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The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell Hydra Nest Fumi Hancock Books

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The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell Hydra Nest Fumi Hancock Books

I have been largely dissatisfied during my occasional forays into reading YA. I started the first book in one popular series, and put it down because I felt the author was talking down to his readers. In another first book in a potential series, the high school students who were the main characters discussed scientific concepts like they had PhD's - in multiple specialties. (I'd previously read books in mainstream adult series by each author and enjoyed them.)

Fumi Hancock does not have a following from her non-existent adult series. Nor does she have a book or movie deal around any of her concepts as do the authors I previously alluded to. What she DOES have is "The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell: Hydra's Nest", the first YA adventure, regardless of sub-category, that I have ever enjoyed reading.

Our protagonist, Jewel Cardwell, is removed from her comfort zone within a good neighborhood in a troubled South African township, and shipped off to Grayton Preparatory School. Before she leaves, her grandmother gives her a locket that has been handed down through their family, and warns of a supernatural threat - one that follows her to Grayton, and in fact may have been waiting there for her.

Grandmother does not warn Jewel about possible entanglement with cliques, school rules and politics, and growing interest and attention from members of the opposite gender, but those are out there, as well ...

I found the characters believable, and the dialog actually seemed as though it was coming from people in their late teens. While it is tough to use the words "believable" and "paranormal" in the same context, the scenes involving external phenomena also seemed to play out well. The pacing worked, although we occasionally skipped over months at a time when the author felt nothing significant happened with the characters. Sometimes I missed the fact that we had skipped over a period of time; when we did, I always wondered what might have happened to the characters, even if not central to the plot.

The ending ... normally, I hate cliff-hangers. In this case, however, in seemed to work. One reason was that the author included a preview of the next book in the series; ignoring the fact that the selection reveals how the scene plays out, the simple fact that there IS a next book shows that the title character survives.

More importantly, this book is really telling TWO stories. The first, most obvious one revolves around the paranormal activity at a boarding school. The second, and in my opinion more satisfying of the two, shows the emotional growth of a young woman into adulthood. The ending to that first layer may seem to leave the reader hanging, BUT Jewel's reaction to the situation brings the underlying layer to completion.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to "meet" Jewel Cardwell and author Fumi Hancock before the rest of the world begins to clamor for their attention, and look forward to the next installment in the series.

DISCLOSURE: I was provided a free electronic copy of this book by the author in return for a review reflecting my honest opinions. Also, while I tried to read this with an open mind, I am not a regular reader of YA. As such, my views may differ from those formed by fans of the genre - or they may not; I leave that to the reader's opinion.
CLARIFICATION: It is very tough to get a 5-star out of me; a book has to resonate with me on several levels for that. I give this 4 1/2 stars, but most places where you can post a review don't offer the 1/2 star option.


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The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell Hydra Nest Fumi Hancock Books Reviews

Normally I stay the ever-flippin' Hell away from ANY book that seriously has the word "Adventure" in the title or subtitle. The only freakin' thing that should EVER have the word "Adventure" in the title is freakin' Adventure Time.

Or maybe Adventures of Xanth, if Piers Anthony ever did that. Then again, if Piers Anthony did ANYTHING I'd be okay with it, even hardcore porn. 3

Strike that, ESPECIALLY hardcore porn.

So. The Grimmlyn Series The Adventures of Jewell Cardwell Hydra's Nest has a title that is just...wow. Way too freakin' big.

I know that's not the way it's actually written (that second colon is a comma instead), but I've seen it as either

>The Grimmlyn Series The Adventures of Jewell Cardwell, Hydra's Nest

or

>(The Grimmlyn Series) The Adventures of Jewell Cardwell Hydra's Nest

To be honest, it's quite disconcerting.

Now, the other thing is that the book is written, and perhaps edited, from a "English as a second language" point of view. This CERTAINLY isn't bad, and speakin' as a barbaric, bull-headed American it's always interesting to see how other people live in other countries. Reading about little Jewell growing up, comfortable and feisty at her street, and her later adventures in Grayton Prep, is entertaining in a slice-of-life kinda way. But, here's the thing...

