Review: Substitute Creature by Charles Gilman

Title: Substitute Creature.
Series: Tales from Lovecraft Middle School, #4.
Author: Charles Gilman.
Publication Date: September 24th, 2013.
Publisher: Quirk Books.
Genres: Paranormal, Middle Grade.
Format: Hardback, 176 pages.
Source: Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:

It’s Valentine’s Day and a monstrous blizzard has descended upon Lovecraft Middle School, trapping twelve-year-old Robert Arthur inside the building! He and his companions have no choice but to spend the night – while snacking on cafeteria food, sleeping on the gymnasium floor, facing off against a sinister substitute teacher, and thwarting an army of abominable beasts.

This fourth novel in the Lovecraft Middle School series begins right where Teacher’s Pest ended – with more action, more adventure, and more outrageous monsters!

 

Review

I always make a comment in my reviews about the awesome covers in this series, and today is no exception! Substitute Creature’s cover is just as awesome and weird, if not more so, than the others in this series. It even freaked my mum out when she walked past the book! Charles Gilman has done it once again; created another fantastic book in the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School series! I never thought I’d enjoy reading a middle-grade book so much, let alone a series. I’ve always found that middle-grade characters are just too immature for my tastes, but Robert and his friends are very grown up for their age! Just because these books are meant for younger readers, it doesn’t mean that only that age group can read them! I believe that anyone, whether you’re a young-adult or just an older adult, should try them – you’ll easily get swept up in the suspense, mystery and adventure.

Substitute Creature is packed full of action, and twists that will keep you guessing until you’ve reached the end of the book! The illustrations throughout this series are fantastic and really creepy – I love them. They add an edge to the book and help make it as wonderful as it is. I love going along for the ride on Robert’s and his friend’s adventures – and there’s always something different, yet important, in each and every book! The Lovecraft Middle School is an enchanting and freaky place to be, with some terrifying and fascinating monsters that I’m sure will creep out even the bravest of people.

With every novel, Charles Gilman’s writing just keeps getting better and better, and I love slowly getting to know our main characters. Robert, Glenn and Karina are really fun and interesting kids to read about; they’re all kind, funny and such a joy to read about. Our main characters all come from very different backgrounds, and have very different personalities, but they don’t let that get in the way of their friendship – and this is one of the main reasons why I love them so much. There aren’t a lot of kids now who put prejudices’ aside and just be friends with someone. I especially love Robert, who was able to actually forgive Glenn for bullying him in the past.

Overall, I really loved Substitute Creature, it was an amazing book – and as I’ve said plenty of times before, a brilliant middle-grade series! Charles Gilman’s writing is fun, creepy, unique and quirky all at the same time – he’s definitely someone I want to read even more from in the future. I believe it well and truly earned the 4/5 star rating I gave it, and I can’t wait for the next book in this series - especially seeing as the end of Substitute Creature had a big cliff-hanger! Why do we have to wait so long for the sequel? I’ll just have to wait until I get my hands on it!

Quotes

Glenn turned to Robert. "What's more important?" he asked. "A stupid Valentine's Day concert of saving the world from an army of ancient monsters?"
When Glenn put the question that way, Robert felt as though he had no choice.
"I guess saving the world."
"I'll save your seats," Karina offered. "Have fun." — Page 19.

On the far side of the hole was the generator – a large rectangular box about the size of a railroad car, with slatted vents and long, raking claw marks over the front. The side panel had been peeled back like the lid of a tin can. Frayed bands of wires dangled out of the generator, as if someone or something had bitten clean through them. - Page 79 – 80.

“What is this place?” Karina whispered. Her voice echoed throughout the tunnel. Clusters of icicles hung from the ceiling like stalactites. Ahead of them, icy stone steps descended into darkness.
“I have no idea,” Robert replied. He had never heard of an underground cavern anywhere n the village of Dunwich. And yet this space seemed like it had existed for centuries. Robert snapped a small icicle from the ceiling and tossed it down the stairs; it disappeared into the gaping black void without making a sound. - Page 90.

Review: Teacher's Pest by Charles Gilman

Title: Teacher's Pest.
Series: Tales from Lovecraft Middle School, #3.
Author: Charles Gilman.
Publication Date: May 7th, 2013.
Publisher: Quirk Books.
Genres: Paranormal, Middle Grade.
Format: Hardback, 170 pages.
Source: Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:

DON'T BE FOOLED by his friendly smile, his perfect manners, or his shiny red apple. Student council president Howard Mergler is actually a sinister bug-monster in disguise—and he's summoning swarms of roaches, wasps, fleas, and head lice into the corridors of Lovecraft Middle School! Twelve-year-old Robert Arthur is the only student who can stop him--but he'll need help from his best friends: the school bully, the school ghost, and an extremely courageous two-headed rat.

This third novel in the Lovecraft Middle School series begins right where Professor Gargoyle and The Slither Sisters ended—with more action, more adventure, and more outrageous monsters!

