series. I came late to the party, but I really enjoy all the volumes of this series that I've read.

Dessa, along with her companions Topper and Fisk, has been looking for her brother. In the last book, they were given a ride by pirates to the flying island of Astaroth. Now they have to find a way onto the island. Once they get there, they find that it's being run by someone called the Toymaker and he has some unusual guests on his island.

Meanwhile, Dessa's brother Jared's story is told in parallel. He is captured by guards and as his story comes out, there are things he's seen that have the guards intrigued. It seems that there is mystery afoot and Jared is still in danger.

I love the art and the colors. I really like the characters and the weird adventures they have in this world. This is definitely a series I'd recommend to young readers looking for graphic novels to read. The adventure reminds me of the kinds of things I liked at that age (and still do!).

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Kids Can Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

turrean's review

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5.0

This is the book that shows how carefully plotted the earlier novels were. The Captain’s backstory, Greyfalcon’s plot to kidnap Paladin, and the origins of a trio of royal children are all intertwined. Chantler uses flashbacks beautifully, illustrating the past in sepia tones and the present-day storyline in full color. Sometimes just one panel out of an entire two-page spread is in grey, showing a character’s (and by extension, the reader’s) sudden realization about the significance of an event in the past.

Young fans of Amulet and Bone will eat this up.

snazel's review

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3.0

In which the plot just keeps getting more WHAT IS HAPPENING and then literally on the last page everything becomes clear. Also, an island falls out of the sky.

queenstheif's review

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4.0

An experienced reader can spot most of the twists coming, but the ending takes our heroes to places they've never been and pushes them to make difficult choices—and face the resulting consequences. Art is well-used as always. Continues to be a sophisticated series for a young audience.

moto1480's review

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5.0

FINALLY we get to the island of Astaroth, where we learn that the island is run by a Toymaker...who is, of course, Greyfalcon. Why does he have children trapped on this island?

In the meantime, Captain Drake has caught Dessa's brother, Jared, but why was Jared kidnapped in the first place? Drake finally puts two and two together, while Dessa escapes with the other children...while also saying goodbye to one of her dearest friends. So many cliffhangers!

library_hungry's review

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4.0

Oh, JUST what you want for another installment of this series! Everything is coming together, Dessa's figuring things out, and her current discovery yields leverage. Adventure! Bravery! Revelations! Marvelous!
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