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Story Thieves by James Riley

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Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Owen sees his classmate Bethany jump into a book. He convinces her to take him into his favorite series of books to find out what will happen in the book coming out the next week. They get swept up into the story...

Category: Juvenile 

Why I chose this book: I like books that write about writing and the mechanics of what can and can't happen within the pages of a book and how it effects the "real" world (think time-turner like instances. How does changing something in a book change not only the book itself but the world outside of the book). 

My personal opinion: Too many aliens robots for my taste. The idea of a war between Science and Magic is cool. but the vehicle of Kiel, the Magistrar, and Evil Dr. Verity just didn't do it for me. Kiel was annoying. Really it was Bethany and Own that kept me hanging on. I'm glad I stuck it out through this one though, because the second in the series is so much better. 

Warnings
Language: None
Violence: Fighting with robots, magic
"Adult" situations: None
Death: No major or minor characters, but some third party characters - not gory

Movie rating equivalent: PG

Protagonist description: 
Bethany - straight laced and uptight, but with a heart in the right place
Owen - just wants an adventure, something to break the monotony of his ordinary life

Point of view of story: Switches between characters

Book length: Short

Story flow: A bit choppy switching between characters but easy enough to follow

Grammar and spelling issues: None

Character connection (no spoilers): "Nobody"

For series:
Independent or integral: Independent as first

Series review as a whole: I regret that you have to read the first to understand the second, the second is so much better.

If you only have time for one, read: Story Thieves 

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