IS this a slice-of-life coming-of-age story? Is it a mystical battle between good and evil? Is it a Harry Potter-ish, Ender's Game-ish kind of school battle saga? Is it a Twilight-esque three-way romantic love story?

...it's kinda striving to be all of the above, and that is a bad thing in my opinion. "He who chases two rabbits shall not catch one," y'know?

Frst and foremost, as always SPOILERS AHOY!

...you still readin'? Alright. Lemme hit ya with this the entire arc concerning Eric Broder, complete with silver spoon in his mouth, was completely superfluous. There was more than enough teenage hormone-laced drama going down between Jewell and her childhood rival, as a reader I neither needed nor approved of her being able to attract not only the bad boy/playboy of her street (who fell head over heels for her in a rather believable way - y'know how little girls punch little boys in the shoulder to show they love them? Or how little boys taunt and chase little girls with dead frogs? Yeah, it's kinda like that.) but also the star soccer player with even LESS than a furtive freakin' glance.

Yeaaaaah...no. No, nonononono. Leave the forced romantic triangle at home or with Twilight fanfics where they freakin' belong!

The other thing - for a place filled with mysticism, monsters, ghosts, and all KINDS of supernatural phenomenon, the magical part of her "adventures" are pretty much waylaid in the background in superstitious and goblin-infested Limpopo. Most of the time it's the slice-of-life stuff and the forced triangle, but when things heat up the book actually gets interesting.

And they normally involve another girl who, unlike Jewell, never got rid of dressin' up in gothic clothes, messin' with mysticism and fightin' monsters. When the focus is on THAT, then yeah, this freakin' book ROCKS! Kaya is the daughter of a local magic man, one with (apparently) a history and a temper. He's already killed one man with a curse, and has apparently taught Kaya everything he knows - the girl tangles with goblins, speaks in the tongue of monsters, and is generally intimidating, cold, and freakin' awesome.

For a side character, she certainly is SUCH a main character! The MOMENT magic-based stuff goes down (including a curse or two), she's the first person Jewell runs to and, begrudgingly, she helps, almost always with an interesting take on Jewell's curse.

Yeah, did I mention the curse that is plaguing Jewell's family? Sure it pops up from time to time, and the Hydra itself makes more than one fiery appearance in the wake of terror and black magic, but really I was just halfway expecting Kaya to just show up and kick ass.

Like, seriously. It's not that I didn't find Jewell an interesting character (a passionate hothead who cares about her friends and lets her mouth get her into trouble? I dig characters like that, yo), it's just she's too...tooooo....

...not Kaya. 3

So, with ALL THAT STATED, suffice it to say I am VERY looking forward to the sequel, in the hopes that with a sub-subtitle like "The Sorcerer's Purgatory," I get that itch for Kaya scratched.

So to sum everything up (wait, did you read this whole review or just skip to this part?!), I'm giving this a nice 3/5. The writing is good, and the magical moments are VERY vivid - Fumi Hancock can draw up scenes both surreal and completely normal and imbue them with a wonderful vision.

Yet...yetyetyetyet, this series could very well do without the forced love triangle issue, and then there's the basic issue of introducing a character like Kaya, whose very personality and presence waters down the impact of Jewell as the main character.

I'm not looking for immortal, omniscient, super-powered battles in a coming-of-age, slice-of-life, mystical good versus evil YA novel that is also about a young warrior coming to terms with her accursed heritage which grants her magical powers....

but Kaya certainly fit the freakin' bill, y'knowwhatImean?

SO. Shyah, I recommend this e-book. Check it out, and don't act like you haven't even SEEN this woman's five hundred other things - I swear to whatever glorious God exists, Fumi Hancock is a freakin' MACHINE when it comes to artistic endeavors and marketing.

3/5, jolly good show, and I DO wanna read the sequel~!

Sincerely,

~Thomas Duder, Author of the Things
[...]

P.S. - The one thing I forgot to mention is the ending, and Fumi's superb handling of pathos. I know I was just doggin' on Fumi about how less of an impact Jewell had compared to Kaya, and while it COULD be argued that her concerns about Grayton Prep weren't inexactly unfounded, there's also the viewpoint of mine that as a grown man I could care less what a freakin' teenager angsts about when it comes to leaving their school.

