So anything I said about Mr. Colfer not hitting the right emotional cues in his last book have totally been remedied in the third Fowl installment. Here I was, rolling along through this fun-loving YA series about a boy criminal mastermind and his faerie acquaintances and BOOM. First chapter Mr. Colfer shoots you right in the feels on page 10.
At the risk of giving anything away, I won’t be writing heavy on this book’s plot details because you should just read it, but let’s suffice it to say that we’re getting to that part in a series where you know that no one is safe. So every page begs the big question of who will actually make it to the end of the book. This installment was much more Artemis heavy than book 2, for which I was excited about even though I do find the Faerie world super fascinating. Artemis is supposed to be turning a leaf towards the good of the world and leaving his dastardly plots behind him, but the boy genius just can’t help himself and for once in his life, gets in over his head. To the point of drowning, he’s in it so deep. So he calls in a few favors from his ‘friends’ at the LEP because, in true teenage fashion, someone else can absolutely clean up his mess. Holly and Root are pretty pissed that Fowl is once again messing with their world, but this time he’s really made a teenage mess of things, and the faeries have to help him or risk the end of their hidden existence.
This book is still as funny as the rest of the series, but Artemis is growing up, and the plots are growing with him. He’s beginning to realize that the choices he makes have consequences that effect much more than just his own person and that epiphany sparks his worst enemy: doubt. This is the book where Artemis starts questioning, and he’s not so happy with the answers.
I was really impressed by how well Colfer imbibed this book with so much emotion and meaning, and the fourth book has been requested from the library. Hopefully all the characters make it through that one!