Book Review: Cyrus LongBones and the Curse of the Sea Zombie

Cyrus LongBones and the Curse of the Sea Zombie by Jeremy Mathiesen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Loads of thrilling adventure, violent fights, and fantastical worldbuilding excitement for teenagers. The author has plenty of imagination and doesn’t shy away from making Cyrus LongBones enemies really, really horrific, which should delight young readers and horrify their parents. But, isn’t that what we all wanted when we were fourteen? Our young reluctant hero hasn’t a clue what he’s doing, but at least his friends believe in him, including his best friend Edward, who happens to be a spider.

I’ll be honest though. I was disappointed that there were no positive role models for girls. The closest we get is Sarah, whose only merit is being the girl our protagonist saves from drowning, and has a crush on. Any other female characters are, unfortunately, disgusting and evil, including his own stepmother.

This is the first book in a series. This adventure was ‘run for your life!’ from start to finish. While I understand that this is an introduction to the world in the form of a fighting adventure, I hope later books introduce more thoughtful storylines to help balance out all the fighting. And a few kickass girls are direly needed, too.

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