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Piper McCloud #2
The Boy Who Knew Everything
Here is the long-awaited companion to The Girl Who Could Fly.
There is a prophecy.
It speaks of a girl who can fly and a boy who knows everything. The prophecy says that they have the power to bring about great change...
The boy is Conrad Harrington III. The girl is Piper McCloud. They need their talents now, more than ever, if they are to save the world—and themselves.
There is a prophecy.
It speaks of a girl who can fly and a boy who knows everything. The prophecy says that they have the power to bring about great change...
The boy is Conrad Harrington III. The girl is Piper McCloud. They need their talents now, more than ever, if they are to save the world—and themselves.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published October 27, 2015
155 people are currently reading
2925 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Forester
4 books343 followersVictoria grew up on a remote farm in Ontario, Canada. After graduating from the University of Toronto, her passion for storytelling led her to write and direct a short film for the CBC. When her next film was completed (The Pony’s Tale which aired on Global Television) she eagerly, and perhaps rashly, set off to Los Angeles.
The famous independent film producer, Roger Corman, mentored Victoria and gave her the opportunity to write and direct her first feature film, Circuit Breaker for Showtime starring Richard Grieco and Corben Bernsen.
This was soon followed by Macon County Jail with David Carradine and Ally Sheedy, and Cry of the White Wolf for the Disney Channel. Next Victoria directed Teen Scorcery, a fun story about mischievous teenage witches that was shot in Romania
The Girl Who Could Fly began as a screenplay that was optioned by Paramount Pictures. Victoria loved the story so much she decided to write it as a book as well. It is her very first book but she looks forward to the opportunity of writing many, many more.
She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, newborn daughter and ridiculously orange cat, Rufus.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/victor...
The famous independent film producer, Roger Corman, mentored Victoria and gave her the opportunity to write and direct her first feature film, Circuit Breaker for Showtime starring Richard Grieco and Corben Bernsen.
This was soon followed by Macon County Jail with David Carradine and Ally Sheedy, and Cry of the White Wolf for the Disney Channel. Next Victoria directed Teen Scorcery, a fun story about mischievous teenage witches that was shot in Romania
The Girl Who Could Fly began as a screenplay that was optioned by Paramount Pictures. Victoria loved the story so much she decided to write it as a book as well. It is her very first book but she looks forward to the opportunity of writing many, many more.
She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, newborn daughter and ridiculously orange cat, Rufus.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/victor...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 248 reviews
December 4, 2015
This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.
I really, really, really loved The Boy Who Knew Everything's prequel, The Girl Who Could Fly (my review here). I spent years desperately waiting for a sequel, and when I discovered a few months ago that it was finally happening, I literally started jumping around squealing. I was so excited.
Coming out of The Boy Who Knew Everything, I'm a lot less elated.
I mean, what I loved so much about The Girl Who Could Fly was that it had so many amazing messages mixed in with the really cool sci-fi scenario and the touching inter-personal interactions. It was a story about friendship and bravery and loyalty and staying true to yourself, and it was amazing. The Boy Who Knew Everything, on the other hand, is trying so hard to be some sort of breathtaking, mind-bending story that it forgets its own roots. It's sci-fi storylines stray almost into fantasy, and there's this weird prophecy thing that really doesn't mesh well with the tone of the first book. And then there's the whole plot with Conrad's father, which some will probably like but which I thought was a) weird and b) a dreadful reopening of a wound that I thought beautifully closed at the end of the first book. Piper also didn't seem to have as much spirit in her as she did in the first book. I mean, there was definitely a semblance of trying to represent her as having that spirit, sure, but she just felt pretty forced. And I'm forced to admit that The Girl Who Could Fly should probably have remained a standalone forever, despite how desperate I was all those years for it to have a sequel.
Actually, I think The Boy Who Knew Everything would have done better as a standalone almost as much as its prequel would. Placed next to The Girl Who Could Fly, it simply has lost too much for me to consider it any good; all of my favorite storylines seem to have been polluted and twisted, and new ones introduced that throw off the entire balance of the stories. I can't say that I know for sure that I would adore The Boy Who Knew Everything if it were a standalone - I'm too prejudiced by its prequel to be able to judge - but I do know that a lot of the things I hated about it (the storyline with Conrad's father, for example) I would have actually enjoyed in other circumstances, with different characters. It's just when they are changing the tone and ending of one of my all-time favorite books that I get mad.
Let's be honest, I'm pretty much going to pretend that The Boy Who Knew Everything didn't happen. I mean, I might think of it from time to time as a book completely on its own, but when I think about The Girl Who Could Fly I will not draw any connection between the two books. My Piper and Conrad and Violet and Kimberly and Jasper and all the rest did not travel down the path laid out in The Boy Who Knew Everything; they are still safely where my nine-year-old self left them, their futures completely disconnected to anything that happened to the kids in Forester's second book.
I really, really, really loved The Boy Who Knew Everything's prequel, The Girl Who Could Fly (my review here). I spent years desperately waiting for a sequel, and when I discovered a few months ago that it was finally happening, I literally started jumping around squealing. I was so excited.
Coming out of The Boy Who Knew Everything, I'm a lot less elated.
I mean, what I loved so much about The Girl Who Could Fly was that it had so many amazing messages mixed in with the really cool sci-fi scenario and the touching inter-personal interactions. It was a story about friendship and bravery and loyalty and staying true to yourself, and it was amazing. The Boy Who Knew Everything, on the other hand, is trying so hard to be some sort of breathtaking, mind-bending story that it forgets its own roots. It's sci-fi storylines stray almost into fantasy, and there's this weird prophecy thing that really doesn't mesh well with the tone of the first book. And then there's the whole plot with Conrad's father, which some will probably like but which I thought was a) weird and b) a dreadful reopening of a wound that I thought beautifully closed at the end of the first book. Piper also didn't seem to have as much spirit in her as she did in the first book. I mean, there was definitely a semblance of trying to represent her as having that spirit, sure, but she just felt pretty forced. And I'm forced to admit that The Girl Who Could Fly should probably have remained a standalone forever, despite how desperate I was all those years for it to have a sequel.
