Book Review: Underworld by Catherine Macphail

Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books, July, 2005
ISBN: 1582349975

Pages: 250

    Underworld  looks on its cover that this some sort of underground monster horror book, however the true terror is more about what happens when a group of students trapped in a series of caves with no adults.  Before going into the caves the students are told about the legend of a  great monster worm that inhabit the cave.   Once in the cave there is  an earthquake, and the student are  trapped       and their teacher is knocked unconscious.    The group of students consists of Axel, the school bully, Liam his sidekick, Zesh the hero, Fiona the rebel, and Angie the friendly overweight girl.   The real story is about the group dynamic with in the cave once the teacher is unconscious that had a touch of Lord of the Flies feel to it.    If you are looking for a giant monster book you need to look elsewhere. However if you want a good read about what happens to a group of students trapped inside a labyrinth of cave with the haunted by the story about a giant worm that makes every sound seem like impending doom  and every dark place suspect then this is the book for you.   Contains minimal non lethal school violence.  Note: This book has nothing to do with the popular vampire/werewolf movie with the same name.

  • |