On the other hand, seeing your friends die, your hometown become a war zone in the middle of a military coup...yeah. That entire segment was MASTERFULLY handled, simply well done~!

Just sayin'. <3
This cover is just amazing! PhatPuppy Art really did a great job with it. It's eye catching and just lovely!

The writing is good, too. The setting was just lovely. I ate it up! The plot was intriguing and kept me moving. There was a great attention spent on the writing of this book, which is sometimes lacking. Each sentence was carefully crafted. Honestly, it was a little beautiful! I just have to say again that the setting was AMAZING! I felt like I was there.

However, my issues with this book happened on the character level for me. It felt as though Jewel was being a teenager written from the perspective of an adult. As Jewel worked through her issues her way, she came across very immature. Now, an adult would see that, but I distinctly remember as a teen thinking I was very mature for my age. Really, I wasn't. I was about as far from it as I could get.

There were also a few irregularities, details that were missed. I think there was so much focus on Jewel by the author, that Ms. Hancock missed the reactions of the people in the background. For some, that works because then the secondary characters aren't being distracting. However, I'm the type of reader who's looking at everyone going, "Hey, dude, why aren't you reacting to the tear gas? Huh? Are you wearing a mask? Got lungs of steel?"

The story itself is a good one and one definitely worth reading. It was really, really close to getting four full dragons. Good, good story!

I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
I have been largely dissatisfied during my occasional forays into reading YA. I started the first book in one popular series, and put it down because I felt the author was talking down to his readers. In another first book in a potential series, the high school students who were the main characters discussed scientific concepts like they had PhD's - in multiple specialties. (I'd previously read books in mainstream adult series by each author and enjoyed them.)

Fumi Hancock does not have a following from her non-existent adult series. Nor does she have a book or movie deal around any of her concepts as do the authors I previously alluded to. What she DOES have is "The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell Hydra's Nest", the first YA adventure, regardless of sub-category, that I have ever enjoyed reading.

Our protagonist, Jewel Cardwell, is removed from her comfort zone within a good neighborhood in a troubled South African township, and shipped off to Grayton Preparatory School. Before she leaves, her grandmother gives her a locket that has been handed down through their family, and warns of a supernatural threat - one that follows her to Grayton, and in fact may have been waiting there for her.

Grandmother does not warn Jewel about possible entanglement with cliques, school rules and politics, and growing interest and attention from members of the opposite gender, but those are out there, as well ...

I found the characters believable, and the dialog actually seemed as though it was coming from people in their late teens. While it is tough to use the words "believable" and "paranormal" in the same context, the scenes involving external phenomena also seemed to play out well. The pacing worked, although we occasionally skipped over months at a time when the author felt nothing significant happened with the characters. Sometimes I missed the fact that we had skipped over a period of time; when we did, I always wondered what might have happened to the characters, even if not central to the plot.

The ending ... normally, I hate cliff-hangers. In this case, however, in seemed to work. One reason was that the author included a preview of the next book in the series; ignoring the fact that the selection reveals how the scene plays out, the simple fact that there IS a next book shows that the title character survives.

More importantly, this book is really telling TWO stories. The first, most obvious one revolves around the paranormal activity at a boarding school. The second, and in my opinion more satisfying of the two, shows the emotional growth of a young woman into adulthood. The ending to that first layer may seem to leave the reader hanging, BUT Jewel's reaction to the situation brings the underlying layer to completion.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to "meet" Jewel Cardwell and author Fumi Hancock before the rest of the world begins to clamor for their attention, and look forward to the next installment in the series.

DISCLOSURE I was provided a free electronic copy of this book by the author in return for a review reflecting my honest opinions. Also, while I tried to read this with an open mind, I am not a regular reader of YA. As such, my views may differ from those formed by fans of the genre - or they may not; I leave that to the reader's opinion.
CLARIFICATION It is very tough to get a 5-star out of me; a book has to resonate with me on several levels for that. I give this 4 1/2 stars, but most places where you can post a review don't offer the 1/2 star option.