Actually, I think The Boy Who Knew Everything would have done better as a standalone almost as much as its prequel would. Placed next to The Girl Who Could Fly, it simply has lost too much for me to consider it any good; all of my favorite storylines seem to have been polluted and twisted, and new ones introduced that throw off the entire balance of the stories. I can't say that I know for sure that I would adore The Boy Who Knew Everything if it were a standalone - I'm too prejudiced by its prequel to be able to judge - but I do know that a lot of the things I hated about it (the storyline with Conrad's father, for example) I would have actually enjoyed in other circumstances, with different characters. It's just when they are changing the tone and ending of one of my all-time favorite books that I get mad.
Let's be honest, I'm pretty much going to pretend that The Boy Who Knew Everything didn't happen. I mean, I might think of it from time to time as a book completely on its own, but when I think about The Girl Who Could Fly I will not draw any connection between the two books. My Piper and Conrad and Violet and Kimberly and Jasper and all the rest did not travel down the path laid out in The Boy Who Knew Everything; they are still safely where my nine-year-old self left them, their futures completely disconnected to anything that happened to the kids in Forester's second book.
May 29, 2020
The Boy who Knew Everything, was and is the most disappointing, most appalling sequel to a good book I have ever had the misfortune of reading.
The plot was disjointed, nonsensical and boring. Seriously, this was incredibly hard to slog through- it felt like I was wading through poorly contrived plot lines, while narrowly avoiding death via extreme frustration. There were so many plot holes.
Honestly, not even plot holes, just gaping sections of missing plot. Zero exhibition, zero explanation. Characters appearing and disappearing throughout the novel, major events happening with zero reason, plot progressing without explaining how it affected the previous scene. The author took the first book's well written narrative arc- an arc written to completion- and ruined it. (LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE) She gave background characters complex and bizarrely unnecessary backgrounds and motivations, reworking perfectly good established cannon.
For example: (and it's actually worse in the book) This is Conrad's distant and politically motivated father figure. SIKE, this is Peter Harrington, a man who has been under the spell of a secret blood necklace, and who grew up in a magical paradise for people with super powers but lost his memory when he was exiled because his mother angered her husband who happened to be an immortal evil one.... spoiler alert.
And that honestly wasn't the worst part. There was a randomly added giant prophecy, that fizzled into nothing, the 'big bad' antagonist literally LITERALLY dropped into existence in the last few chapters and was then sort-of defeated- in a hasty epilogue. Time travel was added, and then never mentioned again. There was a load of pseudoscience too.
The first book was one of my favourite childhood books, which is why I'm so upset by this sequel. It felt like an explosion of random plots and ideas that, besides names and settings, had zero connection to the first novel.
I'm choosing to pretend this is fan fiction.
The plot was disjointed, nonsensical and boring. Seriously, this was incredibly hard to slog through- it felt like I was wading through poorly contrived plot lines, while narrowly avoiding death via extreme frustration. There were so many plot holes.
Honestly, not even plot holes, just gaping sections of missing plot. Zero exhibition, zero explanation. Characters appearing and disappearing throughout the novel, major events happening with zero reason, plot progressing without explaining how it affected the previous scene. The author took the first book's well written narrative arc- an arc written to completion- and ruined it. (LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE) She gave background characters complex and bizarrely unnecessary backgrounds and motivations, reworking perfectly good established cannon.
For example: (and it's actually worse in the book) This is Conrad's distant and politically motivated father figure. SIKE, this is Peter Harrington, a man who has been under the spell of a secret blood necklace, and who grew up in a magical paradise for people with super powers but lost his memory when he was exiled because his mother angered her husband who happened to be an immortal evil one.... spoiler alert.
And that honestly wasn't the worst part. There was a randomly added giant prophecy, that fizzled into nothing, the 'big bad' antagonist literally LITERALLY dropped into existence in the last few chapters and was then sort-of defeated- in a hasty epilogue. Time travel was added, and then never mentioned again. There was a load of pseudoscience too.
The first book was one of my favourite childhood books, which is why I'm so upset by this sequel. It felt like an explosion of random plots and ideas that, besides names and settings, had zero connection to the first novel.
I'm choosing to pretend this is fan fiction.
December 26, 2016
I want to just say that I loved The Girl Who Could Fly. It is the only book on my bookshelf that has a completely broken spine from the numerous times that I read it over and over and over. I would read this middle school level book in public without shame because of how mind-blowing it was. So, when I heard about this book I was ecstatic to have a sequel to one of my all time favorite books.
Sadly this book did not live up to the legacy of the first one. The first book had a nice blend of realism and fantasy and sweet country charm. While with this one Conrad is the lead instead of Piper he does a good job at holding up the story. I love his technical babble even if I can't understand it like Piper.
I think the main thing that hurt the overall story for me compared to The Girl Who Could Fly is that the first story was self contained and had a clear beginning, middle, and end. While this one tries to go down the crazy path that other book steers clear of. In this one there's prophecies, magical lands, Dark Ones, spy action, sci-fi, fantasy. Ultimately, this story is doing waaaaaaayyyy to much at the cost of characters' personalities and development.
It was a good read. The tailoring and structure of the story though just seemed like completely different characters at times.
Sadly this book did not live up to the legacy of the first one. The first book had a nice blend of realism and fantasy and sweet country charm. While with this one Conrad is the lead instead of Piper he does a good job at holding up the story. I love his technical babble even if I can't understand it like Piper.
I think the main thing that hurt the overall story for me compared to The Girl Who Could Fly is that the first story was self contained and had a clear beginning, middle, and end. While this one tries to go down the crazy path that other book steers clear of. In this one there's prophecies, magical lands, Dark Ones, spy action, sci-fi, fantasy. Ultimately, this story is doing waaaaaaayyyy to much at the cost of characters' personalities and development.