 

Review

Once again, everyone needs to appreciate how awesome the covers in this series are! I didn’t actually realise how much I’d missed reading this series until I sat down and started reading Teacher’s Pest. I just love everything about this series and I think that this particular book is my favourite so far! I sat down one evening and just kept reading until I finished it, I just couldn’t put it down! Whilst reading Teacher’s Pest, my skin was crawling and I kept shuddering at the thought of all those nasty bugs – god forbid if anything like that actually happened in real life! The illustrations throughout the book are beautifully done and help set the scene really well – they add that extra bit of creepiness to the book that I just love.

The character development was even greater in this book than the last, and I felt like Charles Gilman was really pushing himself and became more daring with his writing. Throughout the first two books, nothing is really mentioned about Glenn’s family life, and I loved how we learn a little more about his background in Teacher’s Pest. Robert himself is so much more confident and daring in this book, and I’ve loved seeing him develop from a shy boy, to someone who’ll go jumping into the action to save his friends. With all the things Robert and his friends Glenn and Karina have gone through – I’m sure they’ll all be friends for life.

I also loved how it’s was a little more difficult to get away from the bad guys in this book. When they thought they’d gotten past one obstacle, they found another! Sometimes, especially in children’s books, the main protagonist gets away so easily that it’s not believable – but in the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School series, it’s always a little more complex – which is really great. I found myself on the edge of the seat because I honestly had no idea what would happen next – my verbal commentary were words along the lines of ‘What?’, ‘Yuck! Gross!’ and ‘RUN!’ that I kept muttering and yelling to myself.

Charles Gilman’s writing is funny, quirky, unique and so much fun to read. His characters are interesting to read about and relatable in so many different ways that you just can’t help but love them! Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’m really enjoying this series as a whole – I can’t wait to find out what happens in the next book! I definitely recommend this book and series to anyone, even if you’re an adult and don’t think you’ll enjoy them, I really believe a lot of adults will really enjoy them as well – I know I am.

Quotes

"Maybe this will stop them." Robert removed a bottle of water from his backpack and poured some on the wall, washing away dozens of ants in a miniature tidal wave.
The rest of the army immediately changed course. Now, instead of marching towards the wall, they marched toward Robert. A few of the ants scaled his sneakers, and he kicked them loose.
"They’re coming to get me, Karina!" he laughed. "Help!" - Page 25.

"Every time I think this can't get more disgusting," Karina said, "the school finds new ways to surprise me."
"They can't touch you, and you can't touch them," Robert reminded her.
"But they're all touching me," Glenn chimed in. - Page 127.

Karina turned to Robert. "Remember when I said I only hated spiders? And other bugs didn’t bother me very much?"
"Yeah?"
"I was wrong about that." - Page 149.

Review: The Slither Sisters by Charles Gilman

Title: The Slither Sisters.
Series: Tales from Lovecraft Middle School #2.
Author: Charles Gilman.
Publication Date: January 15th, 2013.
Publisher: Quirk Books.
Genres: Paranormal, Middle-Grade.
Format: Hardback, 174 pages.
Source: Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:

Looks can be deceiving! Sarah and Sylvia Price may resemble ordinary middle school students, but they’re actually hideous monsters in disguise. Even worse, they’re campaigning for student council, with a secret plan for abducting the entire seventh grade!

The only ones brave enough to stop them are twelve-year-old Robert Arthur and his best friends: the school bully, the school ghost, and a very hungry two-headed rat.

This second novel of the Lovecraft Middle School series begins right where Professor Gargoyle ended – with more action, more adventure, and more outrageous monsters!

 

Review

Once again, I would like you all to take a moment to appreciate the awesomeness of another wonderfully done holographic cover. Isn’t it just fantastic? Now, on to the review! The Slither Sisters picks up right after the first book, Professor Gargoyle finished – and it definitely was a fantastic sequel. The ending of this novel took me completely by surprise and I really wasn’t expecting it at all. I always love reading books that aren’t too predictable, otherwise they become boring and I lose interest in them quite quickly. I’m very happy to say that I wasn’t constantly guessing correctly about what would happen throughout the book – it was a great read!

I really love Robert’s character, he may be a shy person in general, but there’s a noticeable difference in his confidence level since the first book. This may be because of all the scary things that are suddenly happening to him, but I think it’s because he now has two (three, if you could his two-headed rat) best friends who are there for him and he can confide in. Even though Robert’s character is still quite young, I think he’s really mature for his age and a joy to read about.

I also loved how Robert, Karina and Glenn’s friendship was more developed in The Slither Sisters. It was great to see how comfortable they all are around each other, even though they’re all very different in personalities. I loved how Robert was able to put behind him the fact that Glenn bullied him for years – and I also found it amazing how Glenn was actually sorry for it all and is trying to make it up to him.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading The Slither Sisters! It was certainly action-packed and I found it really hard to put down. I don’t think I found a single fault with this novel, and I love Charles Gilman’s writing style – it’s fun and fresh to read. I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I love the fact that, even though the series is for younger readers, the writing style isn’t immature in the slightest. The only reason the book series is getting 4 star rating so far instead of 5 stars, is because of it being a middle-grade series in general. When I give a book a 5 star rating, it’s usually because I found it absolutely incredible and mind-blowing. The Tales from Lovecraft Middle School is a really awesome series so far though and I can’t recommend it highly enough. I can’t wait to pick up the next book; Teacher’s Pest as soon as possible!

