The Dastardly Deed

The League of Beastly Dreadfuls #2

by Holly Grant

 Join the League . . .
 
After their narrow escape from a NEFARIOUS kidnapping ring, Anastasia, Ollie, and Quentin (a.k.a. The League of Beastly Dreadfuls!) are looking forward to a relaxing vacation from DANGER! INTRIGUE! CATASTROPHE! Sadly, they’re not going to get one.
 
Because Anastasia makes the SHOCKING discovery that her family is at the heart of a centuries-old scandal—a SCANDAL that began with THE DASTARDLY DEED. Before you can say “Bob’s your uncle,” the Dreadfuls have another MYSTERY to solve: the Case of the Missing Grandfather. Can our INTREPID LEAGUE track down Anastasia’s Vanished Gramps? Gentle Reader, BEWARE! The trail of clues leads to spine-tingling surprises. (Catastrophe! Magic! Opera! Stinky cheese! Science fairs!) Read on if you DARE!

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Mystery, Childrens, Humor, Juvenile, Audiobook

346 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2016

Reviews

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

This installment did not keep me as engaged as book one. Anastasia goes with her shapeshifting Aunt Penny and Uncle to Switzerland, where their, and Anastasia's larger family, live. On the way, Anastasia finds out that shapeshifters are called morfolk, and have lived underground in Switzerland for centuries, and that morfolk are very long lived, and Anastasia is a princess.
Anastasia's introduction to her grandmother the Queen and other morfolk isn't the great reunion she expected, thanks to a grim, status-obsessed Aunt and her smirking, simpering daughter Saskia. Anastasia must learn to be a princess, and starts school, where she makes friends with Gus, a half-gorgon and science whiz. The two shadow boys from book one return, being sons of a local shopkeeper, so the Beastly Dreadfuls are reunited, and take Gus into their ranks. The Dreadfuls learn of a mystery related to Anastasia's family and witches, who the morfolk have been against for years, and the Dreadfuls decide to solve the problem. Meanwhile, Anastasia's school days are suitably awful, with Saskia and all the other kids bullying and shunning Anastasia, and teachers behaving terribly.
I found my interest kept flagging as I listened to this. The narration was good, but I just didn't find that the story kept me engaged. And Saskia and a number of the adults were, as I expected them to be, unsympathetic and bullying and demeaning of Anastasia. I would have liked to have seen something unexpected in Anastasia's interactions with other morfolk. Also, I would have liked Anastasia to have encountered other girls who were actually friendly. I understood the lack of girls in book one because of the situation, but here, Anastasia has only boys as friends. I wanted more girls having a positive impact on the story's action, and not just a boring and totally conventional mean girl characterization of Saskia and all the other girls Anastasia encountered in the morfolk land.

[Orangetails · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn't as good as the first one - maybe it was just because SO much was going on. It seemed a little less believable than the last one...which is crazy, because the last one was pretty fanciful. But this one was still great, and I'm glad to meet a new friend in Gus. Also, the characters felt a little...flatter in this one. Less development. Although, Anastasia is doing nicely, and I'm excited to see where this story will go.

[Jim Sibigtroth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. The over-the-top hyperbole is good but the ending was less than satisfactory. Too much of the mystery was left for a next book (at least I hope it will be solved there.

[Ginny Kaczmarek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the creativity and surprises are abundant, I preferred Book 1’s semi-realistic setting and humor (or maybe it’s just the Goth in me). The world-building in both books is engrossing, and the humor and mysteries keep readers guessing. Best of all, Anastasia is a smart, creative, delightfully imperfect guide that readers will enjoy following anywhere.

[Anushka R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book for so many reasons! First of all, it’s a sequel, and nothing compels a reader more that a sequel to another book that they like. I’m happy to report it’s a trilogy, which is great, since the book left off at a cliffhanger. The author used some complicated language in the book, of which some of the I had to look up, so make sure you know your vocabulary words!