It was a good read. The tailoring and structure of the story though just seemed like completely different characters at times.
July 10, 2015
A worthy companion to the Girl Who Could Fly, The friendship between the two is very special, full of warmth and adventure this fantasy is also set very strongly in the real world giving it strength and a feeling of reality, as it brings in many other characters that one feels they know the full person of each one, making this novel a joy to read.
September 8, 2018
I'd much rather we not talk about how long this has been on my shelf. I pre-ordered this when I knew it existed and it was a Christmas present to myself. I could have sworn it's been under a year but apparently it's been 2 so now I'm just embarrassed. In my defence, I wanted to reread the Girl Who Could Fly and there were so many other things I had to attend to that I was just happy owning the second book.
Well, at long last I finally had enough time to read all of the first book and finally a quiet weekend to read the second! And it was worth it!
This book is broader in it's being, and is busier for it. Piper is being true to herself, Conrad is discovering more about who he is and we've got anxiety inducing moments galore. I feel we had gaps in certain spots, like the editors got a bit too heavy in their work and parts of the story needed to be scaled down or it could be that I'm a fool and there is so much that is going to be happening in the final book.
I'm anxiously awaiting The Boy Who Lived Forever. Which, I should not hold myself on because as per the norm with these glorious tales, we've got to sweat it out for another year at least before we can see this book appear. Still, it will invariably be worth the wait.
***** ^^^ Latest update is above ^^^ *****
LOOK! It has to be Piper and Conrad! I know of so few flying girls. This is grand! October seems like years away at the moment ='(
***** ^^^ Latest update is above ^^^ *****
If this is the potential sequel to the "The Girl Who Could Fly" then I am so thrilled! If it is a stand alone and not connected, I honestly don't care because I loved her first book and I have been waiting and searching the internet for any hint that she was going to do more writing! =D
This has totally made staying until 3am looking for books worth it =D
Well, at long last I finally had enough time to read all of the first book and finally a quiet weekend to read the second! And it was worth it!
This book is broader in it's being, and is busier for it. Piper is being true to herself, Conrad is discovering more about who he is and we've got anxiety inducing moments galore. I feel we had gaps in certain spots, like the editors got a bit too heavy in their work and parts of the story needed to be scaled down or it could be that I'm a fool and there is so much that is going to be happening in the final book.
I'm anxiously awaiting The Boy Who Lived Forever. Which, I should not hold myself on because as per the norm with these glorious tales, we've got to sweat it out for another year at least before we can see this book appear. Still, it will invariably be worth the wait.
***** ^^^ Latest update is above ^^^ *****
LOOK! It has to be Piper and Conrad! I know of so few flying girls. This is grand! October seems like years away at the moment ='(
***** ^^^ Latest update is above ^^^ *****
If this is the potential sequel to the "The Girl Who Could Fly" then I am so thrilled! If it is a stand alone and not connected, I honestly don't care because I loved her first book and I have been waiting and searching the internet for any hint that she was going to do more writing! =D
This has totally made staying until 3am looking for books worth it =D
June 14, 2016
painfully disappointing. The writing has a completely different feel to it and my attachment to Conrad and Piper's friendship was my only incentive to finish the book. The tone is completely different than that of the first book, the pacing is all over the place, and the plot was just plain stupid. It read like bad fanfiction most of the time. Don't bother.
March 17, 2021
OMG! The 1st book blew my mind! But this 1 was even better somehow! I am just in awe at the writing talent. There were so many twists, so much suspense, danger..old characters, new characters...started to love 1 I thought I hated!! The talent! Lol Piper is still as incredible as ever. This book is more from Conrad’s POV, & what a great kid. He & Piper are always together for the most part, so she’s still in this one just as much, which I loved. There’s so many amazing parts that I want to talk about, but can’t! It’s the 2nd book & I don’t want to spoil. But the AMOUNT of utterly amazing parts shows how great this book is. I was so upset I had to stop reading last night & go to sleep. There was literally never a point I wanted to put it down. I picked it up yesterday on page 32 where I stopped the night before. I was on page 262 when I finally forced myself to put it down last night. The whole book was just magnificent, & that ending was BRILLIANT! It had me proud of of these characters, emotional (good kind), & tingling w/excitement for the last book. The villain in this book was written astonishingly well! Soooo good! Top notch “bad guy”. I loved to hate them, & loved reading their parts in the book. Engrossing to say the least. Highly recommend. I can say already this is a new favorite author. Another stunning cover by Iacopo Bruno too of course. Just beautiful.💜
June 8, 2018
1.5 really
damn :/ I was really hoping this one would be good since I enjoyed the first book, but it seems like the author bit off more than she could chew here by adding real world situations, time travel, and magic/fantasy elements all at once. It didn't connect well with the world established in the first book (tbh feels like a different world entirely), the pacing was extremely awkward, and the plot was all over the place. I get that some things, such as AnnA's fate and the TiTI, were left unexplained to make room for a sequel, but it honestly just feels like gaping plot holes if you only looked at this book by itself. And you know something's wrong when I, a sucker for worldbuilding, started getting bored after all the descriptions of the paradise utopia of Xanthia (which means "yellow" btw).
I was engrossed by The Girl Who Could Fly, which took classic superpowers and wrote them with enough originality to make it interesting and believable. However, with The Boy Who Knew Everything, I had trouble staying engaged and keeping my disbelief suspended because so many things were just too convenient. Why is the "most heavily guarded facility in the world" so easy to break into both times? Why would you enter extremely sensitive information into your phone through voice memo on public transportation??? Yeah let me just violate 200% of HIPAA in a compartment that's probably not soundproof and here's my social security number while I'm at it. You don't have to be a genius to see why irreversibly hardwiring a computer into your brain would be a terrible idea, yet Conrad does it anyway. And of course we can't ignore the fact that these kids are traveling all over the country on missions yet somehow manage to make it back to the farm in a couple of hours with no mention of transportation??? Like when they're rescuing whales in San Francisco and Piper just casually leaves first and flies home to the countryside alone. What is going on here my dude? Why is literally everything there at the right time???
