First Review for "Karla Joins In"

Last night while linking to a BryonySeries book on Amazon, I noticed I had my first review for "Karla Joins in."

It was actually posted on Halloween. So the fact I'm just noticing it now is really indicative of the year we're having.

What's really fun is that the order is verified and the review was posted four days after "Karla Joins In" was published.

This is the fourth book in the Girls of the BryonySeries subseries (eight are planned). All stories revolve around eleven-year-old girls with a problem to solve.

I don't actually have a copy of the cover in my computer (Rebekah has it), so I'm just posting the illustration Jennifer Wainwright created. You'll see the actual cover if you click through to Amazon (the book is not yet listed on the BryonySeries website).

Here is the summary, followed by the review.

I hope your day also brings a nice surprise.

Have a great Tuesday!

Eleven-year-old Karla Dyer has one goal in life: to be like everyone else. But that’s hard to do when your father was killed slaying a vampire, and your mother is making it your mission to take his place in the world. Karla and her mom live in his old motor home, which is rotting away, and Karla must study grimoires and crystal balls after a full day of school. Karla just wants to hang out with her friends. Is that too much to ask?

5.0 out of 5 stars Written for kids, but adults who love the Bryony series will rejoice

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2023

Verified Purchase

While "Karla Joins In" is geared to the preteen set, it's an important book for those of us who devoured Denise B. Unland's Bryony Series. It provides important background information about essential characters in the series.

The book's protagonist, Karla Dyer, is psychic and can read minds much like her famous/infamous father, Cornell Dyer. Both Karla and her mother, Katie, mourn Cornell Dyer, after he is killed while hunting a vampire (who happens to be the father of Karla's best friend, John-Peter Simotes). Katie places all hope in Karla to carry on Cornell Dyer's legacy. A heavy burden for a child.

At eleven, Karla wants to be an ordinary girl. She wants to join her cousins in sleepovers and matinees. Instead, she attends second school, studying her late father's notes and tomes and honing her talents. If not for her best friend, John-Peter Simotes, she most likely would have succumbed to depression.

John-Peter is the son of Bryony's archfiend vampire, John Simons. Like Karla, he's mourning and his life is complicated by stepfather, Kellen Weschler, whom he despises. John-Peter helps Karla in her quest to be an ordinary eleven-year-old, and the plot is complex, hilarious and poignant.

This book is standalone by nature, but contains far more meaning for those who've read the Bryony Series. It provides a bird's eye view of previous plots and allow us to get to know two vital characters from the series. I recommend this book for pre-teens and anyone who's read the Bryony Series or wants to be inspired to read a fabulous series.