Part of me feels like I shouldn't have read the rest of this series, and just allowed book 1 to stay in my memory as being a super hilarious alternative to Percy Jackson that I read once. That's not to say this reread has been bad, per se, just that a) I thought the first book was the best, and b) I think my general memory of book 1 slightly outstrips how I felt about it on reread.
Overall, this is a funny series, although clearly targeted at younger readers. It's meant to be comedy, so while sometimes it makes some legitimately clever jokes (I usually laugh aloud at least once per book), there are also MANY very cheesy and lame jokes intended for kids. The other problem is that the author had a fun idea in the first book, but seems to have struggled to execute the rest of the series without writing what feels a bit like the same book 3 times but with the names changed. Sure, the actual resolution is different each time, but otherwise they basically all go something like this:
- main character is a young boy/girl who is very sarcastic and writing a book after the events
- main character has a single parental figure who is a swindler or con artist involving a show
- main character and parent get to Eden City and set up to perform at the Storm Inn
- Prometheus appears and gets involved with them
- trouble happens (this is usually different each time)
- con artist parent figure turns out to be heroic, and child helps save the day
This formula worked well in the first book, but three books in as a reader you start realizing what's coming, and it starts feeling a bit stale. The parent figure taking a heroic turn despite being a swindler was poignant with the uncle in book 1, but just kind of a "this again" moment in book 3.
There were two other problems I had with book 3 in particular:
1. There is a weird anti-union/anti-communist undertone to how the monsters are handled. Not only did this make the monster plot feel weirdly political in a book that was otherwise at a silliness level clearly meant for younger kids, the monster plot in general felt really muddled. We're intended to think their monster union is pointless, but Sam ends up feeling bad for them, but then also kills some of them.
2. Very close to the end (like...in the last two chapters), the book suddenly takes a really dark turn where it starts talking about Death as a concept and how no one can escape dying. I'm not sure if this was meant to be lighthearted but failed miserably, if the author threw it in to try to make the series seem deeper as it was ending, or...if this is just a projection of something going on with the author. Regardless, it felt very out of place with the tone and storytelling style of this book, as well as the entire series.
That's not to say this book was terrible, because it wasn't. If you (or your kid?) really liked book 1 and just wants more of the same, there's nothing that bad about book 3. However, if you're hoping for a developing storyline, rather than 3 books that are just the same formula redone, you'll probably end up a bit disappointed like I was.