After the nuances shown in The Girl Who Could Fly, I was pretty disappointed with the deluge of tropes present in The Boy Who Knew Everything. A stereotypical description of the countryside might be charming and nostalgic, but having Conrad be distracted and speak in huge incomprehensible scientific words every time he had dialogue got irritating pretty quickly. Maybe he's a genius, but keep talking that way and he'd be the worst professor ever. Academics are real people who happen to be involved in academic stuff. We're not walking journal publications. So stop that.
Besides that, there was also some pretty insensitive stuff that was said. Here's a couple of gems:
"settle Amy Anne's feminine hysteria" (yikes)
"[if you haven't said your first word by age 4] this invariably leads to an enormous number of assessments. The purpose... is to determine exactly and specifically how dumb you are and why you are dumb and then to hit upon just the right label for your particular brand of dumbness" (Y I K E S TIL people with learning disabilities are just "dumb")
"he couldn't really remember which natives; frankly, after a while they all sort of blended" (ok I get this is from Max's perspective and Max is a Bad Guy but still :/)
In conclusion, I'm sad to find that I'm pretty disappointed. Having a younger audience isn't an excuse for a half-baked book; The Underland Chronicles and even The Girl Who Could Fly turned out beautifully. I'm probably still going to read the next one for the plotin hopes that it'll be better but tbh I'm kind of only counting the first book as canon
p.s. wtf is "criminally insane" what does that even mean
damn :/ I was really hoping this one would be good since I enjoyed the first book, but it seems like the author bit off more than she could chew here by adding real world situations, time travel, and magic/fantasy elements all at once. It didn't connect well with the world established in the first book (tbh feels like a different world entirely), the pacing was extremely awkward, and the plot was all over the place. I get that some things, such as AnnA's fate and the TiTI, were left unexplained to make room for a sequel, but it honestly just feels like gaping plot holes if you only looked at this book by itself. And you know something's wrong when I, a sucker for worldbuilding, started getting bored after all the descriptions of the paradise utopia of Xanthia (which means "yellow" btw).
I was engrossed by The Girl Who Could Fly, which took classic superpowers and wrote them with enough originality to make it interesting and believable. However, with The Boy Who Knew Everything, I had trouble staying engaged and keeping my disbelief suspended because so many things were just too convenient. Why is the "most heavily guarded facility in the world" so easy to break into both times? Why would you enter extremely sensitive information into your phone through voice memo on public transportation??? Yeah let me just violate 200% of HIPAA in a compartment that's probably not soundproof and here's my social security number while I'm at it. You don't have to be a genius to see why irreversibly hardwiring a computer into your brain would be a terrible idea, yet Conrad does it anyway. And of course we can't ignore the fact that these kids are traveling all over the country on missions yet somehow manage to make it back to the farm in a couple of hours with no mention of transportation??? Like when they're rescuing whales in San Francisco and Piper just casually leaves first and flies home to the countryside alone. What is going on here my dude? Why is literally everything there at the right time???
After the nuances shown in The Girl Who Could Fly, I was pretty disappointed with the deluge of tropes present in The Boy Who Knew Everything. A stereotypical description of the countryside might be charming and nostalgic, but having Conrad be distracted and speak in huge incomprehensible scientific words every time he had dialogue got irritating pretty quickly. Maybe he's a genius, but keep talking that way and he'd be the worst professor ever. Academics are real people who happen to be involved in academic stuff. We're not walking journal publications. So stop that.
Besides that, there was also some pretty insensitive stuff that was said. Here's a couple of gems:
"settle Amy Anne's feminine hysteria" (yikes)
"[if you haven't said your first word by age 4] this invariably leads to an enormous number of assessments. The purpose... is to determine exactly and specifically how dumb you are and why you are dumb and then to hit upon just the right label for your particular brand of dumbness" (Y I K E S TIL people with learning disabilities are just "dumb")
"he couldn't really remember which natives; frankly, after a while they all sort of blended" (ok I get this is from Max's perspective and Max is a Bad Guy but still :/)
In conclusion, I'm sad to find that I'm pretty disappointed. Having a younger audience isn't an excuse for a half-baked book; The Underland Chronicles and even The Girl Who Could Fly turned out beautifully. I'm probably still going to read the next one for the plot
p.s. wtf is "criminally insane" what does that even mean
March 26, 2021
Sympathique, plus original que le premier tome !
February 7, 2019
A little better, in some ways, than the previous book but still, in my mind, lacking in many significant ways. I had been enjoying the book up until the county fair scene. "It's got the devil in it!" does this take place in modern times, as it appears to, or the rural 1800s? The neighbors of the McCloud family act like hicks who've never seen an automobile. I can understand shock and distrust but stoning children? Then the whole White House thing. No, I know it's a kid's story but you don't have to make things stupid. Three children, a demigod of sorts the President and a sometimes invisible man running around the roof of the best guarded house in the country? No spotlights? Snipers? Guards? Helicopters? This doesn't happen. What's worse is we're supposed to believe the President can tell his personal guard detail to stay and run up onto the roof, alone to deal with an unknown threat? Seriously? It doesn't happen. Then they run from the White House for. . . a day or so and end up in mountains with a hidden river, near a desert, with a huge valley cut off from all outside contact? On the East coast of the United States? Did the author bother to look at a map? Did the river have a magic gateway, unmentioned in the book, to another part of the country? It makes no sense. Then there's the protagonist, Max, dropped late into the story a nearly immortal being who talks like a stoned surfer from the late 90s? Where did his horrible dialog come from? It's insulting and destroys the narrative. Finally we come to the end. . . wait, no, we don't GET a nice, wrapped up in a bow ending. Instead we get numerous wide open arcs with no resolution. Terrible. I don't get the hype. I like YA literature but this is barely passable.
