Book: The Magic Maze Trilogy by Phil Proctor, Samuel Warren Joseph
Reviewed by Enchanted Owl
Rating: 4/5
Overall rating: 3.75/5 ⭐️
The Magic Maze Triology is a grade school/ early middle school fantasy series that follows twins, Tyler & Tess on their adventures.
The first book of the series, Tyler and Tess in the Magic Maze- 4/5 ⭐️
The twins had just finished their soccer game when a storm struck. Since their parents weren’t able to be there, Tyler ran towards the cover of the Percival Forest for shelter. Tess ran after him and both were drenched. After a bolt of lightning struck above them with a snap that had a branch falling at their feet, they dashed away. But with it raining so hard, Tess slipped and fell. They noticed the sky was even more ominous than before so they made a dash to Stone Mount to get try to take cover, but once inside the circle of Stone Mount, things take an unexpected twist.
This book reminds me of Alice when she was being transported into Wonderland but add in the labyrinth from the Percy Jackson books with even more strange characters that are encountered along the way during their travels through the Magic Maze and the different worlds they happen upon, setting the stage for the next book.
The second book of the series, Madness in the Magic Maze- 3 1/2 out of 5 ⭐️
As the twins keeping going deeper and further into the maze, things get even more precarious for them. The characters are even more peculiar and quirky. The challenges the twins face get more complex and interesting as they have to learn to think outside the box to succeed and work together. The wizard reminds me of the Mad Hatter, just with more crazy, chaotic ways and mixed with the Red Queen and lots of rhyming puns, riddles, etc. This book is full of the madness of wonderland sprinkled with elements of The NeverEnding story and Narnia.
The third book of the series, Escape from the Magic Maze- 3 1/2 out of 5 ⭐️
As you would imagine, this book brings the twins and all of the sectors of the maze to an end. Tyler and Tess have one last final quest, and that’s to find all the pieces of the amulet and fend off the enemies to accomplish their goal. In the end, the twins did discover that the sibling rivalry between them was gone and the greatest “magic” they had in their possession was their bond, because of the “heart” in it.
Overall it’s a book that 5 and 6th grade, maybe 7th grade kids would like. All the rhyming was a bit overdone and overwhelming in my opinion. I felt as if the trilogy was trying to mash together every crazy and over the top movie/ book storyline they could from Alice in Wonderland to Jumanji