Tigerpetal Press : Book Review: February

Conspiracy 365 Book 2: February by Gabrielle Lord

I liked it

Here’s the second book in the Conspiracy: 365 series. They’re quite short books, but fast paced.

Read: December 2 – December 3, 2023

Genre: Action/Adventure
Audience: Teen, Young Adult
Book contains: conspiracy, on the run, gruesome injury

Another Massive Cliffhanger

Now a fugitive on the run from both the cops and two separate criminal organizations, fifteen-year-old Callum (Cal) Ormond continues his hunt for clues about the mysterious Ormond Singularity. He’s already been saved from certain death once, but who can he really trust?

Though this series isn’t perfectly suited to my preferences, I’m still planning on finishing all twelve books. It’s interesting enough, with the action-packed scenes, the mystery, and the suspense layered throughout. I still find it difficult to see myself in the main character because of how different we are, but I’ve connected with him enough to feel worried for his safety as he gets himself into all sorts of dangerous situations. I can shake my head when he does something embarrassing and groan in frustration when he doesn’t think things through. (There is one scene at the end that feels like it could’ve been avoided if he just made one phone call! But alas…)

Again, a short book, so I just read it the old-fashioned way. I had a few problems with drifting off to sleep a couple of times—not caused in any part by the action in the book, which was quite intense.

I find it so interesting that the page numbers in this series run backwards. It’s unique and peculiar, though it causes a few problems when I’m updating my page progression on Goodreads. (It’s easy enough to do the subtraction, but it’s still an extra step.) Like book 1, it’s told in first person perspective by Cal and is broken up quite a bit with timestamps. Each chapter is a day of the month (again, not every day of the month is included).

Cal returns as our main character, and his best friend Boges makes numerous appearances, but we have some new characters as well in this book. Jennifer Smith returns, as does the woman who kidnapped Cal in book 1. Sligo, “the Slug,” who tried to have him killed, and some of his goons show up as well. The one person I’m most interested in, though, is the new girl—the one briefly mentioned at the end of January. She has so many secrets flowing around her that I want to figure her out. I’m intrigued.

Cal is still worried about his family, his connection with Boges is as strong as ever, and in this book, there’s hints at a possible romantic relationship in his future with a new character (as if things were complicated enough!). There is minimal contact with his family after Cal discovers that his mother is speaking with the police, but he does still leave her a message, and he makes a brief call to Rafe after he learns a bit more about his uncle’s motives.

The suspense and action scenes in this book are well written. They’re a bit dramatized, but that’s a given since this book is written for young and preteen boys. It’s quite simple, and while the boys are smart when figuring out the mystery, there are definitely some things that, in hindsight, weren’t their best ideas. The overall quality of the writing is decent; it captures the intensity of the danger, but also doesn’t quite get my heart pumping like some other books have.

Like I said above, this series is for preteen boys. I think it’s a great choice for getting them more interested in reading. The mystery combined with the excitement and danger Cal gets into is sure to pique the interest of many young readers. I definitely recommend giving it a try.

Conspiracy 365 Book 2: February by Gabrielle Lord

Another Massive Cliffhanger

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