By Brandon Mull

Imagine if your parents decided to abandon you and your brother at your grandfather’s house for two weeks while they went on a cruise. My grandparents are pretty great, but even I would be less than pleased. It’s worse for Kendra and Seth, because their grandpa is weird.

And this isn’t just normal old-person weirdness. This is the weirdness that comes with odd rules about where one can go and little to no explanation of anything. This is weird enough that you miss your parents for more than their cooking.

Eventually, Kendra and Seth figure out the root cause, but it’s not as comforting as they would have liked. It turns out that their grandpa is the current caretaker of Fablehaven, a sanctuary for magical creatures they had no idea existed outside of myths and legends. Wow.

But of course, they can’t just enjoy their summer vacation interacting with these creatures. Something has to go wrong, so of course, it does. Midsummer is coming up, and that’s when all the creatures start to act a bit wilder than they usually do. And a bit more dangerous. And having Kendra and Seth at the sanctuary might just increase the danger for everyone.

If you like magical creatures and mythology, you should totally check out this book. It’s the start of a series that, while it may not be the greatest series ever written, is quite entertaining and will keep you invested for a while. I believe that there’s also a secondary series related to the books (I just haven’t read it yet). This is one book that’s definitely on my reread list.

General Stats:

• Genre: Fantasy
• Book 1 of 5
• Age: 7th grade and above
• My rating: ★★★★☆