Review: Beyonders by Brandon Mull

A World Without Heroes (Beyonders)-Brandon Mull
Publisher: Aladdin
Publication Date: March 15, 2011
Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab
Author Website

Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable--until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he's ever seen. In the past, the people of Lyrian welcmoed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power. The brave resistors who opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.
In his search for a way home, Jason meets Rachel, who was also mysteriously drawn to Lyrian from our world. With the help of a few scattered rebels, Jason and Rachel become entangled in a quest to piece together the word of power that can destroy the emperor, and learn that their best hope to find a way home will be to save this world without heroes.
(Amazon)

Sometimes you've got to read outside the box. When I first saw A World Without Heroes, I wasn't sure if it was for me. It's middle grade fantasy. Generally something that I don't read. It's also quite a large book at over 450 pages. I decided to read the first twenty pages and go from there. Twenty quickly turned into a hundred, and two hundred, and well, you get the drift. I loved this book!

My only real quibble with the book is that it was hard to keep track of all the characters. Jason and Rachel meet a lot of people on their quest and sometimes I'd have to flip back to see who they were referring to. Also, there is a bit of violence in this book, but I feel that if you are or have a young reader in your life that has read the Harry Potter series well, then they would be able to read the Beyonders series with little problems.

I often say that I'm excited to read the next book in a series, but in this case that goes double. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that it leaves the reader begging for more!