Review Detail

Beacon Hill Trilogy #1 Hunt For Eden’s Star sets up the trilogy with mystery and suspense while exploring Christian themes in Hong Kong. The writer’s choice to set this story in Hong Kong and the surrounding areas gives it a unique perspective from the beginning. Jack is an expat attending boarding school at Beacon Hill, so many of the references about his life in an Asian boarding school may make it difficult for YA American audiences to fit themselves into the perspective and envision the world of this story.
Christianity is never named outright, but a major component of the story is the faith in Elyion. Our character, Jack, was unaware of people fighting a war between light and dark; therefore, we as the reader are learning at the same time he is about the predicament. Those who put their complete faith in Elyion may be given supernatural powers to help defend against the dark. He learns his sister, Rachel, died trying to find an artifact of Elyion, Eden’s Star. With him in the dark about the conflict, the players in the conflict, and the extent of magical powers, he is often taken off guard by events and ends up in strange situations, such as being transported to new lands. This allows the author great freedom to explore these spiritual powers without letting our character, and by extension the reader, in on what might happen next, making it impossible to make predictions.
The author freely kills Jack’s allies throughout, increasing the sense of action as well as the volatile nature of the plot, where we can’t predict what is happening next. His best friends are on the sidelines for much of the story, but they may play a bigger role in the next book. There are surprising revelations and betrayals in the end.
Overall, this book may contain barriers to immersing yourself in the plot for American audiences. Older readers may find it easier to navigate, and some adult characters assist Jack throughout, making it fit better as a New YA audience, even though the main character is a teen.