I almost didn’t read Beyonders by Brandon Mull. After I had read several recommendations for his book Fablehaven and found I didn’t care for it, I hadn’t planned to pick up another book by the same author. However, one of my readers encouraged me to try the Beyonders series. Her daughter had my same reaction to Fablehaven, but she loved Beyonders. So, I gave it a try.
I’m so glad I did.
Fablehaven was Mull’s first published novel, and his writing and characters have matured greatly. I didn’t find any of the same issues which bothered me in Fablehaven present in Beyonders. In fact, I liked it so much that I bought the series for my daughter last Christmas. (To be fair, I’ve heard the Fablehaven series gets better as it goes. I’ve only read the first book).
The Story
After falling into another world, Jason wants nothing more than to get home. The best way to do this seems to be to join the fight against the evil Maldor. Together with his new friend Rachel, a girl from his world, he quests to find a way to defeat him. Along the way, he comes to care about the people he is fighting to save, and he’ll do whatever it takes to help them.
What I Loved About Beyonders
- Hero Training--I love books that help shape my kid’s will to stand up for the right thing, no matter how difficult that is. Jason and Rachel are great role models in this respect. (See my favorite quotes below).
- Homeschooler–I love it when a book character is homeschooled. There aren’t many, so they stand out to me as someone my kids will relate to. Rachel is homeschooled (when she’s in our world, that is).
- Audiobooks–I’m a huge fan of well-done audiobooks, and these are wonderful.
What Parent’s Should Know
- Romance–It’s minimal, but there are some hints at it, really just in the third book. There was nothing I found inappropriate, but if that’s on your radar to avoid, you should know it’s there.
- Gore–There are numerous battles, explosions, and a person who can remove and replace his body parts at will. Definitely not for your sensitive reader. To me, it puts the book solidly in the 10 plus age group, maybe a little older.
- Magic–If you are concerned about books where positive characters use magic, this is one.
Favorite Quotes
Beyonders was one of those book series that made me want to stop and write down quotes. Here are a few of my favorites.
“A hero sacrifices for the greater good. A hero is true his or her conscience. In short, heroism means doing the right thing regardless of the consequence.”
“The two of you picked the right road even though it is the most difficult. This is the essence of heroism.”
“Sacrifice means trading something good for something better.”
And, just for fun, let’s do a GIVEAWAY! Enter below for a chance to win book one of the Beyonders series, A World Without Heroes. Giveaway closes on January 31, 2018 at midnight central time.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on Fablehaven – I searched the blog and didn’t see them. I haven’t read it, and haven’t given it to my 11yo even though it’s been recommended everywhere.
Hi Laurel. I didn’t post a review because I really hate giving negative reviews. It’s not horrible, but I found one of the main characters repeated foolish choices, which he just never seems to learn from, frustrating and annoying. There were also several writing quirks that pulled me out of the story and colored my experience. I hate to be down on a book so many other people I respect have recommended, and I’ve heard the series gets better as it goes, but Beyonders was so much better in every way. I will say Beyonders is aimed at a higher age level than Fablehaven (12+ vs 9-12). I don’t think reading Fablehaven would harm your kids, I just didn’t like it enough to recommend it.
This series sounds excellent. I pinned it for later to save (right now we’re knee-deep in Harry Potter and nothing else is getting through! LOL).
Haha! I know how that is 🙂
I’m glad to hear your thoughts on Fablehaven and appreciate your recommendation of this series!
Love your blog and book Reviews!
Thank you!
I wouldn’t have picked this based on the covers ? But now I’m curious.
THese look great! Will put them on our TBR!
This is one of my ten-year-old son’s favorite series!