[Mark Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

My name is Anastasia, and my Aunt Penny just told me I'm a morfo. Maybe I'll be able to change into a guinea pig like my dad, but my aunt says most morflings can become bats. I'll need to wait until I change for the first time to find out. I discovered my grandmother is queen of the morflings and lives in a secret village hidden from CRUD. Unfortunately, being related to a queen means I'm required to live and behave like a princess, whether I want to or not. I must find a way to find my missing father, and my grandfather is probably the only one who can do it. However, he hasn't been seen since the infamous Dastardly Deed, and everyone around here, except me, learned about it in school textbooks. So, my first job is to find my grandfather, the king, even though no one else has been able to do it in the past 250 years. Luckily, the Beastly Dreadfuls are back together to help me.

The narrator's voice speaks directly to readers and presents an amusing angle to the descriptions. Anastasia's aunt teaches her proper princess behavior by having her walk on banana peels while balancing books on her head and then teaches her the proper etiquette for eating pastries. Her cousin is a proper princess and uses her position to be a thorn in Anastasia's life. She's a brat. The Dastardly Deed and the resulting disappearance of the king becomes Anastasia's focus and offers a mystery to be solved. The fact that no one else has been able to find him only increases the drama. My main concern with the book is how the story meanders around and doesn't move along as much as I'd like. Not much really happens in the first three-fourths of the plot with most of the attention being on Anastasia's adjustment to the palace and school. The last part describes the actual efforts to find the king and leads the story toward the sequel. However, I don't feel like the plot line moved much from page one to the end. I'm hoping the sequel will allow more progress to be made.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anastasia goes from modern day US, to what is basically an early 1900s asylum situation in the first book, then this second book she's taken in a hot air balloon / dirigible to a cave with other animorphs who really like Victorian / Regency life. They wear powdered head wigs and armpit wigs, there are bat guards, Anastasia found a whole new family, and finds her shadow friend kidnappees are enrolled in her shapeshifter school.

This sequel was okay, but it just felt weird continuing to go back in time in the present time. Plus the several aspects like the reflection world, secret gravity room / secret sleeping bug bed, witch stuff felt like the author was trying to stuff too much random fantasy aspects into the book. The first one was fun, this was meh, and unless the third one has an audiobook I won't read it.

[Astrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review from my ten year old: it has everything she likes. It has mystery, magic and a princess that wants to be a detective/ veterinarian/ artist. You get good “tea” (her word 😅). It is exciting, made her curious 👀 and happy. She loved the male gorgon and that his name was Gus. My daughter also loved that Anastasia is half human and something else. She also said that the narrator did a good job narrating and that she loved the new world she was introduced to.

Mom review: We listened to it in car rides while running errands as a family. Both my ten and fourteen year old enjoyed listening to it.

[X-Ayvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The League of Beastly Dreadfuls book 2 is a great book. Picking up after where you left off in book 1, you and Anastasia discover many new things, most of which, are about her past. What is the Dastardly Deed? Whatever became her great grandpa, Nicholas, and where on earth have her parents gone? Unlike the first book there are almost no creepy parts, but there are hundreds of morfolk everywhere you look.

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series didn't go in the direction I expected, going more "magical other world" than I thought based on the first book. There were some rather typical genre developments She's a princess? And they go to special magical school?, but in the end there were so many original, cute ideas and the writing was charming enough that I was happy to go along for the ride.

[Kaylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second installment in The League of Beastly Dreadfuls series! It took a while to actually get into this one. I think my main issue was just how terrible some of her family was to her, but toward the end it really picked up! Now I need to get to the next one to find out how their adventures continue!

[Joshua Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional. The story line was precise and intriguing. It was so much fun from beginning to end that I couldn't put it down. It had the perfect balance of mystery, humor, reality and fantasy. Definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a good old fashioned adventure!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this journey into the underworld -- my favorite part of book 1 was near the end, and this built on the wonderful characters that showed up then.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry is very much enjoying this series

[Ellon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one better than the first although I could have done without all the flatulence jokes. Nowhere Special is far more interesting than the Asylum from book one.

[Cristi-Lael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is adorable. Grant has filled the hole left by Dahl. I'm just bummed that the third book in this series was never made into an audiobook.

