Lovereading4kids Reader reviews of The Power of Five: Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz Below are the complete reviews, written by Lovereading4kids members. Pippa Cousins, age 16 Raven s Gate is the best novel I have read for a while. Antony Horowitz takes you on an adventurous journey, transporting you to another world of darkness and mystery. His use of vocabulary and varying syntax keeps you wanting to turn the page. My favourite part of this novel has to be that the hero is a fourteen year old boy; it makes the book much more relatable and enjoyable for teenage readers. Raven s Gate is not what you expect and leaves you thinking after you ve finished about the life you lead. The book is the perfect length to keep you interested throughout, with a powerful build up to a great finale. I am keen to buy the next novel as Horowitz leaves you wondering what the next Power of Five series book entails. I thoroughly enjoyed the book as it was entertaining, caught my imagination and was not difficult to read. I would say this book is a must read and I will definitely read the series. Izzy Read, age 12 Ravens gate. Where to start! This was the sort of novel that had you hooked from the beginning, the story was dropping small hints, making you wonder
what they meant, easing you into the plot. It was unputdownable; the tension was raised so high, as not only were you mystified, you were worried for Matt also, being trapped in a place with no way out and every person that even tried to help you was killed soon after. Reading the book, I was actually physically gripping the book in anticipation! It was a truly spinechilling thriller with many twists, making it all the more interesting; it was definitely, by far one the best books I have read(i now have even read the second book its so good!). I d recommend it to anyone, so get there and read it! Matthew McGuigan, age 14 St. Colm s High School, Draperstown Northern Ireland. This is a very exciting story filled with suspense and adventure. Once you start it you will not be able to put it down until you find out what happens. And then you will want to read the rest in the series. The story is about Matt Freeman who goes to stay with his guardian. Everyone in the village is strange and there is a mysterious atmosphere everywhere. Matt has been chosen for a project and cannot understand why. Tom, who lives in the village, tells him he must leave as soon as possible, as he is in danger and when Matt goes to Tom s house he finds him dead and the farm in chaos. Raven s Gate has been painted on the wall. Why is Matt so special to the Old Ones?????? How does Matt and his friend Richard fight against them to stop the evil??????? Both boys and girls will love this book as it is a brilliant story. Delilah Acworth, age 13 Power is constantly arranging itself in Anthony Horowitz's story's, and Ravens Gate is no exception. I found myself constantly sympathising with Matt, and wishing everyone in Lesser Malling dead. The best books always have the most evil and devious enemies, and these ones had my skin crawling. When you think of witches you imagine old women in Victorian dresses screaming gobbledygook at a mangy cat. These witches are normal compared to those, yet I managed to hate them more. Everything about this book screams supernatural! It has me on tenterhooks, and I can hardly wait to read the second one. Anthony Horowitz is a Legend. Kalilah K The first few chapters were rather dreary, in typical Horowitz fashion. But things picked up and I found myself hooked. I liked the character development;
it felt quite realistic and reasonably spaced out. I was worried it would be one of those - BAM! HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW, WHEN, WHERE, WHY OR WHAT BUT HIS POWERS SURGED FORTH AND HE WAS SPARED IN THE NICK OF TIME!!! - at every convenient moment. In terms of plot I'm a tad disappointed. I didn't learn much about the motives of either the protagonists or antagonists. I get that this is the first of a series and all the beans aren't meant to be spilled in one go, but a few extra hints - even false alarms - would've been nice. Overall, it was a good read and I look forward to the next instalment of 'The Power of Five'. Morgan Steigmann, age 14 Matt Freeman is just Matt- or so he thought. Burdened with a life of disaster he is eventually faced with a decision that may just change his whole future: Either a juvenile delinquent centre of the government-founded LEAF project, designed to help criminals like Matt change their ways. Choosing the latter, he embarks on his biggest adventure yet- to the most rural of areas called Lesser Malling. There he discovers that not all things are as they seem- including himself. Everything Matt experiences in his new home just leads to more questions: what is this Raven s Gate? Who are The Five? But ultimately: what s all this got to do with Matt? A new sequence of books emerges from the best-selling author of the Alex Rider series. Packed full of mystery, you won t be able to put this book down! This supernatural adventure will catapult you into another reality- where dogs emerging from fire and disappearing bodies are the norm. Slowly yet surely, the tension from sinister happenings builds upleaving you at the edge of your seat with anticipation. With the characters deliberately changing their personalities to suit the situation, your judgement of them can never be safe. All of the villagers are into the secrets of Lesser Malling- yet, as the book is mainly of Matt s intelligence, the reader doesn t find out much about anything until Matt does. The author is reluctant to let any information out until the closing chapters of this bookmaking it simple to see that it is the start of a series- what is sure to be a great one!
Sarah Murray, age 15 A very interesting read that will get you hooked! This book had an excellent villain and would be a good read for fans of the Harry Potter series. I enjoyed this book and found the development in the story line very addictive. The book has so many twists and turns you find you head spinning. Matt (the main character) narrowly escapes juvy by entering the LEAF program where he is sent to live with a truly creepy woman in a very strange town. Weird things start to happen and Matt learns he has a hidden talent. I really enjoyed this book but felt it was aimed more so towards boys and was a bit on the dark side for me. Never less I'd give this book 3 1/2 stars. Zoe Crook, age 15 This book is AMAZING! I was quite hesitant at first as I don't usually read books of this genre, but Raven's Gate is a fast-paced, original and addictive read. I am so happy that I was offered this for review, because I never would have read it otherwise. This isn't a YA novel and it is aimed at younger readers but I really enjoyed it. Raven's Gate is brimming with action and there are so many awesome scenes throughout this book. I consider myself to be a pretty versatile/varied reader - I love thrillers, chick lits, dystopian and romance, as well as loving all YA, adult and classics. Raven's Gate is a Middle Grade novel, so I was slightly reluctant to start it. Even though I don't like to separate books, films, toys etc to genres, I would say that this is definitely a 'boy' book. The main character is a 14 year old boy (he acts like he's 10, but I'll get to that later...), there's no romance and almost every chapter is action-packed. The writing is really addictive! I flew through this book and read it in one morning, which I wasn't expecting. As aforementioned, Matt was a good protagonist but he seemed much younger. As this is marketed at an MG book, I think the character should be between the age of 9-12. Certain things Matt said and how he reacted came across as quite young so it was sometimes hard to relate too. Although I don't think I'll be continuing with the series, I really recommend Raven's Gat e to anyone! If you're still debating whether to buy this or not, I'd suggest searching at your library and see if this is your sort of thing. :) You can follow Zoe s blog at: www.bookhi.blogspot.com