August 11, 2015
The Girl Who Could Fly has been a favorite book of mine for a long time and I was so happy that the stories and characters would be able to continue on in this next installment. It did not disappoint, it did a really good job of continuing the storyline forward, while following up with old characters. In this book we follow Conrad and Piper as they continue life on the farm. Even though things seem perfect, when Conrad has to face his past things start to come apart. Although it was really good, the same parts that were lacking in The Girl Who Could Fly were also lacking here, the description. I would definitely recommend this book, because it has a great message about being true to yourself, what family is and standing up for what you think is right. The ending was really good, there was a point where it was really intense and in my head I was chanting "don't end, don't end," luckily it did not and it ended up being very conclusive, satisfying and touching. It was also left open for a next one, which I am looking forward too. There were a couple of parts that I felt did not fit in to the style of the previous book, but I feel that this comes from, in the first book, not knowing that there would be a second one, so things where not set up to be continued. I give this book four stars because it is really good, but it is lacking in a few parts, such as descriptions.
Want to read
September 9, 2015YAY IM SO EXCITED!!! I read the first book about two or three years ago, so I'll be sure to reread it, but YAY!!!
June 24, 2020
4.5 Certainly wasn’t what I expected after the first book but I still loved it.
March 29, 2017
This book is amazing.
When I got to the part where Conrad invented the Direct Brain Interface, I was like,
When I got to the part where Conrad invented the Direct Brain Interface, I was like,
unfinished
March 2, 2016WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! It's finally coming! I loved Conrad; this is so exciting.
September 26, 2023
Is there a third booooooooooook??
April 5, 2018
The Boy who knew everything is a inconsistent squeal to The Girl who Could Fly. Conrad Harrington III a super-genius and his best friend Piper McCloud create a team of children with special abilities. They secretly execute rescue missions for a series of progressively wary natural disasters. Conrad starts to notice that all the disasters have something in common, as well as they could all lead up to something big and bad! Aside from that Conrad is dealing with his own internal and family issues. Honestly I must say this book is far from anything like the first. It has a lot of action, but it seems to be less exciting and descriptive. Many characters personality horribly changed. Especially Piper’s. As well, characters that had no reason to come back did. There were also many things in the book that were poorly explained on how they happened to occur. Overall this book had a whole different feel from the first book and wasn't as well written.
April 18, 2017
Tell me that's not the ending.. There's gotta be more!
June 15, 2025
Second book in this series re-read
November 18, 2018
Çok güzeldi. Uçabilen Kız kitabından sonra iyi geldi. İnsana cesaret veren bir seri.
January 29, 2020
Loved it. Conrad is my fav
March 7, 2018
The long awaited sequel to The Girl Who Could Fly, this action-paced and thrilling novel not only fifulled my expectations, but also surpassed them. This book, which could be easily independent, not only continued the story from the first book but also embellished it, painting beautifully the depths unseen before. This was an amazing read!
One of my surprises in reading this book was the larger amount of fantasy and fantastical circumstances. While the first book could be considered ‘fantasy’, it still had a very realistic feeling to it. This book, however, had a much stronger magical pull. I was a little disappointed in this, in the aspect that towards the end words and phrases such as “spells” and even “spirits” were used, which to me didn’t match up with the feel of the first book at all. Yet, it didn’t go into it too much, so it wasn’t negative enough for me to lower my appreciation; it was just one thing that didn’t make sense to me, especially since everything else was written so realistically, like the first book. It almost seemed as if the author intended to make this more fantastical, then kept forgetting about it.
The characters! Piper, Conrad, Violet—they’re all back in this book, and more developed than ever. For the first time, we get a glimpse of the true personalities of Nahem and Ahmed, as well as few other minor characters we barely glimpsed in Book I. Conrad’s character was done so, so, well: things that didn’t add up about his character previously now all make perfect sense. For the first time we catch glimpses of Conrad’s true being, his true colors, and I won’t spoil anything except to say I was amazed. Backstories and secrets come together to create stunningly real characters. Piper, of course, is amazing as usual, and since we already know her fairly well, it was wonderful to get to see her again and get to know her even better. Her loyalty and love is unfailing, and it’s simply impossible not to root for her. Now suddenly, things that we didn’t understand about the first book all make perfect sense.
This book was action filled and adventure paced all the way through, yet with still enough time and pace between each moment for the gentler, softer moments of the book. Sweet moments between characters and touching conversations are still present, giving us time to really once again fall in love with these characters; right as the action kicks back in again, sending us for a rollercoaster of a ride. Plot twists were common, unexpected, and shocking—written very well and right into the plotline. There were lots of reveals, all done very well, and all unexpected and unforeseen.
Better yet, the storyline had such a strong structure, with reveals in the right places, answers in the right time, and questions presented cleverly. It did not feel drawn out once, and I was pleased to see every scene work its way smartly into the plotline and prove itself of importance. Not one scene dragged, and not one scene proved pointless, which is always a plus for me.
And one last thing: the ending. I won’t spoil it; I’ll only say it was one of the best endings I’ve read in a long, long time. It had a shock factor, a fear factor, and yet did not end in a horrific way. It was bravery to the extent of bravery, loyalty to the extent of loyalty, and so, so much more. Fantastic job, Victoria Forester. And one last note, real quick about the themes: they were so amazing, positive, encouraging, and beautiful. Loyalty, which I’ve mentioned, and bravery, as well as self sacrifice, friendship, family, overcoming evil, staying true to yourself, and so much more.
So despite the childish look to this book, there is so much hidden in the depths of the pages. It was a beautiful book, cleverly and talentedly answering and fifulling expectations from the first book, yet adding a deeper and more meaningful touch. I’d highly recommend it to fans of The Girl Who Could Fly: it does not disappoint! A positive 5.0 stars!
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One of my surprises in reading this book was the larger amount of fantasy and fantastical circumstances. While the first book could be considered ‘fantasy’, it still had a very realistic feeling to it. This book, however, had a much stronger magical pull. I was a little disappointed in this, in the aspect that towards the end words and phrases such as “spells” and even “spirits” were used, which to me didn’t match up with the feel of the first book at all. Yet, it didn’t go into it too much, so it wasn’t negative enough for me to lower my appreciation; it was just one thing that didn’t make sense to me, especially since everything else was written so realistically, like the first book. It almost seemed as if the author intended to make this more fantastical, then kept forgetting about it.
