I was not able to finish this book because it made my eyes hurt. But seriously, there were several reasons why I really don't recommend this one.
-It needs a lot more editing and polish. Every couple of sentences have commas that really don't belong and completely interrupt the flow of the writing. I was getting crazier and crazier with every sentence.
-The writing is just not pleasant to read. It's choppy and doesn't bring to mind any sort of imagery.
-I don't care about being 16, so the entire prologue just pissed me off.
-There are pictures that really aren't worth 1,000 words. I'm all for interior illustrations, but they have to look pretty and they really shouldn't need captions. It seems like they were put in because the text couldn't describe something well enough; this is a bad problem.

Perhaps the last third magically fixes everything and is amazing, but I doubt it. I really wish this book had gone through serious editing since I'm sure it would be a perfectly entertaining middle-grade story afterward. ( )

Carlousia:
The Passing of the Guard
By E.G. Carter

Ten year old Eddie is going through some major life changes, first his family moves to Drayton Woods, and then his Grandfather who was also his best friend passes away. After his Grandfather passes away Eddie soon learns that the stories his grandfather has always told him of a magical place called Carlousia were not fairy tales but in fact is an actual place. Carlousia is in trouble when Eddie first visits and needs his help as the new Guardian, with help from his Carlousian guide Torgy and his furry little friend Wahhaha can Eddie save Carlousia before it’s too late?

This was such a fun book! Eddie and his friends as well as the characters from Carlousia work well together as the story progresses each one bringing a new aspect to the storyline making it a truly fun read. The only real problem I had was in the edition I received there were so many typos, even though they were just little things like except instead of accept it is frustrating but hopefully this will be revised in later editions. That aside it’s a great story from the very beginning and E.G. Carter does remarkable job bringing to life an incredible young adult fantasy. With great fantasy, intense action scenes, and amazing characters I would rate this book five stars hands down if only the typos weren’t in the way.

Heather

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Eddie is the new kid in town, but it seems that he's lucky to start off right away finding the perfect group of friends to hang out with and immediately begins great adventures for the Summer. But when his grandfather “pop” dies he finds out that he is the successor to enter the world of Carlousia, as his father passed by the opportunity years ago. It's a magical world of different peoples, lands and creatures.

When Eddie first makes the trip to Carlousia there is an overwhelming amount of information given to the reader to introduce us to the workings and rules, and of course it's people. We soon find that there is a war brewing and the prophecy says that it's Eddie that will be the Hero.

There were a couple things that distracted me from the feeling of true adventure while reading. It stood out to me that the author chose to make the main character 10 years old. I have never known a 10 year old to be as intelligent, emotionally guarded and protective as Eddie is. There was no difference in his IQ either in or out of Carlousia, completely baffling me as to why he wasn't 16 in the first place. As that age would be more reasonable to visualize them (Eddie and his friends) fighting in a war.

Another set back was the first half of the novel in which there was an overwhelming amount of info dumps given to the reader. As an example I have put one of the most confusing parts of the story in the link here. It is the explanation that Torgey gives to a 10 year old Eddie when first traveling to Carlousia regarding the age of successors entering Carlousia and the time frames they are allowed to stay. Mostly I am referring to pages 50-54.

At the point when Eddie and his friends fall through the waterfall and end up in Carlousia (40% into the story), was when I was able to sit back and enjoy the roller coaster adventures of Eddie and his friends in the magical and new world of Carlousia.

Upon reflection of the story I find similarities to the tales of Narnia. It's a highly imaginative world with a lot of danger and when the pacing kicks up it's something the reader will fly through to the end. An ending that also leaves us with much to look forward to in the sequel. ( )