Book Review: The Vengekeep Prophecies

Summary: “You can’t convict what you can’t confirm.” That’s the motto of 12-year-old Jaxter Grimjinx and his infamous family of thieves. And while Jaxter may not have his father’s burglary prowess, his mother’s forgery skills, or his little sister’s mastery of sleight-of-hand, his book-fed knowledge of non-magical solutions to magical problems makes him invaluable to the family’s heists.
  But the Grimjinxes may have pulled one con too many in their hometown, Vengekeep. After swapping the prophetic tapestry used to guide Vengekeep’s actions for a fake concocted by Jaxter’s mother, the Grimjinxes are stunned when the false prophecies begin coming true, bringing destruction in their wake.
  Suddenly, Vengekeep is besieged by “natural” disasters and rampaging monsters, courtesy of the secretly enchanted counterfeit tapestry. With his family forced to stay and combat the impending doom, Jaxter must leave his hometown in search of a way to keep the increasingly dangerous prophecies from wiping Vengekeep off the map.

Thoughts: This story made me so happy! I loved the way Farrey managed to incorporate an entire family into a fantasy adventure!  Normally parents ho show up in fantasy tend to be bad parents whether they're just painful oblivious to the antics of they're children or useless in times of trouble, they've become big disappointments with me. And if they're actually doing a good job at parenting it usually leaves the children feeling bland and useless as they aren't allowed to do much while under the protecting and watchful eye of the parents. 
 While the Grimjinx family may not be the best of people they are a fabulous family. The parents especially shone in light of being kind, caring, and protective but without smothering the character of Jaxter. They were all a fabulously enjoyable bunch! All of the cast was for that matter.
  The plot was interesting and kept me laughing or guessing the whole time. Never a dull moment.
 The writing was great.. Everything is told from Jaxter's point of view and he keeps us involved with an optimistic yet sarcastic way of explaining everything that comes they're way.

Content: Magic. Some fantasy violence and blood but no deaths.  A few mildly frightening scenes (Lava men rising from rifts in the street, skeleton-birds attacking the town, etc). 
 All in all a clean story and a load of fun for nearly any age!