Review:
The Power of Five: Raven's Gate
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Scholastic Press/ Walter Books Ltd* |
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"before the beginning was the gate"
"five gatekeepers"
"children"
"four boys, one girl"
"it has been written"
"the night of everlasting darkness is drawing in"
"the gate is about to open"
"the gatekeepers must return"
Even before reading the main story, the prologue caught my attention. Immediately, many questions popped into my head. Who were the Gatekeepers and what did they do? Why children? What do you mean "everlasting darkness"? After the first few pages, i was introduced to the main character, Matthew, a troubled teenager with a dark past and a strange future. He isn't like other teenagers; he is special-he just doesn't know it yet-. After his parents' deaths from a car crash, Matthew, or Matt as he goes by, is sent to his only relatives, Gwenda and Brian Davis. After six years of being raised by his horrible aunt, Matt is caught robbing a warehouse along with his only friend, Kelvin, who had almost murdered the security guard and blamed it on Matt. As a result, Matt is sent to a fostering program that was especially made for teenagers like him. Jayne Deverill, his new grim guardian,takes him to her home, a desolate farm in the remote Yorkshire countryside of England. There he finds out that something is strange about Mrs. Deverill and all the inhabitants living in the nearby towns. After an unfortunate event of witnessing a witch ritual the local villagers did, Matt is saved by a journalist who helps him try to find out more about Lesser Malling, a nearby village and about Raven's Gate, a mysterious gate to another world, despite the fact that everyone who has tried to help Matt has been killed. This book is full of suspense and will keep you to the edge of your seats with its magnificently weaved sequences of events and its wonderful, yet strange plot. A 14-year-old teenager. Many people can relate to that. However, just one tiny tweak from Anthony Horowitz and everything changes. A 14-year-old orphan with mysterious powers, living in a remote town full of witches. Like a movie, all the events just seem to flow through the pages, unstoppable. This story is full of twists and surprises, and just when you think you have gotten comfortable and know everything that's going to happen, Horowitz writes a sudden sentence, a sudden word, that makes you just want to jump out of your seat and shout "WHAT?!" One boy on a "mission". A mysterious company. Magic. Dead people. Suspense. A perfect book.
What the quote revealsBETRAYAL AND DECEIT Throughout this story and some of Anthony Horowitz's other stories, there always seems to be betrayal, deceit, or even both. This shows that Anthony Horowitz may "enjoy" or finds it easy to write about these two aspects since it can be easily be found throughout his troubled life. Betrayal and deceit are what makes his books so exciting because you will never know what may happen next. I liked this quote because it shows how much of a great writer Anthony Horowitz is as a fantasy/horror writer. First, he sets the mood to a comfortable, relaxing mood, like a chick under its parent's wings. But then, he just completely changes the mood right as you turn the page. The mood is completely different from the few pages before it. |
Quote"'Don't worry, Matty. I won't leave without you!' The two of them split up...'Forget that!' Kelvin ran a tongue over his lips. 'You stay if you want to. I'm out of here.' And then he was gone... They had already caught Kelvin. Matt saw him being led across the entrance by two armored men a great deal bigger than he was. Kelvin was squealing and crying. Seeing Matt,he suddenly turned and pointed. 'It wasn't me!' he shouted in a whining high-pitched voice. ' It was him! He made me come! And he killed the guard!'" Excerpt from Raven's Gate. Horowitz, Anthony. Page 9-13. |