Villains Rising: The Cloak Society, Book 2
By Carrie R. Wheadon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Slower-paced superhero sequel keeps violence in check.
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What's the Story?
After Justice Tower burns to the ground at the end of The Cloak Society, former supervillains-in-training Alex, Mallory, and Misty lie low with young heroes Amp, Kyle, and Kirbie in a lakeside safe house in the Sterling City 'burbs. Gage, Alex's super-brilliant scientist friend, comes along, toting a precious half of the special weapon that transported the adult superheroes into an alternate plane known as the Gloom. The new, not-quite team starts training together, while Gage immediately gets to work in the lake house garage trying to repair the weapon and get the heroes back. But Gage soon realizes he can't make progress without the other half of the weapon. Thus, this new team-in-training's first mission: Go to Alex's former underground lair to retrieve it. Even if they sneak out of their safe house on a night they know the High Council will be gone, plenty of other villains are on the lookout for them including the young Beta team villains they left behind and the Omegas, a covert group of superspies whose superpowers and training Alex fears are far superior to theirs.
Is It Any Good?
VILLAINS RISING: THE CLOAK SOCIETY, BOOK 2 is one of those books that needs the old sports-movie cliche of a montage -- maybe a few of them. One for when Alex and team start training together. One for Gage in his workshop fixing the Gloom weapon, when he tests things on Alex and Amp and fails and everyone waits and bites fingernails. One for planning meetings with maps and snips of newscasts as the new team tries to plot their next move. One for preparing for their mission to the underground lair. Then we could get to the action faster and get to meeting those cool Omegas -- just when you think there aren't any superpowers left to think up, the author offers us a few more slick ones. (Well, maybe one derives from a Wonder Twin's ability to turn into water, but this is way, way cooler.)
Fans of superhero tales should still be drawn in enough to find out what happens to Alex and friends in Book 2 and beyond -- they definitely have a lot stacked against them -- but don't expect a fast and thrilling read until near the end. It may be helpful to skim until you get there.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the supervillains use the media to their advantage. Why do they report Misty as missing? What else do they do? What's their endgame?
Alex doesn't trust Bug, and Kirbie doesn't trust Del. What are their reasons? Did you suspect they were up to something, too? Were you right?
How does this new band of young superheroes compare with other supergroups like the Justice League and the Avengers? What's your favorite supergroup? Why?
Book Details
- Author: Jeramey Kraatz
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Superheroes, Friendship
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
- Publication date: October 1, 2013
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 320
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, Kindle
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
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