The Luck Uglies (The Luck Uglies #1)

Do you ever start a book and, after just a few pages, know how magical it’s going to be? THE LUCK UGLIES cast its spell on me early on, and I fell head over heels for the world, characters, and writing. The premise is insanely cool, mixing creepy creatures, nontraditional families, adventure, and secrets galore into an awesome package. Rye’s home, Village Drowning, comes to life as Rye and her friends navigate the mysteries behind it, and the story leaves plenty of hints of other unique towns and villages that might be explored in later novels.

Rye is a dynamic, clever, and brave protagonist, and the depth of the secondary characters takes the story to the next level. The descriptions and sly smirks from Rye’s mom, Abby, and the mysterious Harmless make me want prequel books dedicated to all of them. Rye’s friends, Folly and Quinn, also hold personalities that will draw the reader in. The dialogue between all the characters feels real, witty, and contains so much beneath the surface of what is being said.

The plot unfolds beautifully, though the story line does get a tad slow in areas. When it slows down, however, the story opens up to wonderful relationship development between the characters, and the magic of the story continues to deepen. I especially love the balance between teamwork and individual capabilities that happen while attempting to solve the main conflict.

Middle grade readers should flock to this series immediately. Those looking for magical writing brimming with complex characters and true heart will very likely find their next favorite book with this first installment in Paul Durham’s THE LUCK UGLIES series.

AHHHH!! Can I give this a 6 out of 5 stars? From the first few pages, I just KNEW, knew deep within me, that I was going to love this book. And it turns out, I was right! Though I feel like The Luck Uglies suffers from it's title, which makes me sad beyond sad that more may not pick it up (I myself was intrigued by the cover illustration, and kind of worried about what the book contained), oh how it makes up for it and then some! The Luck Uglies are perfect in all their imperfections...but I am getting ahead of myself.

First, let's start with world-building, which is where Durham really just stands heads above pretty much every middle-grade fantasy I've read the last couple of years. Every scene, I felt, was crystal clear in my mind, having been drawn with a fine hand and an attention to those little details that make all the difference. I could smell the smells at the Dead Fish Inn, I could hear the frightening babyish wailing of the featured monster in this story, I could feel the warmth and see the light of the fire flickering in Rye's cozy home. I want to visit the Village Drowning. It had the feel of Hogsmeade from Harry Potter, which I think is one of the crown jewels in Rowling's series.

Next, I will move on to characters: Durham slowly builds each one of them with again, stunning use of imagery, inner dialogue, and history and facial expression, so much so that Riley (the MC) has completely enraptured me, and her mother, her friends, and her experiences with all the other colorful characters in her world feel like they are my own. I adored the quiet dignity and strength of her mother, the careless but imaginative stunts of her friend Folly, the inquisitiveness and loyalty of her friend Quinn. I even loved her cat, Shady, wanting to pet him myself--and I am not a cat person!

Finally, plot: This is a story that is well-built, has layer upon layer, which, in my opinion, always always always adds to the richness of a fantasy story; more than any other genre, I feel, fantasy desperately needs finely detailed backstory, and this has got it, drawing the reader in further and further. I predicted only a few plot lines; the others were either wholly unexpected or just took me along for the ride. This was the PERFECT book to lose myself in for a couple of days. I just didn't want it to end.

PLEASE read this book. If you love fantasy, you will NOT regret it.