Welcome to Jax's Lightspeed Reviews. These are just like any other of
my regular reviews, though they're much quicker to read through and
write - hence the title. The review is split up into 5 pieces: The story
overview, the positive elements of the book, the negative elements of
the book, a final verdict, and a recommendation level.
Today's book: 'Book Scavenger' by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
"Life is a game, and books are the tokens."
The Story:
Book
Scavenger is split into 3 main plot pieces that work around each other.
In this story, a fictional game exists called 'Book Scavenger', where
patrons can hide books for others to find in the real world, then
pinpoint their book's location using a clue system built into the 'Book
Scavenger' website. The admin and leader of the Book Scavenger games, Mr
Garrison Griswold, is often considered the self-proclaimed 'Willy
Wonka' of the book industry. Griswold starts plans on a new
sub-competition of the game, where players will have to track down one
of many copies of 'The Gold-Bug' (which is a REAL book by Edgar Allen
Poe), which contains clues to where a special prize is located in San
Fransisco. However, Griswold is mugged by a group of thugs prior to the
start of the competition, causing the new game to be postponed.
...then we get to the other main character of the story: Emily Crane, a passionate player of the Book Scavenger game. Emily's family has a dream to live in each state in the U.S. at least once for a full year, and their next stop is - coincidentally, - San Fransisco. Once Emily and her family arrives, she meets up with James, a puzzles enthusiast, and they find a mysterious Gold-covered version of 'The Gold-Bug'. Emily doesn't make much of it at first because nobody actually knows of Griswold's cancelled game, but once she finds out a secret lying within the book, she starts a quest to complete the game - with the help of James, of course.
...then we get to the other main character of the story: Emily Crane, a passionate player of the Book Scavenger game. Emily's family has a dream to live in each state in the U.S. at least once for a full year, and their next stop is - coincidentally, - San Fransisco. Once Emily and her family arrives, she meets up with James, a puzzles enthusiast, and they find a mysterious Gold-covered version of 'The Gold-Bug'. Emily doesn't make much of it at first because nobody actually knows of Griswold's cancelled game, but once she finds out a secret lying within the book, she starts a quest to complete the game - with the help of James, of course.
The Good:
Book
Scavenger is the best kind of Fiction because it's a completely
plausible story. The whole tale is obviously made up, but because of how
clever the Book Scavenger game within the story actually is, it could
easily be played in real life. In fact, the official website for this
story has a mini-'Book Scavenger' built into it that you can play right
now! Check this link: http://bookscavenger.com/hide-find-books/ Sure,
there aren't many books hidden around our Lake County area as of right
now, but we could change that, couldn't we? I challenge all of you
readers to hide at least 1 book within the next few weeks and record it
on the website. Think you're up to the challenge?
The primary genre of Book Scavenger, 'mystery', is implemented to perfection here. It's fun to keep up with all of the puzzles that Emily and James encounter on their quest to finish The Gold-Bug's hidden adventure, and it's not very hard, either. There were at least 2 or 3 times within the book where the main characters stumbled upon a new step they couldn't solve, even though I already had a hunch on how to solve it. I like this style of the 'mystery' genre better than the stereotypical 'Sherlock' kind of mystery because they feel interactive.
The primary genre of Book Scavenger, 'mystery', is implemented to perfection here. It's fun to keep up with all of the puzzles that Emily and James encounter on their quest to finish The Gold-Bug's hidden adventure, and it's not very hard, either. There were at least 2 or 3 times within the book where the main characters stumbled upon a new step they couldn't solve, even though I already had a hunch on how to solve it. I like this style of the 'mystery' genre better than the stereotypical 'Sherlock' kind of mystery because they feel interactive.
The Bad:
I
didn't have any immediate distaste with Book Scavenger, but on the
other hand, not too much about the story really struck me. In easier
terms, I couldn't find any flaws in the book that detracted from the
experience, but aside from the fun setting of the book and the mystery
aspects, the writing itself is rather run-of-the-mill. Not much about
the story stands out from other tales of this caliber.
As a side note, there's a very weird mis-match of plot twists near the end of the book. I don't mind plot twists, but in this case, at least 3 twists occur within the same chapter. This kind of writing can throw you off, and it should especially be avoided during the climax of the story.
As a side note, there's a very weird mis-match of plot twists near the end of the book. I don't mind plot twists, but in this case, at least 3 twists occur within the same chapter. This kind of writing can throw you off, and it should especially be avoided during the climax of the story.
Conclusion:
Book
Scavenger is a simple story at face value, but the simplicity of the
story helps contribute to how fun it is to read. Pick this one up if you
can, and if you get a spare book and some time, try out the Book
Scavenger game online! Or, perhaps you should wait for another month to
do that, since it is still winter right now...
Recommendation Rating: Moderate (Read it if you can!)
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