TwoSpells by Mark Morrison

The Synopsis:

Sarah and her twin brother Jon are heirs to an ancient magical realm and its most valuable treasure, an enchanted library. The library endows readers with the supernatural means of crossing into the uncharted inner-sanctum of the second dimension, inhabited with peculiar and sometimes perilous creatures.
The children are emboldened with a wondrous mystical gift that no other being has ever possessed. But fate intervenes and triggers a disastrous inter-dimensional war that disrupts the fabric of time and space spanning multiple universes, tearing destiny a new and savage pathway.
The two must rescue their world from a phantom hybrid alien race controlled by a demented dark-wizard, Jeremy Sermack. They will either assimilate or be exterminated.
Will they be the saviors the prophets spoke of, or will they retreat to the perceived safety of their distant homeland?

I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

A fantasy adventure that unites the creatures from all of your favorite stories!

Wow. You better buckle your seat belts and hold on tight if you decide to open this book! TwoSpells is one of the fastest paced books I believe I’ve ever read, it didn’t stop for a breath once. From the very first chapter, we’re attacked by things from other worlds and the action never stops.

I can’t deny it in the least, the story world is fantastic. Extremely well thought-out and complex, TwoSpells brings to life so many things at once, and ties them together, that it was truly spell-binding.

However, I believe the best word to describe the plot line is chaotic. Because the plot relies on jumping through books and bringing the books to life in the magic library, we encounter literally every creature from nearly every genre. Werewolves? Check. Ninjas? Check. Zombies? Check. Dragons? Check. Seriously, you name it, it’s probably in here.

And though I really enjoyed the complexity at first, it became pretty clear that a lot of these creatures just make an appearance without actually being substantial to the plot. They go with it of course, and aren’t necessarily out of place, there are just so many things mentioned and happening at once that it feels like you’re standing in the middle of a subway station at the busiest part of the day; sure you can notice a few things, but how much of it will you actually remember once you get to where you’re going?

The characters were good, though I feel like Sarah and Jon should have been a bit more hesitant to accept their “destiny”. At the beginning of the book, their Mom and Sarah both deny the existence of any and all mystical creatures that Jon fantasizes about, yet once they get to their Grandparent’s, there are hardly any questions asked about their existence and suddenly they’re okay with magic literally surrounding their every move. They were just very unrealistic.

So, I’m torn. Between loving the world of TwoSpells and not being impressed with the characters and plot line. So I’ve decided to settle on a rating of 3 out of 5 stars and do advise parents that there is some mild cursing, some scary (borderline horror) scenes, high graphics, but there is no sexual content at all.