Hello, today I’m going to be reviewing Jason Lethcoe’s trilogy The Mysterious Mr. Spines.

This trilogy was an interesting take on the afterlife, and yes it’s for children, but sometimes reading children’s literature can be a good break from adult/teen fiction.

The Mysterious Mr. Spines: Wings by: Jason Lethcoe: The first novel in Edward’s story. It all started with an itch, an itch he couldn’t scratch in the middle of his back. Edward is a lonely boy who has lost his mother, and is bullied in school; all he wants is to be normal and fit in. Well when Mr. Spines shows up to rescue him from imprisonment by evil Whiplash Scruggs, he learns a lot about himself. One, he isn’t human; two, his mother needs rescuing. The novel was one adventure after another, with some good dialogue. The plot was good, taking the reader on a mythical adventure. The novel ends right when the action is at it’s highest, so the reader must wait until the next novel to find out what is going to happen next. The characters are very versatile, and very different. The characters all have distinguishable characteristics that helped move the plot and novel along. Overall, it was a good attempt at a first novel; hopefully the second one is better.

The Mysterious Mr. Spines: Flight by: Jason Lethcoe: The second novel in Edward’s story. He’s got his wings, now he needs to learn to fly. Edward goes through a lot this novel. He’s still on the hunt to save his mother, he learns who his real father is, and he also learns a little more about himself. Edward must conquer his fears to help save his new friends from the Jackal, an evil being who wants them all, especially Edward. This novel was a fun adventure tale, which took its readers to new highs and new lows. This novel is where the reader finds out all the character’s pasts, and we get a lot of back-story. This information should be really helpful for the last novel when everything from the past is put together. Overall, this was a good follow up to the first novel. As much as this novel didn’t have as much action, it was still really well thought out, and really well written.

The Mysterious Mr. Spines: Song by: Jason Lethcoe: The third and final novel in Edward’s story. It’s Edward’s last chance to save his mother, and now his father from the Jackal. Through the ups and downs it’s with the power of song that will help Edward through it to become the bridge builder everyone is saying he is. This novel is all about Edward over coming adversity to become the person is supposed to be. For a final novel it was done well, the plot was good, although the ending felt a little rushed. The author spent all this time getting to Edward going to build this bridge for everyone in the Afterlife to cross over to, and the reader spends all of one chapter with it. It just didn’t give the reader a lot of satisfaction, there should have been a little bit more of the bridge. The characters have gone through developments throughout the novels too, and by the last novel the characters become stronger and well rounded. The author did a good job with the characters. Overall, this trilogy was a different look at the afterlife, and was intriguing to read.