Title: Rise of the JumbiesAuthor: Tracey Baptiste
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Published: September 19, 2017
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Pages: 256
Goodreads
Synopsis
Corinne LaMer defeated the wicked jumbie Severine months ago, but things haven’t exactly gone back to normal in her Caribbean island home. Everyone knows Corinne is half-jumbie, and many of her neighbors treat her with mistrust. When local children begin to go missing, snatched from the beach and vanishing into wells, suspicious eyes turn to Corinne.
To rescue the missing children and clear her own name, Corinne goes deep into the ocean to find Mama D’Leau, the dangerous jumbie who rules the sea. But Mama D’Leau’s help comes with a price. Corinne and her friends Dru, Bouki, and Malik must travel with mermaids across the ocean to the shores of Ghana to fetch a powerful object for Mama D’Leau. The only thing more perilous than Corinne’s adventures across the sea is the foe that waits for her back home.
With its action-packed storytelling, diverse characters, and inventive twists on Caribbean and West African mythology and fairy tales, Rise of the Jumbies will appeal to readers of A Snicker of Magic, Breadcrumbs, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.
To rescue the missing children and clear her own name, Corinne goes deep into the ocean to find Mama D’Leau, the dangerous jumbie who rules the sea. But Mama D’Leau’s help comes with a price. Corinne and her friends Dru, Bouki, and Malik must travel with mermaids across the ocean to the shores of Ghana to fetch a powerful object for Mama D’Leau. The only thing more perilous than Corinne’s adventures across the sea is the foe that waits for her back home.
With its action-packed storytelling, diverse characters, and inventive twists on Caribbean and West African mythology and fairy tales, Rise of the Jumbies will appeal to readers of A Snicker of Magic, Breadcrumbs, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.
Sneak Peek Review
I received a copy of this sneak peek from Algonquin Young Readers through Netgalley. This is my honest review.
This is the second book in a series, which I did not know while I was reading, although I did start to suspect as much fairly quickly. Because of this, there was definitely information that I was missing, but I didn't feel completely lost. Like I don't really know what a jumbie is, but I have surmised that they are mythical creatures of some sort that possibly prey on humans. So I spent more of my time reading this sneak peek trying to figure out some of those things than I really should have had to spend, but that's a me problem. Because of this, I would recommend that you start with The Jumbies if you have any interest in this series at all (I just one-clicked it myself so I can go back and figure some stuff out).
I feel kind of bad, because at this point, I'm not really sure what to think about this story. I mean, I'm obviously a bit intrigued because I did just buy the first book in the series, but since I was working so hard to try to figure out what jumbies even are, among other things, I didn't ever really feel invested in the story itself, and it didn't have me sucked in, which is not normal for middle grade fantasy and me. And because this was just a sneak peek, I barely even got to know the main characters. I think at this point, I'm most interested in continuing the story because Mama D'Leau seems like a rather evil character from the brief glimpse I got of her, and I worry that Corinne will not come away from their dealings unscathed.
So would I buy this book for myself? Probably, but it's going on my wishlist for now until after I've read The Jumbies, because it's possible, although not likely, that I will lose interest in Corinne and her friends during the course of the first book. - Katie
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About the Author
Tracey Baptiste lived in Trinidad until she was fifteen; she grew up on jumbie stories and fairy tales. She is a former teacher who works as a writer and editor. Visit her online at traceybaptiste.wordpress.com and on Twitter: @TraceyBaptiste.
Great review. Sorry you didn't realize it was the second book!
ReplyDeleteEh, it's kind of my own fault...I have a horrible habit of not reading book blurbs before starting things. You'd think eventually I'd learn better, but no.
Deletemost authors would have started off with a refresher of the first story though, it just makes sense.
ReplyDeleteReally? That's not my experience with reading series out of order (which I end up doing on a somewhat regular basis). Usually they fill you in with important details from the previous books, but not a full refresher of what went down. - Katie
DeleteI love the cover and the idea behind the story, so I'm interested to hear what you think of the first book in the series!
ReplyDeleteI was really excited about this sneak peek because of the cover and description, so I was a little disappointed with my experience, but again, it was my fault for not having read the first book first. - Katie
DeleteThat sucks that you didn't realize it was the second book in a series! I am meticulous about that, almost OCD about making sure I read series in order. I am actually so bad that I won't even buy a series unless I know I have all the books that have been published to date in it. The only series that this has stopped with is Janet Evanovich and James Patterson because they publish sometimes too many books in their series for me to be caught up. I hope you get the book soon and are able to enjoy the character Corrine after you see where she has been.
ReplyDelete