Review: Dylan Graves and the Yojin Village (Dylan Graves #1) by T.S Mercaldi

Way up in the mountains there is a quiet little village where real-life super heroes live and train. A place where school kids take telepathy class after social studies, and even learn to wield a sword like a samurai.

It’s a place that 14-year-old Dylan Graves has never dreamed could be real.

After the mysterious disappearance of his family on the eve of his third birthday, Dylan Graves has been forced to grow up in a neglected group house for foster children; a house that feels closer to a prison than a home. Now, eleven years later, Dylan has become an expert in skipping school, stealing comic books, and sneaking out of the house with his only friend, Irene Lima. This is the way his life has been, and this is the way he is certain it will remain until the day he ages out of the foster system.

Until one night when a terrifying man emerges from the darkness, and chases them away from the familiar city streets and into a whole new world. There, Dylan will discover his true powers, uncover dark secrets of his missing family, and do his best to keep himself, and his powerless friend Irene alive.

Are we born with evil in our hearts, or do we have the power to choose?

Description taken from Goodreads

My Review

Holy Oh My Friggens!  I absolutely loved this book.  So much. 

Let me ask you a couple questions.  First, are you obsessed with Harry Potter?  Did you happen to find comfort in Percy Jackson after Harry Potter ended?  Are you now heartbroken that Percys’ and Harrys’ stories are now over?  If you answered yes to any of these questions and I know you did, so don’t lie to me, then you are going to love Dylan Graves and the Yojin Village.  He has come to rid us of our losses.

It really does have the same kind of feel to it as the previous two series that I mentioned but I didn’t actually feel myself comparing it to them because I was sucked into the story from the get go.

The Yojin were so amazing.  They’re these special people that have superpowers.  Yup, you read that right!  Superpowers!  This book seriously could not have come at a better time.  Here I am having Percy Jackson withdrawals and going through a Marvel kick when I was asked to review The Yojin Village.  Perfect timing.

I do have to say that the writing started off slow and I was hesitant but once I started the second chapter I could not put it down and ended up reading it in one sitting.

The characters were awesome.  They were flawed, they were real, they made you root for them, they made you sympathize with them.

Dylan is obviously our main character.  He’s a strong character but he’s also very over protective and his curiosity can definitely get him into trouble and makes you want to slap him upside the head every once in awhile.

Next up!  The faithful sidekick, Irene.  She definitely starts out as a Mary Sue and a weakling.  But, hello character development at the end! 

Nikos is a Yojin we meet in their special little Village and he’s definitely very interesting.  His superpower is extreme intelligence.   I wish I had that to be honest.

And then we have Dr. Cadmon who definitely has a Dumbledore/ Giles (Buffy) kind of vibe going on.  We didn’t see a lot of him and he just kind of popped up out of know where sometimes but, I mean, that’s what makes him so mysterious.  Hopefully, we get more of a backstory from him in book 2.

The main three really made a great unit and worked well together.  They’re definitely no Harry, Ron, and Hermione or Percy, Annabeth, and Grover but they are definitely in the running and it’s an honor to even be in the same category as those two groups. 

The whole plot was honestly fantastic, there was so much mystery and action.  I loved learning about the different powers and abilities.  I really want to be a Yojin now.   So, now I want to go to Hogwarts, Camp Half-Blood and we can now add The Village to the list.

Anyways, let me just tell you that we are left on a cliffhanger.  It literally left me breathless when I read the last page or so.  I really need the next book.  Like yesterday.

So!  Dylan Graves and the Yojin Village is a great middle grade book and I think that all Harry Potter and Percy Jackson fans should definitely pick Dylan Graves up.  You will not be disappointed.  And I’m also going to say that if you’ve see the movie Sky High then I think you would definitely like Dylan Graves.

5/5 hearts!

If you would like the opportunity to read the first chapter then you can go here and check it out!