Michael Vey the Prisoner of Cell 25
Hi all, my name is Charles Richard Hechler and today I will be reviewing Micheal Vey the Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans. I first came across this book in middle school, but I never read it, mostly because it was on the Rebecca Caudill list and I personally thought that most books on the list were quite bad. However, my little brother was extremely fond of the books and even purchased some. A bit before break I happened upon the first book and decided to give it a go. Now without further ado let us get into the review. *Spoiler Warning*
The story kicks off when Micheal, the main character who is constantly bullied because of his Tourette's Syndrome is in another fight with a group of bullies and he discovers he has electric powers when he nearly electrocutes the whole group. The only other person to witness the encounter is Taylor, who is conveniently both the hottest most popular cheerleader that Micheal has a crush on, as well as another person who can use electric powers. After Taylor talks with Micheal, they form a little group with Micheal's best friend, Ostin, who is always obsessing over Micheal's mom's good looks.
The group soon finds out that they are being hunted down by a corporation that goes by the name of Elgen lead by Dr. Hatch. Micheal's mom and Taylor are kidnapped and sent to the "Elgen Academy". Then Micheal manages to become friends with his former bully Wade. He gives them transportation to the Elgen Academy, but they are stopped by Dr. Hatch who kidnaps them and locks Micheal in a torture chamber known as Cell 25, now knowing that he was the cause of his father's death. He is also drained of his electric powers.
While at the Elgen academy they discover that there are other people with the electric powers who are minions of Dr. Hatch. Eventually, after Micheal finds a way to escape he finds his friends and they manage to defeat most of the people that Dr. Hatch put up against them, and they discover he is using mind control on the other electric people and they free everyone and Dr. Hatch and co. escapes on a helicopter.
This book was an enjoyable read, but it did not seem that serious as it was so predictable, and very cliche. The characters and their interactions were very cliche and their relationships. The book did a very good job of creating suspense and made each action scene more entertaining and thrilling. However, in the end, the ending was fun, but it was not as satisfying or realistic as it could have been, and mostly came across as a bit too easy for the newly named "Electroclan".
Overall, I would recommend this book just because it is quite a fun read, although there are definitely more engaging books out there. I would rate this book around a 6/10, but this book is the start of a series and the next installments may be a bit better.
I hadn't heard of this book before reading your review and I don't think I'll be reading it anytime soon. I like that you gave a background of how you found this book and why you decided to read it. Your review was quick and to the point, but I still feel like I learned everything I needed to about the book. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading this last year when my parents left me at the library with my sister and I have to agree with a lot of the things you said. The action scenes were definitely thrilling and probably the best parts about the book, but it was very predictable and cliche in its other aspects. I remember thinking that the writing outside of the action bits was very basic and sounded dull after a while. Great job on this post.
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was a nice trip back in time to my sixth grade year in middle school, when I decided binge-read the entire series. I definitely remember enjoying the books, and I think the main reason that I liked them so much (as you mentioned in your post) was because of the action scenes. Other than that, I can see why you would say that the first book's plot is shallow and see-through. Regarding the rest of the series, I can't really say that I remember what each book was like perfectly, but I will say the ending disappointed me a little bit (though it was epic).
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was informative and easy to read, and I liked how you gave your honest opinion on the book. Good job!
I read the entire series in middle school, and I loved it. I didn't notice how cliche and childish it was at the time. I loved all of the characters, and I thought the story was great. I recently re-read the first book, and I can agree with you that it is childish and unrealistic. My judgement may still be clouded because of the fact that it was so long ago that I read the series, but I do believe it gets better, and the Electroclan face worse troubles. Thanks for the review!
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