Tigerpetal Press : Book Review: May

Conspiracy 365 Book 5: May by Gabrielle Lord

I liked it

Book 5 of 12 now. I’m starting to see more in the covers of these books; you can guess the big plot points based on what’s shown.

Read: December 16 – December 17, 2023

Genre: Action/Adventure
Audience: Teen; Young Adult
Book contains: conspiracy, on the run, mental institution, fire, death, heart condition, non-graphic body horror

Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca

Less Action; More Thinking

Cal has just woken up in Leechwood Lodge, a mental asylum, and the doctors there think his name is Benjamin Galloway. How will he escape? He still needs to find the missing drawings and riddle and get to his Great-uncle Bartholemew’s place out in Mount Helicon. Is all hope lost?

All the books have ended on a cliffhanger, and they’ve all put Cal through situations that get more and more unbelievable. I always find it interesting when characters are put into a mental asylum for the purpose of manipulation, because it’s always a story in which reality is more unbelievable than the lie that they’re trying to feed the main character. The ending was a bit sad, and overall, there was less action, but our buddy Cal deserves a break once in a while!

For some reason, it felt like I got through this book a lot faster than the other ones, even though they’re all exactly the same number of pages (crazy how that is…). It’s good that I read it fast, though, considering how busy this weekend is, being the last weekend of 2023.

The structure and point of view of the book are all the same; consistent with the first four books. I’m happy to note that my theory from January has officially been confirmed, and a few of my other theories are growing more concrete by the page.

Cal is dealing with a few new annoying characters, such as Dr Snudgeglasser, who is either in on the conspiracy or has been thoroughly duped by Sligo, who was the one to put Cal in the asylum in the first place. The upside? Once Cal escapes the asylum with a bit of help from his friends (you know he does because the series must continue), he now has a fake ID that’ll hold up to police scrutiny. For some reason, Boges seems cool with Winter now, despite how they left things at the end of April. I wonder what happened to change his mind?

Cal meets up with old characters and new characters, and I’m a bit relieved by the more relaxed pace of this one. It’s a lot more brainwork for Cal and his allies, and he definitely gets a lot more answers in this book than any of the others so far. However, he gets a lot more questions as well.

After a big revelation later in the book for Cal, he might just catch a break from being hounded by Oriana de la Force’s and Sligo’s goons—who always seem to know where he is.

I’m still at a loss about what gives the Ormond Singularity it’s deadline. How would it make the family rich? Why would anyone not in the Ormond family be going after it? You get some clues, but nothing substantial enough so far that you can put it together with any sense. It’s one of the main reasons I keep reading.

I still completely recommend this book for mystery-lovers, puzzle-solvers, and adrenaline junkies! The situations Cal keeps getting himself into don’t feel like they’d happen in real life, but that’s the fun of a conspiracy theory, isn’t it?

Conspiracy 365 Book 5: May by Gabrielle Lord

Less Action; More Thinking

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