The Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl, #4) by Eoin Colfer Published by Miramax Books on July 14th 2009
Pages: 416
Goodreads
The evil pixie Opal Koboi has spent the last year in a self-induced coma, plotting her revenge on all those who foiled her attempt to destroy the LEPrecon fairy police. And Artemis Fowl is at the top of her list.
After his last run-in with the fairies, Artemis had his mind wiped of his memories of the world belowground. But they have not forgotten about him. Once again, he must stop the human and fairy worlds from colliding—only this time, Artemis faces an enemy who may have finally outsmarted him.
3.5 Nuts
Warning, spoilers, because I’ve got some stuff to say.
This book the the 4th in a series, and it is about this point that I started TECHNICALLY growing out of the age grow for this series. But I was stubborn and loyal, and continued on until the last two books (which I now plan to read so I can say I read them all). But when I think of this book I kind of get uncomfortable, in both good and bad ways. And there are reasons.
First, Commander Root. This was the first book (or one of) where I really felt the loss of a character so keenly. Just thinking about this scene makes me sad and emotional. I don’t even like rereading it because of how viciously it affects me. But that’s not a criticism, Colfer does a fabulous job with the scene and the aftermath. But for me personality it is tied to such a deep memory that I have difficulty.
Second, Opal Koboi. This is a character in the top ten villains I truly hate. There are villains, like the Darkling, that I love. Those are my favorite types of characters to read. But there are also the villains that make your teeth grind, that make you want to imagine horrible things happening to them. And that’s Opal. She’s the pre-Umbridge baddy that makes you so mad at her very existence.
Can you tell this book makes me emotional?
Those are two good things about this book, but there are also bad. Outside of those elements the book isn’t one of Colfer’s best. The plot is fine but not as addicting as some of this others. The heist bits at the beginning are really fun but it definitely lags a lot in the middle. And Artemis being out of the loop REALLY makes the story suffer a little.
I don’t like clueless Artemis. I don’t like how out of control and out of his element he feels in a large part of this book. It’s hard to reconcile that in my brain. I like confident, clever Artemis. I like when he’s so self assured and then shit goes to hell. This book feels so different than that and I think it suffers.
This book gives me a lot of mixed feelings. Some elements are so good, even though they made me feel a lot of thing. And yet some are just so blah. It’s incredibly inconsistent. I do like a lot of the bits with my favorite side characters, Foaly, Butler, and Mulch, but I feel like even their parts are stunted. What happened in this book?
I think I liked this book better when I was younger when the flaws weren’t so evident. Though many of the others still hold up. Still, I do recommend this book because it’s part of a great series and you really do have to read them all. Plus the Root story is very important.
What do you remember about this book? Share your thoughts in the comments.
From my shelf to yours,
Erin
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