Quotes

He scanned the page looking for an entry that read, "Help! I'm Almost Thirteen Years Old and I Still Have the Muscles of a Third-Grader!" but apparently Robert's condition was so freakish and rare, the authors of the book didn't even bother to include it. - Page 21.

“They’re coming here every day. The question is, why?”
Robert wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. The last time he tried spying on someone, he’d witnessed his Science teacher, Professor Gargoyle, eating a live hamster. - Page 32.

Robert braced himself, preparing for the worst.
He expected horns to sprout from their heads. Or wings to burst from their backs. Or giant tongues to emerge from their mouths. He expected the girls to come charging down the stairs, claws extended, shrieking and screaming.
He certainly didn’t expect them to smile. - Page 50.

Review: Professor Gargoyle by Charles Gilman

Title: Professor Gargoyle.
Series: Tales from Lovecraft Middle School, #1.
Author: Charles Gilman.
Publication Date: September 25th, 2012.
Publisher: Quirk Books.
Genres: Paranormal, Middle Grade.
Format: Hardback, 168 pages.
Source: Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:

Strange things are happening at Lovecraft Middle School. Rats are leaping from lockers. Students are disappearing. The school library is a labyrinth of secret corridors. And the science teacher is acting very, very peculiar. Robert Arthurt knew that seventh grade was going to be weird, but this is ridiculous!

With the help of some unlikely new friends, Robert discovers there's more to Lovecraft Middle School than meets the eye. Can he uncover the secrets of the school before it's too late?

 

Review

First off, can we take a moment to appreciate the awesomeness of the holographic cover? I’ve never seen anything like this on a book before! If you’ve not seen in real life before, on this one; the man is normal, but when you move, he turns into a creepy demon! Moving onwards...

I’ve personally not read a whole lot of middle grade novels, even when I was a younger kid; I went straight from reading kids books to reading young adult books and the Harry Potter series. I’ve never really been sure of the reasoning for this, maybe it’s because, even as a kid, I was way more mature for my age than anyone else I knew. So, when I found out Quirk Books were wanting people, including me, to review their middle school series, I jumped at the chance.

I was, however, a little wary about what I would think of the characters and the writing style. Usually younger characters really irritate me, this is because they’re usually portrayed as really immature (they’re kids – and kids are immature in general) and it just irks me. I’m really glad to say that I was very pleasantly surprised when I started reading Professor Gargoyle, because neither the characters nor the writing style was like that! Professor Gargoyle was such an amazing, quick and fun read. The book is primarily aimed at the younger age group, but I think even adults would really enjoy reading it as well.

Robert is our main protagonist; he’s twelve years old and lives with his mum who is constantly working. I loved his character - he was a little shy at first starting his new school, but generally quite funny, forgiving and such an innocent and relatable character. Roberts’s old School bully ends up attending his new middle school, and even though Robert had hoped the tormenting would have ended by now, he was wrong. I know exactly how it feels to be bullied, as I was bullied since I was a little kid, right up into adult-hood. I’m sure that pretty much everyone has been teased a little at least in their life-time, kids are just cruel and mean a lot of the time – and I found it really interesting to see Robert’s reaction to being bullied again. The anxiety of the possibility of having to see that person again, and feeling like you’re not able to stand up for yourself – all these emotions were played out really well in the book, creating a very relatable atmosphere.

The illustrations throughout the book were really beautiful and well done. I thought that they added a touch of personality to the book and made it really interesting just to look at in general. Charles Gilman’s writing style was great and such a joy to read, and I loved pretty much everything about the book. Although I did think the ending was a little too rushed – I also thought that it was finished really well, leaving the ending perfectly open for the next book in the series to continue on from.

Overall, I really loved reading this book - it was great to read something quick but fun and different from what I usually read for a change. I’ll definitely be continuing on this with series, because it feels impossible not too! I gave the book 4/5 stars, and I think it really deserved it - the extra star wasn’t given, mainly because of the shortness of the book, the rushed ending and how apprehensive I was about starting this series in the first place. I need to read more of this story as soon as possible – hopefully I’ll start reading the sequel, The Slither Sisters sometime soon!

Quotes

Robert looked from left to right and back again. Both girls had fair skin and long red hair. They looked so similar, they could have been sister.
In fact, they looked virtually identical.
“Wait a second,” he said. “Are you two-”
“Twins,” they said simultaneously, almost sighing, as if they were tired of answering the question. - Page 24.

Then there was a hideous snapping sound, and the bottom half of Goyle’s jaw collapsed. It fell open like the mouth of a ventriloquist’s dummy, revealing sharp white fangs and a gaping black maw. Goyle lowered the hamster between his lips and swallowed it whole. - Page 84.

“You’ve been a real jerk to me, Glenn. All the name-calling, the pushing, the shoving, the gummy worms. I used to wish that a giant monster would come out of nowhere and swallow you whole. I never thought it would actually happen.” - Page 110.