i remember loving this as a kid and also reading it felt like i would get in trouble if my mom found out just because of the plot and religious upbringing blah blah blah, but alas, im not finding it as compelling now. however! interesting, creepy premise, a fun roundabout chosen one story, and a pretty good kick off to a series. can't wait to meet more characters :)

*RE-READ*

I reread this first book in 'The Power of Five' series multiple times as a child and the things I remember most liking about it hold up pretty well. 

Matt is a 14-year-old delinquent and after a B&E gone wrong, rather than go to juvie, he "volunteers" for the LEAF Project, a new government program for truant youth. He ends up in a village in Yorkshire that nobody's heard of with his new "guardian" Mrs. Deverill. It's in Lesser Malling that strange and horrific things start happening, and evil forces start to close around Matt.

The writing is very reminiscent of 00's. Every character is introduced with three distinguishing features with all the evil/antagonistic characters needing to be ugly, and the hero obviously on his way to being the most handsome man on Earth when he grows up 😂
Also, there is only one woman who isn't an antagonist, and she's unhelpful at best. I know this series was geared more toward teen boys, but come on.

Matt is kind of a brat sometimes and generally hates everyone, but it is mostly warranted since he is alone with no allies for most of the book, and horrible things keep happening around him, so I don't totally hold it against him. And I do like the relationship he builds with Richard in the latter half. Who is also kind of a brat at 25, btw 😂. But I always liked him as a kid.

The high point of this book is the horror elements. It builds a sense of dread and claustrophobia when Matt tries to escape Lesser Malling and all the people watching him. This book is also quite bloody, maybe more than I remember.

The ending is climactic and leaves off on a decent hook for the sequel, though it does kind of undercut the world-saving events that just happened. I'll put that down to the 00's YA formula again.

If a character's description isn't flattering or if they have a disability, they're gonna be a villain.
The same event prevents the story from moving forward 3 times.
It's a good idea to give kids horror and gore, but I couldn't recommend it, there are too many common places.