The characters! Piper, Conrad, Violet—they’re all back in this book, and more developed than ever. For the first time, we get a glimpse of the true personalities of Nahem and Ahmed, as well as few other minor characters we barely glimpsed in Book I. Conrad’s character was done so, so, well: things that didn’t add up about his character previously now all make perfect sense. For the first time we catch glimpses of Conrad’s true being, his true colors, and I won’t spoil anything except to say I was amazed. Backstories and secrets come together to create stunningly real characters. Piper, of course, is amazing as usual, and since we already know her fairly well, it was wonderful to get to see her again and get to know her even better. Her loyalty and love is unfailing, and it’s simply impossible not to root for her. Now suddenly, things that we didn’t understand about the first book all make perfect sense.
This book was action filled and adventure paced all the way through, yet with still enough time and pace between each moment for the gentler, softer moments of the book. Sweet moments between characters and touching conversations are still present, giving us time to really once again fall in love with these characters; right as the action kicks back in again, sending us for a rollercoaster of a ride. Plot twists were common, unexpected, and shocking—written very well and right into the plotline. There were lots of reveals, all done very well, and all unexpected and unforeseen.
Better yet, the storyline had such a strong structure, with reveals in the right places, answers in the right time, and questions presented cleverly. It did not feel drawn out once, and I was pleased to see every scene work its way smartly into the plotline and prove itself of importance. Not one scene dragged, and not one scene proved pointless, which is always a plus for me.
And one last thing: the ending. I won’t spoil it; I’ll only say it was one of the best endings I’ve read in a long, long time. It had a shock factor, a fear factor, and yet did not end in a horrific way. It was bravery to the extent of bravery, loyalty to the extent of loyalty, and so, so much more. Fantastic job, Victoria Forester. And one last note, real quick about the themes: they were so amazing, positive, encouraging, and beautiful. Loyalty, which I’ve mentioned, and bravery, as well as self sacrifice, friendship, family, overcoming evil, staying true to yourself, and so much more.
So despite the childish look to this book, there is so much hidden in the depths of the pages. It was a beautiful book, cleverly and talentedly answering and fifulling expectations from the first book, yet adding a deeper and more meaningful touch. I’d highly recommend it to fans of The Girl Who Could Fly: it does not disappoint! A positive 5.0 stars!
Like my reviews? Follow my blog:
http://jcbuchanan.com
February 28, 2020
So...I have a lot of thoughts on this book, but there will be spoilers, so I don't recommend reading it if you like to be surprised.
The thing that stood out to me the most in this book was Piper and Conrad's relationship. I thought she and her family were really good for him after he was mistreated in his early childhood. I enjoyed seeing their bond develop throughout the story, and I think they make a good team. I was also intrigued by Conrad's father and wanted to know more about him from the beginning. I didn't like J. much, he was too mysterious for me to trust him. I wasn't surprised when he turned out to be Dr. Hellion's brother, but I was confused when they talked about their childhood. I would really like to know more about it.
I love the idea of a child superhero group, and I got excited when the kids decided to form a team, but I was really disappointed with how fast that part of the story went by. I wanted to know more about how they developed their skills and worked together on their rescue missions. That was my least favorite part of the story.
In the second half of the book, I enjoyed Conrad and Piper's adventure to Xanthia. I thought it was really cool how they entered one part of the mountain and exited into another world on the other side. I liked the descriptions of the magical creatures there, and I thought the people were interesting too. However, I would have liked more description about Xanthia and the locations there. I feel like that part of the book went by too quickly too. There wasn't really anything about Xanthia that stood out to me among the many fantasy worlds I've read about.
The scene with the giant spiders really confused me. I thought this was supposed to be a peaceful paradise where everybody was happy and safe? I was really thrown off by that.
I enjoyed Max as a villain, I thought he was unique. His twisted sense of fun was really creepy and fascinating, and I'm looking forward to learning more about him in the next book.
Toward the end of the book, things started to slow down a little bit, and I thought the plot was finally becoming more drawn out. I enjoyed the action scenes at the climax of the book, and Conrad's sacrifice was really exciting. I also liked the fact that Letitia Hellion was given the chance to redeem herself, although I think she has to do more to prove that she's really changed before she'll be trustworthy again.
After the scene where Piper was saved, things started to speed up again and I didn't like that. I would have lost interest if it hadn't been for the scene between Conrad and his dad at the very end. I thought it was really sweet and needed to happen after so much horrible stuff had occurred between them.
Overall, I didn't like this book as much as the first one, but I'm still going to read book three, and see how it all turns out.
The thing that stood out to me the most in this book was Piper and Conrad's relationship. I thought she and her family were really good for him after he was mistreated in his early childhood. I enjoyed seeing their bond develop throughout the story, and I think they make a good team. I was also intrigued by Conrad's father and wanted to know more about him from the beginning. I didn't like J. much, he was too mysterious for me to trust him. I wasn't surprised when he turned out to be Dr. Hellion's brother, but I was confused when they talked about their childhood. I would really like to know more about it.
I love the idea of a child superhero group, and I got excited when the kids decided to form a team, but I was really disappointed with how fast that part of the story went by. I wanted to know more about how they developed their skills and worked together on their rescue missions. That was my least favorite part of the story.
In the second half of the book, I enjoyed Conrad and Piper's adventure to Xanthia. I thought it was really cool how they entered one part of the mountain and exited into another world on the other side. I liked the descriptions of the magical creatures there, and I thought the people were interesting too. However, I would have liked more description about Xanthia and the locations there. I feel like that part of the book went by too quickly too. There wasn't really anything about Xanthia that stood out to me among the many fantasy worlds I've read about.
