Parents' Guide to

Mortal Danger: The Immortal Game, Book 1

By Julie A. Carlson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Revenge plot gets lost in supernatural mishmash.

Mortal Danger: The Immortal Game, Book 1 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

age 14+

Based on 2 parent reviews

age 14+

think

this book is a good book for kids 15 or above but no less.

This title has:

Educational value
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
age 14+

descriptive sex scene iffy for 13-year-olds

Edie is teetering on the edge of a bridge, prepared to end her life when a gorgeous guy shows up and offers her a deal. He will save her and grant her three wishes in return for her cooperation. She agrees, plotting revenge against the "beautiful people" who had bullied the overweight, unattractive girl mercilessly. He sculpts her body and features to conform to society's beauty standards and she returns to high school to enact her revenge. The pace is a bit slow for the first half, and then turns into a rockin' paranormal horror story. I loved the twist it took --very dark. The author makes a point of the protagonists' attraction to each other and included a game-changer for me when recommending this book for younger teens-- a sex scene (they have their clothes on) that completes with a "shudder" and having to shower afterwards to clean up. Glad I read it before handing it off to a thirteen-year-old. Too bad, because it has lots of appeal for kids who love supernatural romances. The level of detail made me uncomfortable.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (2):
Kids say: Not yet rated

The premise of MORTAL DANGER will make readers pick up the book. Readers will want to see how Edie exacts her revenge on the people who have tormented her throughout high school. However, author Ann Aguirre fails to make Edie a sympathetic character by not showing readers at the beginning of the novel how she was bullied and making us root for her and dislike her tormentors. Readers may groan at the way Edie wants to exact her revenge -- by becoming beautiful so she can infiltrate the group of beautiful people who hurt her. Once Edie becomes beautiful, she suddenly -- and implausibly -- gains self-confidence, poise, and cattiness she never had before and inexplicably befriends some of her bullies. They're actually kind of nice, while Edie's the one making cruel comments. As for Kian, the insta-love interest, Edie starts kissing him shortly after meeting him and abandons all logic due to her love for him. Thrown into the mix is a supernatural game between warring monster groups, as well as the Japanese gang the Yakuza, while the revenge plot goes out the window and the book becomes more about supernatural agencies, urban legends, and creepy monsters than bullying.

Mortal Danger does have some good points, such as Edie being a good friend and daughter. But the plot is very confusing, with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in. It would have been more interesting had the author dug deeper into bullying and how, through Edie's own devices, things start to unravel.

Book Details

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