June Calvin's Reviews > The Book of Mayhem

At last! The next installment of Melissa McShane's series, The Last Oracle, is here. She just can't write fast enough for me! The Book of Mayhem is the third book in the series, but it is obviously not the last, and I am glad. Although you can read this book as a stand-alone, you shouldn't. If you do, you won't realize the high stakes involved: the future of humanity, all humanity, is at risk because of invaders who steal magic that humans all need to function, though only trained mages have enough magic and knowledge to be able to use it.
I won't summarize the whole plot, for two reasons. One, others have already done so, and two, as a reader I do not like to read detailed summaries. They take away some of the fun of the book.
I loved being back at Abernathy’s bookstore. I am a little in love with Malcolm, our heroine's love interest. I admire Helena enormously. She is so brave and sometimes a little bit foolhardy. She gets herself in terrifying situations as a result of her bravery and her cleverness.
I also loved that Helena and Malcolm ' s romance moves to a whole new level as the result of their respective risk-taking. There is character development here, and adventure, and suspense. I can't wait until the next installment arrives! So why didn't I give it a five - star rating? Fairly or unfairly, it wasn't as heart-stopping an adventure as the first in the series, and the device of Malcolm showing up "just in time" has, IMHO, been used one too many times.
I received a free review copy of this book, but this review is my honest opinion.