LitPick Review
The book, The Gates by John Connolly,is a fantasy book about a young boy, Samuel Johnson, and his dog, Boswell. Not meant to necessarily be comic reading, the author weaves the story with a funny twist, so as to render a laugh or two in the process. Here is the plot of the story. Samuel and his friends (and dog) happen to stumble upon some strange activities going on at a neighbor's house, just a few days before Halloween. The neighbors, the Abernathys, while tinkering around with some recreational devil-worshiping, just so happen to mistakenly call forth Satan who ventures through a pair of very large gates - the "gates" of Hell. It is then up to Samuel and his friends to save the world from Satan and his often funny demons by closing the gates before Satan takes over the planet. The adults in his world don't believe that the gates exist and that makes it harder than ever to fight the battle.
Opinion:
Overall, I really liked this book. I felt like the author brought me into the plot and I could actually see myself as one of Samuel's friends, running around with him and trying to save the planet. I'm also a dog lover, so I easily identified with Boswell and his keen senses and intelligence. As a follower of many fantasy books, this one held my interest throughout the entire story. There was enough of everything - scary parts but not too scary, funny scenes, scientific information (which I can identify with, too, since I am interested in all types of science and experiments), and a good, follow-along and kid-friendly story. I couldn't put the book down for too long because I kept wanting to see what would happen next. The characters were all developed well and I could easily follow who did what and when. My favorite characters were some of the demons. The story flowed nicely and it wasn't too confusing like some books can be. This book was probably one of my favorite to review ever.
