The Fowl Twins: Get What They Deserve by Eoin Colfer || Hilarious Action Adventure MG

Get What They Deserve

Irish Twins Myles and Beckett, Artemis Fowl's younger brothers, return in their third and most bizarre adventure yet.

For almost two years, Lord Teddy Bleedham-Drye, the Duke of Scilly, has been plotting revenge against the Fowl Twins, who humiliated him in Book One. Teddy plans to give them exactly what they deserve: permanent death.

He threatens Myles with his weaponized jet and Beckett and Specialist Lazuli succeed in disarming the aircraft and causing an accident that kills the duke. But does it really?
Ghosts, clones, and fairy magic come to play in this ultimate and ridiculous showdown between the twins and their worst enemy.

Rating:

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• Hilarious third person omniscient narrative style.
• Lots of action that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat.
• A small almost-villain supergenius who is constantly swayed to do the right thing.
• Adorable twin sibling bonds.
• Squad vibes with larger-than-life characters that’ll steal your heart.
• Magic and science and ghosts and animals.

Many thanks to Disney-Hyperion and Rockstar Book Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I have a confession. I’d actually never read a Eoin Colfer book until I picked up this series. No, I have no idea what’s wrong with me, either. I just missed the Artemis Fowl buzz and never went back to read them, having no idea what I was even missing. So I started with The Fowl Twins, and phew, let me tell you, I will definitely be going back to read the first series now!

The Fowl Twins: Get What They Deserve is a hilarious roller coaster ride of a book that sweeps the reader into a larger-than-life adventure filled with trolls, fairies, and one particularly determined villain out for revenge. Once this book gets its hooks in you, it won’t let go!

While you certainly don’t need to have read the previous series to pick up this series (I jumped right in and didn’t feel like I had missed anything in particular), there will definitely be mentions and inside jokes that I think readers will pick up better if they have. There are things that happened in that series that are mentioned in this series, and there’s enough of a mention where I understand the gist, but I probably would’ve enjoyed the throwback more had I read the series. That being said, I absolutely loved this book and series! Beck and Myles are fantastic characters, and the narrative voice absolutely cracks me up.

The Fowl Twins: Get What They Deserve is the perfect blend of action and comedy, constantly taking the Fowl twins to the edge of destruction and seeing them come out the other side by the skin of their teeth (and not generally unscathed, either).

Bad things happen in this book, things which might, on the surface, seem a little dark for middle grade. However, the narrator’s light, flippant tone keeps the book from crossing into dark fantasy, especially since bad things have an interesting way of being reversed or not being quite what they first appear. This series is all about subverting expectations, and I love it! It definitely keeps you guessing.

I cannot stress how much I love this narration style, though, which specializes in both foreshadowing and a very tongue-in-cheek sort of humor that works perfectly for these characters.

After the third or fourth time of me laughing out loud, my husband was very curious about what the heck I was reading, so I had him read a section, and even he laughed. My husband has a very unique sense of humor and it’s hard to get him to crack a smile over something written in a book, so I was impressed!

Myles and Beckett, though being twins, couldn’t be more dissimilar . . . but it’s those differences that make the book so terribly exciting to read and which will inevitably endear readers of every age to each one!

It should probably come as absolutely no surprise that I connected the most with Myles. You know, the tiny genius who has questionable social skills, bordering on sociopathy, teetering on the edge of villainy, and who definitely takes himself more than a little too seriously. I mean . . . what’s not to love there?! Myles can definitely brush readers the wrong way with his self-centered smugness . . . but that’s sort of the point? Because then he’ll turn around and admit (rather reluctantly) his short-comings and how much he needs his companions. I mean, dude trips going up stairs. Not even a genius IQ can spare you when that’s the case.

Beckett, on the other hand, is utterly adorable in his simple naivety. He’s not necessarily a genius, certainly not like his brothers, but he’s not stupid, either. Beckett relies on intuition and actual social skills, along with his rather impressive ability to perform physical feats like fighting and climbing. Beckett is honestly just a good soul, especially compared to his brothers, and it’s hard not to love a character who just wants to protect the people around him.

While magic is a thing in this world, the book combines science and magic in a very unique way, such that there are some super high-tech inventions and biology bordering on magic but easily explained away by science. Oh, and then there’s actual magic, of course.

I thought this dichotomy was extremely interesting. There are things that we would call magic that are easily dismissed and explained by science (like goblin anatomy and their ability to breathe fire — I mean, the goblins are technically fantasy, but the biology isn’t magic, at least!). Being both the fantasy and science geek that I am, I really appreciated this exploration of both and the unique ways they could be combined!

Not to mention, if strange, fun, high-tech gear is your thing, you will love some of the things both Lord Teddy and Myles come up with. I mean, it makes sense that supervillains would produce some pretty interesting tech, right? Even though Lord Teddy is definitely a villain, he’s also a genius, and it’s hard not to appreciate his brilliance at times (and also be more than a little jealous over all his tech toys).

This story is fast-paced; filled with twists, turns, and subverted expectations; and employs a squad of characters that will inevitably find readers connecting with at least one of them.

There’s Myles and Beckett, of course, who are the main characters. But even the secondary characters here are highly relatable.

There’s also Lazuli, which I think older readers will easily be able to relate to. Even if they’re just older siblings. Because poor Lazuli is in charge of the Fowl twins and is always dragged into their messes and constantly attempting to save their hides. She’s definitely a sort of beleaguered older sibling type that, while not technically related, is definitely suffering the effects of being in constant close proximity to the two young Fowls.

Then there’s Lord Teddy, who again is technically a villain. But villainy can be fun, right? Technically, I suppose he’s got a reason to want to revenge, and an evil genius is still a genius! I’m not sure I’d hope that readers would relate to him, but he sure makes an entertaining adversary, in any case!

There are lots of little side characters, too, who I don’t want to get too into because they will most definitely be a surprise and I don’t want to ruin it. Needless to say, I’m always excited to meet more characters in this series, because they’re so colorful, larger-than-life, and utterly entertaining!

About Eoin Colfer

Eoin Colfer is the author of the New York Times best-selling Artemis Fowl series, which was adapted into a major motion picture from the Walt Disney Studios. He also wrote the critically acclaimed WARP trilogy, and many other titles for young readers and adults, including Iron Man: The Gauntlet, Airman, Half Moon Investigations, Eoin Colfer's Legend of . . . books, The Wish List, Benny and Omar; and Benny and Babe. In 2014, he was named Ireland's laureate for children's literature. He lives with his wife and two sons in Dublin, Ireland, where he is working on the next Fowl twins novel. To learn more, visit www.eoincolfer.com. He is also on Twitter and Instagram @EoinColfer.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram

3 winners will win a finished copy of THE FOWL TWINS: GET WHAT THEY DESERVE, US Only.

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Similar Books You Might Also Enjoy: