Ough. Not a great read... But not horrible. Hard to get into and follow... World is never fully explained really. Decent character development - but has some typical characters. Has a wanna be harry potter feel.....' ( )

I didn't end up finishing this book. It was fine, but it felt flat overall. I was not a fan of the dialogue. The story was unique, but it felt cobbled together and bounced from one random thing to another. I bet kids will like it, but it isn't for me. ( )

This is a very cool fantasy book, unlike most fantasy books this has very believable characters and you can see them develop as they learn battle both mental, emotional and physical monsters. It is a great story for the adventurous child.

Charlie Benjamin lives a very, VERY sheltered life. His parents shield him from the world that could potentially hurt and bully their only son. All Charlie wants is to be "normal" and attend a "normal school" and have "normal friend". But bad things happen when he sleeps and has nightmares.

After a certain incident that becomes known as the "Sleepover Apocalypse", Charlie finds himself dreaming, which leads becomes a nightmare. Forcing himself awake, he is surprised to find a monstrous looking scorpion in his room, the same monster from his nightmare. Just when he feels that he's about to die, a strange man crashes into his room along with two others who battle the creature.

Charlie learns that the monster is a creature from the Netherworld. When children with "the Gift" have nightmares, they unknowingly open up portals that allow the monsters into the real world. Reluctantly, his parents agree to let Charlie go with the strangers, and through a series of events, Charlie finds him attending the Nightmare Academy, a place that trains kids who have the Gift to battle monsters.

Just when Charlie feels that he has found a place to belong, he realizes just how different he is. However, armed with a few new friends, Charlie sets out to save those he loves on an adventure that will change his life.

I love this book. The characters are very believable (especially as the story and series progresses) and have amazing back stories. I love how Charlie has to learn how to deal with his emotions before he is able to real deal with the monsters physically. The story is also very engaging; the story never really has a dull moment. It is kind of surprising what happens within a 24 hour period. There is suspense, a bit of mystery, and a lot of adventure. ( )

Cody Supensky 11/2/11
Period 7 Book report #1

Monster Hunters by Dean Lorey is a great book. It all starts with a young child named Charlie Benjamin whose problems are scary, his nightmares bring monsters from the Netherworld (netherworld- a place where monsters live). You see Charlie has this problem called “The Gift” people who have the gift teleport monsters from the Netherworld during their nightmares. So monsters rely on kids during their nightmares to portal them from their world to our world to give havoc in our cities. Except Charlie doesn’t find out until he releases a class 5 Silvertongue (a monster that screeches until your head explodes) into his house and meets Rex, Tabitha, and Pinch. Rex is a Banisher, who banishes the monsters to the netherworld or just kills them. Tabitha is a Nethermancer or a Portal jockey, (what Rex likes to call them) who makes portals into the netherworld. Pinch is a Facilitator who knows and gives information about the Nethercreatures (like their weaknesses or their class). To find out a monsters class you have to count something of theirs. To find the Silvertongue’s class you have to count the spikes on the creature’s tail. Some Nethercreatures don’t change the class like Gremlins or Ectobogs (gremlins are creatures that are attracted to electricity and ectobogs are like “the Blob” or living slime). Think of the Netherworld as a bull’s-eye class 1’s are on the outer layer, all the way to the inner which is the strongest class. The inner circle has the Named. The Named are the strongest creatures alive and the scariest. In the book Monster Hunters, Charlie must get his parents back from Vermilion the first Named, who captured them. Vermilion used mimics (creatures who mimic others) to pretend to kill Charlie’s parents. When he thought that his parents were dead Charlie accidently Portals Barrackas the second Named onto the Earth. The 4 Named must be together to summon the 5th (the queen of nightmares). It’s up to Charlie to save the day!