The Last Fallen Star delivers on its implied quality

It goes without saying that books should be entertaining. But, I just said it, so sometimes we need to be reminded of the fact that some books are better than others. The Last Fallen Star is an entertaining, complete book that also opens it up to a larger world. The book is in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint from Disney Books and rewards readers more thoroughly than some of its contemporaries.

It can also be said that there is no bad pizza. There is simply pizza that is better than other pizza. The Last Fallen Star is literary pizza that is better than others. The book is part of the Gifted Clans Novel series by Graci Kim. It’s important not to cringe when you see that the first book in a series is already part of a planned series, much less one that has Rick Riordan Presents, before the title. I am all for letting a series or franchise prove its worth, let the one book be successful, and then deliver more. However, I can also see from the creator’s perspective that a greater story roadmap needs to be laid out so that they, as well as the reader, can let their imagination wander about what could happen to the characters.

The Last Fallen Star does a great job in setting up the characters and then twisting it so that they do what’s not expected. Riley is excited about seeing her adopted sister, Hattie get initiated into the Gom Clan. They’re a group of Korean healing witches who can do magical things. The Gom Clan, as well as other clans, come and go between our world and the Godrealm, a place that derives its mojo from the first part of its location. Think of a place where humans can’t do anything and are easily defeated, eaten, killed, or ruled by various Gods.

Riley is a good sister in that she’s excited for her, despite her not having any powers. The two sisters hatch a plan so that Riley can share in some of these powers. This seems like a major plot point and to an extent it is. The first 10% of the book builds to their scheme and flips the script for the better.

Mentally you’re already telling their story, but Kim creates something different and the story really starts to roll. The Last Fallen Star is a great mglit book for those middle school readers. It also has a great dark side. If a book doesn’t have a great heel then it’s only as strong as its weakest link. The villain/heel in the book is big, measures up to the tension in the story and pays off at the end.

You know that feeling you get when you’re reading a great book and there are only a handful of pages left in it? The situation that the main character is in is complex and seemingly impossible for them to escape without a cliffhanger or dream clause. Season 9 of Dallas proved that dream storylines are a true nightmare, didn’t it?

The Last Fallen Star wraps up the book in a way that’s true to the characters, fun for readers, and provides a thread for future books. Perhaps the whole Gifted Clans Novel pitch was presented at the publishing get-go. In this case, the confident series announcement on the front cover of the first book is completely warranted.

The beginning of the book did have lots of characters to navigate through. That happens for a reason. Trust the process you should say to yourself as you’re being introduced to the characters in the first couple of chapters. Their mannerisms and place in the neighborhood make sense and will pay off.

Rick Riordan Presents The Last Fallen Star is by Graci Kim and available on Disney Publishing.

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