Max Lunievicz: Grade 7

The Golden Door takes place on a fantasy island and is almost a typical fantasy book from there. It starts in a city called Weld, with poisonous creatures called Skimmers attacking the city every night all through the summer. The period that they attack is increasing every year, and no one knows where they come from or why they come. Weld is surrounded by giant walls. Supposedly no one knows what is outside, only that Weld takes up most of the island.

The main character is Rye, who has two older brothers. Both of Rye’s brothers sign up to venture outside of the walls to find the source of the Skimmers, and neither of them comes back after years. Rye signs up to venture outside the walls and find his brothers. He picks the Golden Door to go after his brother, and there is non-stop adventure from there. He makes many friends and a few enemies along the way, and he accidentally changes the fate of a domain just by trying to find his brother.

If you like fantasy, you will definitely like this book. It has all the elements that make up a conventional fantasy book: magic, strange creatures, and a lurking unknown. However, it still has twists and turns that you could never predict, and even if you can tell what is going to happen, it is well written and good enough that you will want to read it anyway.

This book is good for most ages, as younger children will find it great with its adventure-packed plot. While it may seem to be for younger children, older children will like it as well. Additionally, the author also wrote the widely popular books in the Deltora Quest series.