The scene with the giant spiders really confused me. I thought this was supposed to be a peaceful paradise where everybody was happy and safe? I was really thrown off by that.
I enjoyed Max as a villain, I thought he was unique. His twisted sense of fun was really creepy and fascinating, and I'm looking forward to learning more about him in the next book.
Toward the end of the book, things started to slow down a little bit, and I thought the plot was finally becoming more drawn out. I enjoyed the action scenes at the climax of the book, and Conrad's sacrifice was really exciting. I also liked the fact that Letitia Hellion was given the chance to redeem herself, although I think she has to do more to prove that she's really changed before she'll be trustworthy again.
After the scene where Piper was saved, things started to speed up again and I didn't like that. I would have lost interest if it hadn't been for the scene between Conrad and his dad at the very end. I thought it was really sweet and needed to happen after so much horrible stuff had occurred between them.
Overall, I didn't like this book as much as the first one, but I'm still going to read book three, and see how it all turns out.
April 7, 2022
Somewhat keeps up to the quality of the first, but for a book that’s been in development hell for seven years??? It is a bit of a let-down. TBWKE would never really surpass the first due to that, but I was a little disappointed. It suffers the same problem of there not really being any consequences but worse, Dr. Hellion is alive somehow, Conrad’s dad survives a bullet wound to the chest (for some reason getting frozen in ice stops this), Bella is regaining her powers that she lost in the first book and Conrad regains all of his memories. There are probably more but those are just the big ones. I also kept thinking about the fact that like, Piper got struck by lightning five times and still survived and Dr. Hellion flew through fucking lava spray and survives. Another point that keeps sticking to me is the fact that the CIA just blew up a cave that, to their knowledge, the person who assassinated the president of the United States went into. It’s all rather absurd.
The villain also feels rather cartoony at points, while he does have moments of actual evilness, he doesn’t live up to Dr. Hellion in the first book due to how he’s handled. Dude literally just dumped the prophesized person who would defeat him on the side of the road and didn’t lock him up or kill him. Other characters aren’t really explored too well and what happened to the kid who could turn things to stone??? He just pissed off??? I thought he was in love with Lilly??? There’s no explanation given.
Rating: 5/10
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2025
This was just as lovely and charming as the first book, but there were a few things that just made it less enjoyable.
The story, whilst very good, lacked the same sentiment about self-acceptance that the first book had. In trying to up the danger, the plot jumped around a lot, and had lots of different storylines all crossing over. Anna's fate was never resolved, and there are a few loose ends that need sorting. I assume this will be done in book 3.
The characters are still great, and it was nice to see them begin to mature as they are all nearing their teenage years. I was very glad that Bella made an appearance, and I hope that her scenes imply she will get her powers back in time for book 3.
As with other reviews, the genre feels like it's made a bit of a wild change. The first book was more science fiction, the second more fantasy. I wasn't actually enamoured with the inclusion of Xanthia (the magical place where everyone has powers), I'd have rather had a settlement that didn't involve some random (never before mentioned) goddess and an someone unbelievable mountainous region with beautiful lakes and plants and a waterfall ALL BELOW GROUND. As lovely as it sounded (and I'm aware this is a fiction book) it just didn't feel believable in the context of this story.
I will read the 3rd one, because love the world and its characters, and I want to know how this series ends, but I hope the author moves back towards the Sci fi roots of the series
The story, whilst very good, lacked the same sentiment about self-acceptance that the first book had. In trying to up the danger, the plot jumped around a lot, and had lots of different storylines all crossing over. Anna's fate was never resolved, and there are a few loose ends that need sorting. I assume this will be done in book 3.
The characters are still great, and it was nice to see them begin to mature as they are all nearing their teenage years. I was very glad that Bella made an appearance, and I hope that her scenes imply she will get her powers back in time for book 3.
As with other reviews, the genre feels like it's made a bit of a wild change. The first book was more science fiction, the second more fantasy. I wasn't actually enamoured with the inclusion of Xanthia (the magical place where everyone has powers), I'd have rather had a settlement that didn't involve some random (never before mentioned) goddess and an someone unbelievable mountainous region with beautiful lakes and plants and a waterfall ALL BELOW GROUND. As lovely as it sounded (and I'm aware this is a fiction book) it just didn't feel believable in the context of this story.
I will read the 3rd one, because love the world and its characters, and I want to know how this series ends, but I hope the author moves back towards the Sci fi roots of the series
September 14, 2015
Conrad is the boy who knows everything, and his friend Piper can fly. But rather than be treated as superheroes, they were shipped off to a school for children with special abilities—a school where they eventually escaped the evil headmistress. Conrad and Piper flee to her parents' farm, where eventually the other kids from the school make their way to join them. Conrad and his friends busy themselves putting their exceptional skills to use rescuing people from disasters, but before long it becomes clear that there's more behind the disasters than they first assumed. Soon Conrad, Piper, and their friends set out on a quest to find out what's happening and whether there really is a Nirvana for people with special abilities like themselves.
This is the second book in the series and comes after The Girl Who Could Fly. I began the book without realizing that it was the second in a series, and because of this, for some time I felt confused about where the story was going. Within the book, one story about these exceptional kids morphs into another, making it a great read for kids who are always looking for more to read, even more so because they can begin with The Girl Who Could Fly.
I received The Boy Who Knew Everything as an electronic ARC courtesy of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is the second book in the series and comes after The Girl Who Could Fly. I began the book without realizing that it was the second in a series, and because of this, for some time I felt confused about where the story was going. Within the book, one story about these exceptional kids morphs into another, making it a great read for kids who are always looking for more to read, even more so because they can begin with The Girl Who Could Fly.
I received The Boy Who Knew Everything as an electronic ARC courtesy of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 9, 2016
How I feel on finishing this: confused and disappointed.
