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Monday, November 5, 2012

Hell to Heaven: Journey to Wudang: Book Two

Hell to Heaven: Journey to Wudang: Book Two
Offered by HarperCollins Publishers
Price: $7.59



3.0 out of 5 stars A Treat for Fans, November 5, 2012


Hell to Heaven: Journey to Wudang: Book Two by Kylie Chan (Oct 30, 2012)

I am most likely going to be the only dissenting reader that did not adore this book once more reviews are posted. Don't get me wrong though...while I don't LOVE these books, they do keep me curious and fascinated enough to keep reading and to slogging through the long passages that can be repetitious or rambling or unnecessary to the progression of the plot.

As others have said, do not try reading this novel without reading the first four books in this series. You will find yourself lost if you do not. For fans, I may even suggest a skim through, at the least, of the last two books to refresh your memory. I wish I had done this with at least the third book before attempting these next 3!

In this book, we get a very, very slow start, which is somewhat typical of this series and then the last 50% really picks up with the last chapters being the most emotional. So emotional that as I was reading them I was sobbing my heart out. This is somewhat silly of me since fans will; know that none of these main characters can really die!

We find in this addition to the series, Emma still battling her Demon nature, John still missing but showing up when really needed and the `Devil' is still being a pain in the butt.
In a clever twist of the plot (and a true surprise to me), someone who had a fairly major role in the first book "White Tiger", shows up to make Emma's life even more difficult. You can actually hear the evil cackling laugh when you read these passages.

There is not much character development in this book. The only thing different is we know that 10 years have gone by and Emma has a lot of responsibility, but the other major characters like Simone and Leo seem to have stuck in a rut. Simone is still exhibiting her rebellious streak, but then again she was doing that in "Earth to Hell" Neither feels to me that they've grown of matured at all. They seem very stagnant. The plot to this book seems to have the feel of the plot in the first novel. They are still fighting demons, this time there is something a little different about these (then again when are there normal demons l?)

It is an interesting read but most especially if you are interested in Chinese Mythology since this series leans heavily on the mythology and teachings to keep things moving. Actually, the mythology and the world Ms Chan has created make it very easy for the author to get her protagonists out of hot water when things look dire.

This was an interesting, if a tad tedious at times, read. A necessity for fans and collectors of this series.

*ARC SUPPLIED BY PUBLISHER*

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