[julia__na · Rating 4 out of 5]

it wasn't scary actually

[Katie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt a bit scattered, enjoyed book #1 a lot more.

[Cindy]

The Dastardly Deed

[AWD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whole book is good!! Not like the last.

[Phoebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anastasia enters a totally foreign world, now that she has been rescued by her aunt and uncle from the horrible St. Agony's Asylum. She is not plain old Anastasia any longer, she is a princess, and her grandmother is the Queen of the Cavelands. Plenty of adventure and intrigue await Anastasia in this lengthy chapter book. The author has an astonishing imagination, packing her story with all manner of magical elements, and kids will also find their vocabulary greatly enriched by the sparkling writing. Grant never chooses the mundane word if she can use a more descriptive one. While the leisurely pace could be picked up a little (for tired parents reading this book aloud at night), the story still entices and captivates, and the cliffhanger ending promises much more fun to come. 4th-6th grade.

[Keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to "The League of Beastly Dreadfuls" is even weirder and more exciting than the first. Follow Anastasia as she adjusts to her new underground society and attends school with her asylum friends Quentin and Ollie. Learning to speak bat and picking out your wig is commonplace in her new world. But what was the "Dastardly Deed" and how will it help Anastasia find her grandfather? Once again, the three team up to get to the bottom of it all with one new addition: Anastasia's spunky "bat in waiting," Pipistrella. I just love the bond Pip and Anastasia form, even when communication is a little tricky. Can't wait for the next installment!

[Sarah Hay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the story of the League of Beastly Dreadfuls Anastasia finds herself escaped from C.R.U.D. headquarters and safe in the company of her newly discovered Aunt and Uncle. Anastasia is whisked off to her family home where she discovers not only that she has a grandmother and a cousin, but that her family is royalty and Anastasia herself is a princess. Lots of her questions are answered, such as why she was wanting to eat moths in the C.R.U.D. house, however her father is still missing. Anastasia hopes that her newfound family and friends can help her locate him even if it means following the tracks of a very evil witch.
Book 2 of a series
Good for ages 10 and up.

[Clare Rossetter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange tale of Anastasia who at age of 11, her parents died. She then becomes the ward of her two aunts and goes to live in their home called St. Agony's Asylum for the Criminally Insane. I was not sure that this was appropriate, however, I have a number of students whose favorite books are about haunted hospitals, asylums and such so they loved that that is where she went to live. The text reminds one of Lemmony Snicket books. Anastasia along with two brothers, Quentin and Ollie work to escape this ominious home.

[Marlana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, The Dastardly Deed did not live up to the wonderfulness of The League of Beastly Dreadfuls.

The Dastardly Deed seemed to have too much going on. More mysterious are uncovered and new characters are introduced but everything sort of blends together.

I almost didn't finish it to be honest. Three stars, but that's only because I enjoyed the last bit of the book and enjoyed the first book in the series so much.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dastardly Deed by Holly Grant picks up where The League of Beastly Dreadfuls left off. That said, I wasn't expecting the direction that the book took. The first book started with the death of Anastasia's parents and settled into a modern day Gothic mystery (in a Victorian mansion no less). The Dastardly Deed goes on a tangent — to Sweden and then underground.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comm...

[Jessica Van Tassell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the first book in this series and was super excited to find out there was a second book however. This one wasn't as good though. Still enjoyable to read, and I will still read the next book in the series but this one wasn't fantastic like the first one. I think I missed the element of danger in this one.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book and Series

This book was a great book as well as a great series. I can't want for the third one to come out in 2017. I loved the mystery and suspense in this book. I also like the constant action. There wasn't a boring point in this book. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost didn't finish this book, but in the end, I'm glad I did. There are just a couple of chapters toward the beginning which to me were so annoying as to make me question whether or not I wanted to continue reading. Thankfully, things pick up quickly after those few chapters, and I really did enjoy the story at the end.

[LisaSunshineGirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had been a while since I read the first book in the series, and it was difficult at first to remember what happened and to re-engage with the characters.

But once I did, the book was very funny: Anastasia entering finishing school, with her tragic flatulence, and being forced to wear a wig.