The Book of Lost Souls

by Michelle Muto

[Amanda]

I read this book in the afternoon, then spent the rest of the evening missing Ivy and her friends. I felt similar after reading Harry Potter, though more so because there are more HP books. If Ivy had six more books, I’m sure I’d feel the same way (and I would love to have six more books of Ivy, curiously enough). Michelle Muto really channeled the magic of Harry Potter (no pun intended!) in this book.

Ivy felt like a true 16 year old, beginning to mature but still a teenager – caught between childhood and adulthood. Turning her friend’s brother’s lizard into her date for Halloween (and the following chaos) was hilarious. Spike turned out to be one of my favorite characters, right behind Ivy, Nick and Devlin, the dog. The rest of Ivy’s friends were a great cast of characters – fun, but loyal – and I have no doubts they could have plenty of adventures. Despite being Kindred (witches, vampires, werewolves, demons, and trolls), there were elements of a “typical” teenager life in this book, without being too cliche.

I was able to guess the identity of the person who was using the book of lost souls, as well as the mystery man, but this just made me want to race through the book faster to confirm my guess. I often got impatient with the pace of the book, but rather than being a negative, I think this shows how well engaged I was as a reader, and speaks more to Michelle Muto’s ability to tell a story. Even though this book deals with dark magic and murder, it’s not a dark book.

See my review in its entirety here: http://onabookbender.com/2011/05/26/review-the-book-of-lost-souls-by-michelle-muto/