Title: Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris
Author: R.L. LaFevers
Category: Fiction, Middle Grade
Why I Read It: I read the first in this series, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Summary: 11-year-old Theodosia Throckmorton spends most of her time in an antiquities museum where her parents work. While they’re busy, she keeps herself entertained by saving the world.

Stopped on Page: 178
Why I Stopped: As much as I loved the first Theodosia book, I just never got into this story. A couple trivial things got to me, but I’m having a hard time pinpointing the bigger issues that made me stop. In general, the book didn’t feel lean and mean like the first one. Could it be that it was rushed to market without as much time spent in the editing phase?

So here are the trivial things I am able to articulate:

  • Exclamations galore!—Honestly! It felt like they were on nearly every page. I mean, really!
  • Too much internal monologue—Should I do this? Or should I do that? And if I do that, what will happen? So I’ve decided I’ll do this instead.

A quick example of the latter issue:

I would have to get word to Wigmere at once. And I needed to figure out what exactly it was that I’d discovered. Something that had power over the dead, that was clear. But what? And why? And how much power?

And what was I to do with the wretched staff in the meantime? If I took it with me, would the mummies follow me up the stairs?

I took three steps forward to test it. Sure enough, every single mummy shuffled along behind me.

I nearly burst into tears. What did it all mean? Had their ba, or souls, returned to their bodies? Were they merely reanimated, such as the zombies of western Africa? The enormity of what I didn’t know was staggering.

Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

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