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?
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!
