The Slug Queen Chronicles

Season One

Children - Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Kindle Edition
Reviewed on 01/15/2020
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

With her infectious energy and a penchant for the peculiar, no one has ever accused S. O. Thomas of being mundane. She has a B.F.A. in Fashion Design. She spends her days designing creepy-cute clothes. At night, she dreams of magical places that end up spilling out of her brain and onto the page. She lives on the edge of a haunted forest in a small town in Massachusetts with her husband, their two cats, and a real life gremlin.

    Book Review

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

The Slug Queen Chronicles is a work of playful fantasy fiction written for middle-grade aged children and penned by author S. O. Thomas. Billed as Season One of the chronicles, the opening to the story sees twelve-year-old Cricket Kane face a dangerous magical adventure as she learns the truth: fairies do exist, and they’re much more terrifying than you’d think. When Cricket’s brother is kidnapped and toxic dust takes his place and infects her family, so begins a wild adventure to recover him and discover why fairies don’t take single teeth anymore. The story is told over four short novellas that make up the season as a continuing arc.

Author S. O. Thomas writes with a delightful sense of imagination that teeters between fun and darkness nicely for the target middle-grade age range. There are plenty of hairy moments for young Cricket to endure as she solves dangerous problems, fights for her family and learns a lot from the characters she meets along the way. The four-novella format actually breaks a large, complex story down into very manageable chapter-chunks for MG readers, making it easy to lose yourself in this fabulous, cute and creepy world. Fans of visual feasts like the works of Tim Burton will fall in love with Thomas’s descriptive techniques, the atmosphere and color palette that falls as a backdrop to the magic and mayhem of the plot. Overall, The Slug Queen Chronicles is a sharp series with plenty of fantasy fun for children everywhere.

Mamta Madhavan

Cricket Kane could not wait for her twelfth birthday to learn what part of her mother her father would share with her. The tradition of gifting her a present with 'Mom' written on it kept her memories alive for Cricket. This time when he pulled out the gift and gave it to her, Cricket was disappointed because there was no second present. Seeing Cricket's sadness and confusion, and her father's explanation for not giving a second present, Janice, her stepmother, pulled out an old shoebox from the cupboard. She told Cricket it was her mother's gift for her. She opened the box and at the bottom of the box was a leather-bound journal like the one she had received for her tenth birthday. Cricket knew her mother was like her in writing journals, and like Cricket her mother saw the colored dust too. Her journal was more about trying to figure out where the dust came from.

The Slug Queen Chronicles: The Complete Season One Boxed Set by S.O. Thomas takes young readers on a fantastical adventurous journey through a magical realm, filled with creatures that will enchant and captivate the imaginations of readers and keep them intrigued until the very end. The narration is detailed and there is never a dull moment in the story. The plot has mystery, intrigue, suspense, adventure, fantasy, whimsy, action, and the characters and their portrayal will enchant young readers and leave them with memories of fairies and mind-probing monsters.

Anne-Marie Reynolds

The Slug Queen Chronicles by S.O. Thomas tells the story of Cricket Kane and her bid to save her family. Cricket lost her mother the day she was born. For years, she has seen strange colored dust, different colors for different things. When she turns 12, her father and stepmother giver her a journal that her mother left and she discovers secrets of magic and mystery. She also learns that the tooth fairy no longer collect teeth – instead, they collect children and, when Cricket’s baby brother is kidnapped, a changeling is left in his place, along with toxic black dust. When the dust affects her family, Cricket discovers she is immune to it. Now Cricket has a long journey ahead of her. Together with a cat, she follows a fairy to a place where legendary creatures live and Santa takes her in. There, Cricket discovers only she can save all the missing children but she may have to pay the ultimate cost. Can she save them all and herself?

The Slug Queen Chronicles by S.O. Thomas is a wonderful story with some great illustrations. Well-written, the story takes us on a long, magical and exciting journey and the descriptions transport you straight into the plot. You will lose yourself in a different world as you meet crazy, wondrous creatures, even Santa himself, on a fast-moving, action-packed journey. There is plenty going on here right from the start, and once you start you won’t put this story down. The characters are wonderfully developed, likable and easy to relate to, and I promise you will be rooting for Cricket and her family all the way. Excellent story, well-aimed at the younger audience although I think it’s safe to say that adults will enjoy this story just as much.