Parents' Guide to

The Shadow Arts: Monstrous Devices, Book 2

By Mary Cosola, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Teen and his grandpa battle forces of evil in exciting romp.

Book Damien Love Fantasy 2020
The Shadow Arts: Monstrous Devices, Book 2 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This exciting sequel delivers more daring adventures for Alex and his grandfather as they take on supernatural, evil forces. The Shadow Arts is similar in format to the first book in the series, Monstrous Devices. It has a lot of action scenes strung together with some plot that's mostly explained at the end. Alex's grandfather is still a funny, cheeky old chap and adds a lot of the humor to the book, and Alex matures in good ways this time around. They battle more of the creepy lifelike robots, and the Tall Man and Zia push the limits of their power in other shocking ways.

The story is slow to the halfway point, with Alex asking his grandfather lots of questions and his grandfather being evasive. Once the action gets going and Alex's grandfather opens up to Alex, the story gets more exciting and interesting. The book presents some good questions about why people want power and how they use it once they have it.

Book Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate