ethan_libra's review against another edition
2.0
While I don't remember reading this book as much as the original, I can still remember reading it on at least two separate occasions, and enjoying it as much as the original (maybe even more). But, let's just start at the beginning. One thing I really like about this book is that it gets straight to the action. Of course, being a sequel, it doesn't have to do all of the world-building The Candy Shop War had to, but I still like that it doesn't spend lots of time recounting the events of the previous novel. In addition, the somewhat tedious "normal" scenes from the predecessor (the ones that involved teachers, parents, bullies, etc.) are next to gone from this one. Indeed, many less interesting characters are discarded, but whether the new characters effectively fill the gap is debatable. Personally, I believe that many of the new characters fall into boring, two-word archetypes; cunning henchman, loyal defender, stubborn kids. Their powers are the only things that really set them apart. The adventure also progressed much like the first book, or something like this: the kids discover a suspicious magician who wants kids to help them get a treasure. They help the magician and get in too far over their heads, endangering their friends and family along the way. Nate saves the day using the treasure, and there's a celebration. Looking back, I can see why Mull didn't write a third book; it would be pretty hard to disguise this plot once again. I don't think Brandon Mull is a lazy author; on the contrary, I see the Fablehaven series as one of the most imaginative and fulfilling middle grade series I've ever read. This was just kind of a disappointment given how much I loved the book way back when, and how much I love Fablehaven. That's about all I have to say.
statman's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't like it as much as the first book in the series, but it was still good. The ending is written such that it is obvious that there will be another book in the series. Guess I'll have to go read the Beyonders while waiting for this one to come out.
smorrison4's review against another edition
4.0
Another fun installment in the Candy Shop Wars series. I love Brandon Mull's writing, his stories are magical and imaginative. Looking forward to reading Carnival Quest next.
shaekin's review against another edition
4.0
I like reading books by one author where you can see the progression of their writing. Brandon Mull is definitely getting better. I liked this book quite a bit better than the original. The author stated he originally intended the Candy Shop war to be a stand alone novel. With that in mind, this is an excellent sequel with a lot of good tie-ins to the original. It sounds like there will at least be another novel in the series and I'm excited to see where he takes it.
raquel_reading_stuff's review against another edition
3.0
This book isn't as good as its prequel. It's a lot more violent, and there really isn't any magic candy- only these stamps that have magic effects. I kind of felt like some of it came from the hunger games- but not in a good way: there are teams, according to which stamp you are stamped with, and they end up competing almost violently against each other in missions. There isn't any reconnaissance at all.
I would recommend that you read it anyway, just to keep to the series.
I would recommend that you read it anyway, just to keep to the series.
bestpartofafire's review against another edition
1.0
The worst. SO annoying and uncreative. Listened to as an audiobook in the car and wanted to die the whole time. Absolute trash.