Syren (Septimus Heap #5), by Angie Sage

I've been reading these books over the course of several years, which I remembered while reading this one and memories of New Mexico came back to me.  I had a photography job that required a lot of travel and I spent weeks at a time living in NM and apparently reading these books haha.  Anyway, for those of you unfamiliar with the series, it's about a magical boy named Septimus Heap and his extended group of friends, family and co-workers.  One of the stand-out features in this series is the presence of a friendly dragon named Spit Fyre and I really loved all the dragon flight in these books.  Syren, specifically, involves some mysterious islands, a demonic possession and some quick thinking.  I really enjoyed this book and I will buy the 6th installment when it comes out in June, but I've heard bad reviews of these books too, so I caution my readers to read a sample or if you were lucky enough to catch the Free Friday of the first book then you can try the series for free, but beware, you might be one of the people that doesn't like it!  Perhaps all the magyk is too convenient or the books are a little too juvenile, but whatever the complaints, I wasn't bothered at all.  These books are technically a dystopian or a post-apocalyptic, but they read more like children's fantasies.  There is hardly any reference to the world we know as a reader, but it was apparently some time in the past for them.  However, they do go back in time for some of the books and there is no mention of anything like our civilization either, so nothing is explained very much.  I just don't care though, I'm ready to read and read whatever.  Spin me a tale Miss Author Lady and I will jump right in!  I had fun reading every single one of these books and if you're willing to take a bit of a leap these books are worth a try.  I would recommend the Septimus Heap series for any fans of YA, magic, dragons, stories of friendship and family, mysteries, coming-of-age or lovers of the renaissance time period. 

Favorite things:  Spit Fyre: the dragon, the feeling of being in another time period similar to the renaissance, the lovable characters, the post-notes at the end of each book that are similar to a mini-epilogue for some of the characters, the talent of Angie Sage to get me so involved that I actually said the words, "Oh no," out loud while reading this, the island setting in Syren, the creepy descriptions of something happening (I can't say what without a spoiler though haha) and the whole world Angie Sage created - I feel like I really know some of these people and places now.

Criticisms:  there are almost too many characters in this series for me, because I found it hard to remember who a few of them were and there are always new characters in each book too.  It's a bit frustrating when you have to stop and think about who such-and-such is before you can continue on reading and if she would just use a few less characters in each book, it would be easier to follow along.  Other than that, nothing, I don't have any of the potential complaints other readers might, because personally, those things don't matter to me.  I'm along for the ride and I don't necessarily need to know how I got there to begin with or why the ride is so weird or how it's upside down with no bars to hold on to... 

Overall:  5 out of 5 stars!  If you have similar tastes to me, I would really recommend this series.  :)