Book Review: Guardian's Nightmare by Darren Simon

Guardian's Nightmare (The Last Princess of Latara #1)
by Darren Simon
Release Date: May 3rd, 2014
Publisher: Divertir Publishing LLC 
Paperback, 169 pages
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Get a Copy:
      Amazon | B&N

Goodreads Summary: Charlee Smelton is an average thirteen-year-old girl struggling to adapt after her family moves to San Francisco. She thinks her biggest obstacle is facing the bullies who brand her a nerd and a dweeb. She's wrong. Her life is about to change-for the worse. First, she receives a gift of the ugliest, most old fashioned bike she has ever seen. Try as she might to ditch it in the city, she just can't seem to escape that very mysterious two-wheeler. Then come the visions of a world across a dimensional divide, a princess in fear for her life and a dark knight pursuing her. Are they just dreams or something more? For Charlee, everything she ever thought she knew about herself soon crumbles as she starts down a path to discover her true self, and she will need that hunk-of-junk bike more than she could ever imagine. Without it, she might not be able to find the hero in herself-the hero she must become to save her friends, family, her city-the world-from an evil only she can defeat. An evil she allows into this world.

Cindy's Review:
**I received the copy from the author for an honest review. This had no way influenced my opinions.**
 At a Glance/The Cover:
I decided to give Guardian's Nightmare a go because I really enjoy fantasy and I have nothing against middle grade. I mean Percy Jackson is absolutely fabulous. So more hidden world's of magic? No problem! 

Oh yeah. And the fact it takes place near San Francisco~ Ayyyy.

The Characters/My Opinion: 
Charlee Smelton - Well, let's start off with the main character. The blurb does a real good job describing her, so what else can I say? Her dreams gave a good insight about what's going on. Although she is a bit misguided on who to trust at first. And well, she was likable, like a kid would be. 

Magic Bike - I think this bike gets an honorable mention considering how helpful and what an endearment it was. This kind of those monkey sidekicks who knows when to dive in and save your life. Except without the cute face and arms. But I can imagine the handlebars as ears or something. :)

The Good:
Normally, I would just group this into my opinion, but since I'm supposed to be doing a helpful review, not a crazy rant about how much I ship the characters haha. Okay.  So here is the good.

Guardian's Nightmare was a fun read about evil ladies and magic. An ordinary girl gets her chance to become the hero. And no doubt, she's a secret princess. Love secret things. :) And I liked how the evil witch is like her aunt. Those crazy relations and special items like the magic bike and the medallion.

The Bad:
Honestly, I think throughout the book, the writing could be more sophisticated. Maybe it's because it's for a middle schooler, but I think the author could have used more metaphors. What's that broad topic called again? Right, figurative language. There was a lot of descriptive scenes and passages, but he could take it even farther. You'll be surprised how advanced some of these kids are. I mean, there were a lot of similes, but something that requires self-thinking and realization makes the book more interesting. 

Next, a reason why I love middle grade books like Percy Jackson is for his humor. I think middle grade books definitely needs some suspense and humor. It keeps a reader interested and keep the pages turning. And less drama. These YA love stories have waaay too much drama. Not necessary that I don't like it...

Overall Thoughts: 
Otherwise, it was an imaginative read filled with a hero fighting for her land. 
So check it out if you guys have time~ OR maybe encourage your younger cousins or kids to read it instead. :) 

The Rating: (1-10): 7~

Happy Reading~