I had such high expectations! I loved The Girl Who Could Fly, I loved how it was more about the development of the characters than the world they lived in. It had a clear plot line, and what I loved the most was Piper's heart. It's powerful to see the change she goes through! And satisfying like a warm drink on a cold day. This book didn't give me that feeling... It was more like eating fast food then immediately riding a roller-coaster. I didn't like how Piper and Conrad's adventures veered into more of a fantasy realm, with supernatural explanations for their abilities, an "immortal villain," and a paradise haven carved into rock where the inhabitants worship Mother Mountain... What?? It seemed inconsistent with the style of the first book; where that reminded me of books by Shannon Hale and Joan Bauer, this seemed more like the Percy Jackson books. I also felt like the plot branched off in random places, distracting my attention from the parts that really mattered, leaving me frustrated and impatient rather than entertained and moved. Not the experience I look for in a book. Pretty sad since I enjoyed the first book so much.
I had such high expectations! I loved The Girl Who Could Fly, I loved how it was more about the development of the characters than the world they lived in. It had a clear plot line, and what I loved the most was Piper's heart. It's powerful to see the change she goes through! And satisfying like a warm drink on a cold day. This book didn't give me that feeling... It was more like eating fast food then immediately riding a roller-coaster. I didn't like how Piper and Conrad's adventures veered into more of a fantasy realm, with supernatural explanations for their abilities, an "immortal villain," and a paradise haven carved into rock where the inhabitants worship Mother Mountain... What?? It seemed inconsistent with the style of the first book; where that reminded me of books by Shannon Hale and Joan Bauer, this seemed more like the Percy Jackson books. I also felt like the plot branched off in random places, distracting my attention from the parts that really mattered, leaving me frustrated and impatient rather than entertained and moved. Not the experience I look for in a book. Pretty sad since I enjoyed the first book so much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2017
I absolutely loved the girl who could fly (this book's prequel. I read it when I was eight, and have re-read it so many times. To this day it remains one of my favourite books. If you haven't already, READ IT NOW!
That being said, I was disappointed with the quality of this sequel. It lacks detail and skips through various events very quickly and haphazardly, there are several issues with continuity (in the first novel Piper was 9 and Conrad is 11, but in this novel as Conrad turns 12, piper is said to be 11. She completely skipped a year. WTF?) and the plot completely tore the beauty of the first novel to shreds.
So, whilst I go bang my head against a wall and try to forget this novel ever happened, I strongly advise you to think carefully before picking it up from your favoured book purchasing place. If you LOVED the first novel and don't want to ruin your vision of the world contained in it, I wouldn't recommend reading this sequel. But, if you want to go on and read it, excited that they finally bothered to continue the series (like I was) then by all means, go for it. Just brace yourself for disappointment.
Some people actually liked it. Maybe you will too. But if not, there's always room for you by my side on the head banging wall. May all be forgotten...
That being said, I was disappointed with the quality of this sequel. It lacks detail and skips through various events very quickly and haphazardly, there are several issues with continuity (in the first novel Piper was 9 and Conrad is 11, but in this novel as Conrad turns 12, piper is said to be 11. She completely skipped a year. WTF?) and the plot completely tore the beauty of the first novel to shreds.
So, whilst I go bang my head against a wall and try to forget this novel ever happened, I strongly advise you to think carefully before picking it up from your favoured book purchasing place. If you LOVED the first novel and don't want to ruin your vision of the world contained in it, I wouldn't recommend reading this sequel. But, if you want to go on and read it, excited that they finally bothered to continue the series (like I was) then by all means, go for it. Just brace yourself for disappointment.
Some people actually liked it. Maybe you will too. But if not, there's always room for you by my side on the head banging wall. May all be forgotten...
June 30, 2022
ok this was enjoyable to read. and at no point boring. but the plot somehow went in more directions than pines and lilies, the book i wrote when i was 10. despite the inconsistencies in the girl who could fly , it was leagues better than the strange twists and turns in this book, which at some points reminded me of the last 30 pages of the lantern's ember .
the first half of the book was pretty much all exposition, but that's ok. i liked seeing the kids be able to thrive. i don't know what's up with aletha. like is she also going to have powers? she's just there. and the whole prophecy....first of all i feel like a prophecy doesn't fit the vibes of this world but i suppose i could be wrong. and it was only brought up like 3 times but it seemed like it would be super important and then...it isn't. this felt like it should be leading up to something big in book 3 but from the reviews I've seen of book 3 it just isn't that big? will update when i read it. and everything ends rather miraculously like...i am unsure how it happened at all. i don't know. it just was not as good as book 1 and had way too many things happening, pulling the story in way too many directions that didn't rightly make sense.
the first half of the book was pretty much all exposition, but that's ok. i liked seeing the kids be able to thrive. i don't know what's up with aletha. like is she also going to have powers? she's just there. and the whole prophecy....first of all i feel like a prophecy doesn't fit the vibes of this world but i suppose i could be wrong. and it was only brought up like 3 times but it seemed like it would be super important and then...it isn't. this felt like it should be leading up to something big in book 3 but from the reviews I've seen of book 3 it just isn't that big? will update when i read it. and everything ends rather miraculously like...i am unsure how it happened at all. i don't know. it just was not as good as book 1 and had way too many things happening, pulling the story in way too many directions that didn't rightly make sense.
March 24, 2022
I enjoyed the imaginative and interesting concept in the first book, however, the inconsistencies, incongruities, and unexplained parts of this story drove me crazy. ** MAJOR SPOILER ALERT ** For example: Conrad's mother is frantic about his little sister after she goes missing and obtains Conrad's help, but his mother is never mentioned again, even after the sister is found and Conrad is rescued by his father at the end. Dr. Hellion is badly burned by lava, but she's never healed even though Jasper (who has healing power) is there and the Dr. just saved Piper's life. This group of children--age six to twelve--travel the world fixing disaster sites, yet there's no explanation how they get from place to place, sometimes seemingly instantly. Conrad and Piper are very worried about AnnA, a girl who is about to be thrown out of a utopian world for people with special abilities, yet what happens to her is never explained. A fantasy story about extraordinary people and amazing events still has to make logical sense within both its world and the 'normal' world, and sadly, this book does not.
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