Review: The Secret Seekers Society and Solomon's Seal

Secret Seekers Society and Solomon's Seal by J.L. Hickey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you liked the first book, then you will invariably like this book, too. There is even more of a sense of wonder as the universe that J.L. Hickey introduced in the first book has expanded about tenfold. This is both a good and a bad thing (But I'll get to the bad later). In the first book, a beast was unleashed on the campus grounds and two siblings and their friends had to put a stop to it. Like Harry Potter, the students were the heroes and they ultimately saved the day. I greatly liked that about the first book. The problem felt immediate and pressing, and the siblings had to deal with it. That worked. The thing is, in this book, in expanding the universe, there seems to be a bit more filler. This time around, instead of a rampaging beast, we have a more paranormal approach as a wraith has been unleashed on the school grounds and that is causing a great bit of commotion. The thing is, this wraith doesn't really come into fruition until about 60% of the way through, which means that the book seems to meander a bit until we get to the actual meat of the story.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as Hickey does a pretty good job in keeping the reader invested in the characters (Especially a newcomer named Remy, who becomes a major figure toward the end). But for me, I was more interested in the actual ghost aspect than the interactions between the characters. That said, if you found the characters to be the most interesting part of the first book, then you can add one more star to my review, because they are definitely more fleshed out in this book. For me, though, the world itself is more interesting, and I feel that that world could have used a bigger push than is granted in this story (Though, I did like the back story thrown in there. It worked).

Overall, if you liked the first book, then you will enjoy this one. Though, I'm not sure if you will enjoy it as much.

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