11-year-old Gregor's mom joins him and Boots on this trip to the Underland. Gregor expects to make the trip quick, but when someone close to him catches the plague that's sweeping through the Underland, he must help a group of Underlanders quest for the cure.

This installment in the Overland Chronicles had quite a twist. One of the best things about this series (from a grown-up's POV) is that in every book Gregor must parse an ancient prophecy and try to figure out what it means to him. Great for kids who are working on reading comprehension to follow a young hero solving prose puzzles while his life's in danger! ( )

Another amazing installment in the Underland Chronicles. Well written with a jaw dropping plot twist. ( )

she started to introduce this in the last book, but in this one she really made clear the complication of the "good guys" doing awful things and the "bad guys" doing good things. the leaders of the ones you're supposed to be rooting for have intentionally created a plague that would prove to be an excellent tool of war or of leverage to retain power. of course this comes back to hurt them, but whether or not it did it is such an eye opener for young readers to see the good guys doing this. it's a sadly accurate introduction to government and how it all works. also how natural enemies sometimes work together for a common aim, and how natural allies don't always agree.

i think, too, that this was less about the quest and more about the relations and inner workings of the relationships. we understand more about how and why the rats and humans relate as they do. the prophecy and the quest almost took a backseat to the rest. this one is my favorite so far, in a series that has been consistently really good. (and as an aside, while i've liked the naming references to mythology, i especially enjoyed the naming of hamnet and judith in this book.) ( )

This Gregor book didn't capture me quite as much as the others, but still an exciting tale. The characters are charming and I look forward to hear where the adventures go from here. ( )

For my full, non-spoiler reivew: https://christianlovingbooks.blogspot.com/2019/02/gregor-and-curse-of-warmbloods... ( )