Unmasked gets to the big bad quickly and sustains the teen tension

I love it when a book series gets better with a subsequent release. Unmasked is the third book in the Fright Watch series by Lorien Lawrence and manages to do that. We also read The Collectors, which was the second book in the series and while it was enjoyable, it didn’t have as much of an age-appropriate scare that some readers want. Unmasked is about a middle school girl, Marion, who uses the artistic creation of monsters as therapy. Her latest creation is a sea monster that she calls Winston. It’s all happening as the Super Blue Blood Moon and the school dance are around the corner, and Marion has developed a crush on a boy. Things can get complicated when you factor in a super-realistic mask that even gives its creator the creeps.

The cover of Unmasked does a great job of letting readers know what’s in store for them. It has a fish-like demon creature on a stage, menacingly snarling at a crowd of teens while the sea is building up behind it. That’s a big picture that pays off in the book, and does so in a quick manner that doesn’t feel forced, yet still allows the heel enough space to accurately portray its evil intentions.

If you introduce the heel too early then you risk having them not measuring up, or being evil enough to merit the fear that the book’s characters are going through. In Unmasked, Marion’s backstory is quickly established and her work on her most intricate creation yet, a full-face mask is going swimmingly. She’s got a couple of core friends, two of whom know about the town’s mysterious history and have helped beat them down previously.

Marion suffers from anxiety, which stops her in her tracks at times. It’s great to see a character in mglit experience this because lots of students that age have this. In Unmasked she uses several coping strategies that upper elementary and middle school kids will relate to. In the book they’re skills that she needs to use quickly because a monster is wrecking the school dance, urging the kids to dance like some whack emcee who has an ulterior motive. The mask-wearing monster is also spewing ink that’s stopping attendees in their tracks and is being worn by Tyler, the boy who is the object of Marion’s crush.

Unmasked still has the middle school readability and situations that those ages will love. It’s tempting to call it ‘drama’, but if you called it that then kids wouldn’t want to read it. Instead, these are friendships, maybe more than friendships, parenting problems, and school situations that students in upper elementary and middle school are going through, but with monsters.

Readers won’t have to wait long to discover the mystery. Shortly after the mystery comes the creepies, and then after that enters Winston, IRL. Unmasked has a vibe about it that will immediately identify with those ages 11 and up. It’s a real book for those mglit readers that want a spooky story with enough action that won’t make them want to put the book down, with the real-life conversations and feeling that they’re having with their peers.

About 45% of the way into the book it reaches the climax and sustains that scene for a long amount of time. It’s a battle of sorts that allows the science-fiction to logically play out while giving the characters the real-world satisfaction of culmination. Of course, it only ends that story, with the three friends realizing that there’s something bigger at play in their sleepy little town. It sets up another story in the Fright Watch series and if it’s anything close to how great Unmasked was, we are in.

Unmasked, book #3 in the Fright Watch series is by Lorien Lawrence and available on Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Books.

There are affiliate links in this post.