Wise Acres: The Seventh Circle of Heck

The Nine Circles of Heck #7

by Dale E. Basye

Welcome to Wise Acres, where the sassy kids go.
 
In the seventh installment of Heck, Dale E. Basye sends Milton and Marlo Fauster to Wise Acres, the circle reserved for kids who sass back. In Wise Acres, the cleverest, snarkiest, put-downiest kids debate and trade insults in Spite Club. But the new vice principal, Lewis Carroll, has some curious plans to raise the profile—and the stakes—of the competition. Now a full-fledged War of the Words will be broadcast through the afterlife. The winner will get the heck out of Heck and go straight to heaven. And the loser? Well, the loser goes down . . . all the way down to the real h-e-double-hockey-sticks. And Milton and Marlo are on opposite teams. Can they find a way out of Lewis Carroll’s mad-as-a-hatter scheme? Or is one Fauster about to pay a permanent visit to the Big Guy Downstairs?

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Middle Grade

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Hannah Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was done with this series mentally. I thought it was getting trite, the plots were getting contrived, the originality was gone. This one was revived. I really enjoyed it. The Snark hunt was a little bit too long (too many word puzzles to solve). And some of the justifications for why characters are there don't make sense. (Emily Dickinson?) But I felt like there was a recognizable story arc (missing from many of the other books), a theme, takeaway. With this book, I found what most of the others in the series were lacking: something to say.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seventh book and still as amazing as when it started. The book is full of sassy humor and adventure like none other. Also, being a huge fan of Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland and having those connections just made the book that much better to me. There were many forms word play used through out the book and I found myself thinking back to Dr. Seuss because of it. I find myself thinking to bad he wasn't a character in the book. I give the book 5 stars and can't wait for the next one.

[Raynee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that this is my favorite of the series so far! I love that with each book we delve deeper into the main plot while still having excellent world building. Also, I'm a glutton for literary fun and pun-ishment! Even if we have to wait a few years for Sadia and Dupli-City, I know they'll be worth it!

[LeAnna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is SO GOOD!!!

The 8th book in the series, Sadia, is actually out now. You can buy it on Amazon in paperback or for kindle. OMG READ ALL OF THESE!

[Darthvader15 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 7.7
This book was very close to 5 stars. But not quite. The wordplay in the book was a little bit too much, and it seems like the author invented a bunch of plot devices to finish the story. However, the characters are likable and well developed, and the situations that they face seem real enough. Although I'm not sure how you would die if you were already in Heck. All in all, this is one of the only 9-book or longer series that has kept my attention, and it deserves 4 stars.

[Tanna Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Basye certainly has his own way of alienating the reader up until pulling an amazing ending out of his butt at the last second. Mostly this is the laman in me talking, when I just want some fun instead of having to use my brain to follow the story. This series has some wit and ego to follow, so you have to be in the right mood for it.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book in the series so far. Basye does a wonderful job of continuing to keep the series fresh, while delivering the expected sharp humor and clever wordplay fans of the Heck books have come to love.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying this whole series. Looking forward to what's next.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great. The best in the series so far.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still pretty funny.

[Edie Creamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books in the series so far - I loved that the whole book was centered around word play and debate. It was a fun concept and it flowed well. The War of Words kind of had a Hunger Games or Survivor type feel. It was engaging and I didn’t feel forced to finish the book (Precocia was really hard for me to read. Although the concept itself was really creative, it was confusing. Some of those concepts bled into Wise Acres).

A new thing that Mr. Bayse added to this book was that the teachers of Wise Acres were good people who helped the children throughout the book. I thought it was a nice addition, being that in the other novels this was rarely the case. VP Carrol made a fantastic antagonist and the whimsical aspects from Alice in Wonderland were enjoyable.

I wish there was more about Bubb, the fallen angels and the Michael/ Satan situation throughout the book. We barely heard from them and it would have been nice to keep that plot going to help drive the plot of the last two books. Previously, I criticized Mr. Bayse for adding himself into the plot of his books. In Wise Acres it felt more appropriate. He had an Algernon Cole experience and it was comical.

As touched on in many of my other Heck reviews, my main problem with the series is that characters are introduced and then left behind as the story moves along. I want to know about all the previous characters such as Sam/Sara, Virgil, Lyon, Bordeaux, Zane etc.

I’m excited to read Sadia and anxiously anticipating the hopeful release of Dupli-City!

[Marion · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was in a bag of YA books so I started the series close to the end. I loved it. Work plays were fantastic. Meeting authors was enjoyable. Bringing all kinds of interesting ideas together to make for a bad place to have to live gave my imagination freedom.
I am now waiting for book one from my library. I am looking forward to it and have already passed it on to a friend.