Well, there were some interesting twists and turns. The kids are having adventures that's for sure. Good, clean book just right for younger readers. ( )

I loved the idea of the plague when I first read the book. It was super intriguing then and it would totally be now too if not for the pandemic ( )

Fablehaven didn't feature any deaths of likeable characters, so I had no hesitation listening to book three Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow. Plague. The adventure at Lost Mesa upset me enough that I decided to make Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder my bedtime listening.
When I returned to the shadow plague turning the light mythological creatures at Fablehaven dark, I felt better able to handle it. (Russia invaded Ukraine last month. I am not in the mood for dark tales.)

Kendra learns more about her abilities as 'fairykind,' which she became in book one. The teen's tween brother, Seth, learns more about what ability he gained after book two, Rise of the Evening Star. Seth isn't nearly as annoying as he was in the first book. (It seems that nearly getting his grandparents and sister killed has sobered him a little.) I was sourly amused at how defensive Seth was when his family found out that *gasp* he'd voluntarily read something. I enjoyed his conversation with an elderly demon after two friends are turned into shadows. What we readers learn about a human becoming a shadow reminds me of the ghost in 'The Residence at Whitminster' by M. R. James. (That's available at Project Gutenberg's copy of The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James. I don't consider it one of the better ones in the collection, but it's still worth reading.)

The adventure at Lost Mesa teaches Kendra that her lack of training in dealing with dangerous mythological creatures means that she's not as capable of taking care of herself as she'd thought. Good the handsome young Gavin, well versed in dealing with dragons, is there. I do not agree with the keeping of Kendra's souvenir, but I suspect it will be used in a future book.

There's a subplot involving a character known as the Sphinx who may or may not be a traitor. Certainly the Knights of the Dawn, the good guys who oppose the wicked Society of the Evening Star, would hate to think it could be so.

Kendra and Seth get to be included in the action because they can see things the trained adult humans can't.

Lena, the naiad who became human for love of a great human adventurer Patton Burgess, whom we met in book one, has her personal tragedy resolved in this book. My only complaint about it is that none of the characters seem to realize the good side of the resolution. So does a far less lucky in love mythological female. The final battle is very tense. As for the death during the adventure at Lost Mesa, news at the end suggests that it may not have been as bad as it seemed at the time.

I enjoyed the narration. ( )

this is an interesting book. A must read for all geniue lovers of mystery ( )

There's a plague spreading across Fablehaven that is turning creatures of light to dark and the Sorenson's have no clue how to fight it or who they can trust. At the same time, Kendra travels to another secret preserve in a race to recover one of the other hidden artifacts before the Society of the Evening Star gets to it first.

This was the best Fablehaven book so far. As the Sorenson children have matured so have the contents of the books. The creatures get just a little bit darker and the challenges more complex. Mull also brings in some new characters and introduces us to other characters that we've heard about but never met in the story. These aren't the most brilliantly written books and they're not very complex but they are fun, fast reads and the author is very imaginative with his magical creatures. Grip of the Shadow Plague had some very touching scenes in it that I enjoyed a lot. I'm excited to see where this series is going to go - especially since the next book as a big dragon on the front. I love dragons! ( )