The
Conduit (The Gryphon Series) by Stacey Rourke
I give this book a 5.
As dysfunctional families go, the Garrets are actually doing
pretty well considering the Garret kids, now teenagers and young adults, have
been displaced from their home and are now living with their retro grandmother,
as their mother stays behind to pick up the pieces after the death of her husband
and their father. Even with that consideration, Celeste is a pretty good big
sister, Kendal is almost the perfect little sister who just happens to be
beautiful, and Gabe could be a lot worse, seeing as he’s the middle child and
the only boy. But then one day the evil Barnabus decides to exact a century’s
old revenge and the Garret kids receive an inheritance they’d rather leave to
the dogs. With superpowers, shape shifting, and young adult hormonal
disillusionment, The Conduit is a fascinating, thrilling, and at times,
hilarious read.
I really didn’t know what to expect when I started this
book, but I’d heard good things about it. I knew it was a YA fantasy series,
but that was about it. I also knew I loved the artwork of the Gryphon on the
cover of the book, but sadly, that cover has been discontinued…at least I like
the new cover and the series’ covers match now.
From beginning to end, The Conduit was an exciting read.
Even when the author had to slow down to explain something, the characters are
so neurotic that the explanations come off as action packed. The only time the action slowed down was when
the sarcastic humor of the author spilled out through her characters offering
abundant laughter. There were a few
touching moments in the story, but they were so perfectly paced that the flow
of the story was a constant wave moving forward towards the end. Not that this
book was terribly long, but it also wasn’t that short. I enjoyed reading this
book so much, I finished it much quicker that I had expected.
When I purchased the Conduit, I thought I was just testing
out this new author and had no intention of reading further, but halfway
through this one, I bought the sequel and can’t wait the get the next one after
that. I’m not an avid reader of YA fantasy and tend to toe the line when it
comes to liking it, but this book is great.
Younger children may not get some of the references, but if
this were a movie I’d give it a PG-13 rating. It’s good for the whole family though dad may not be interested…at first.
