Book Review #27: The Fowl Twins: Deny All Charges by Eoin Colfer

Hello Dear Reader!

Welcome to another book review! If you’ve been with me for a while, you know I absolutely love Artemis Fowl, so there’s no way I would pass up the chance of reading and reviewing the second book about his younger twin brothers.

The Fowl Twins: Deny All Charges is the second installment of The Fowl Twins series by Eoin Colfer, and features more Fowl shenanigans surrounding the adorably dynamic pair of Myles and Beckett. In true Colfer fashion, this book is fast-paced and full of humorous moments, but before I get into that, here’s the back-cover summary (from Goodreads):

The second Fowl Twins adventure starts with a bang – literally.

Artemis's little brothers Myles and Beckett borrow the Fowl jet without permission, and it ends up as a fireball over Florida. The twins plus their fairy minder, the pixie-elf hybrid Lazuli Heitz, are lucky to escape with their lives.

The Fowl parents and fairy police force decide that enough is enough and the twins are placed under house arrest. But Myles has questions, like: who was tracking the Fowl jet? Why would someone want to blow them out of the sky? These questions must infuriate someone, because Myles is abducted and spirited away from his twin.

Now Beckett and Lazuli must collaborate to find Myles and rescue him – not easy when it was Myles who was the brains of the operation. Their chase will take them across continents, deep underground, and into subaquatic super villain lairs. They will be shot at, covered in spit, and at the receiving end of some quite nasty dwarf sarcasm. But will Beckett be able to come up with a genius plan without a genius on hand…?

End synopsis. Review time!

Main characters Myles and Beckett Fowl are as amazingly dynamic as ever with their totally polar opposite personalities and preferences and clear love for each other. Their relationship is very wholesome, and it’s obvious they’re very close. They know each other’s strengths, weaknesses, habits, etc., and even though they are Fowl boys, they do show some typical brother behavior, mainly from Beckett, who likes annoying Myles and poking at his intellect. Main fairy character Lazuli Heitz, a headstrong pixel, brings balance to the boys with her refreshing more mature personality, bringing a sense of normalcy of some sort to the enigmas that are the twins. It’s clear she views the boys as friends and deeply cares about them, going so far to call Myles a friend, because honestly, I absolutely believe Beckett would be the easier twin to befriend. In the book, she also decides against doing something because she knew Beckett would disapprove, and I think their friendship is very sweet.

The villains this time around are of the dwarven kind, and I won’t really spoil much beyond that other than the fact that they’re rather brutal dwarven warriors, especially their leader, who serves as the main villain of this book.  They’re definitely a unique cast of characters, with personalities ranging from the physically able but mentally lagging to the loyal to a fault to the greediest person you could ever meet. There’s also a pretty good twist when it comes to one of the villains in the group, but of course I won’t spoil it. Though, I will say it was a really good twist.

Finally, my favorite part about the minor characters of this book is that the Fowl parents finally get a piece of the action! Angeline and Artemis Fowl Sr. finally get some screen time, and I’m so happy they did.

As usual, the mix between modern and magical for the fairy people in the world of Artemis Fowl is fascinating as ever, and the level of detail that goes into the creatures amazes me. From different types of dwarves to hybrid fairies, the fairy people in this world are as diverse as the humans who live above them, and they’re very well-developed.

There isn’t really anything I would personally comment on; however, if you don’t like a lot of humor written into tense scenes or pretty fast-paced books, then this might not be for you. Still, the charm that this style of writing provides is really refreshing, so even if you don’t like these kinds of aspects, I do hope you give it a shot. Also, if you’re a big fan of the Artemis Fowl series and haven’t read these Fowl Twins books yet, the nostalgia factor hits really hard.

So, The Fowl Twins: Deny All Charges rating:

10/10 and seriously looking forward to a sequel because that cliffhanger-ish hanging has got me hooked! If you like a lot of humor, quirky characters, a fast-paced read, and a well-developed fairy community that mixes the modern and the magical really well, then I highly recommend this book!

That’s all for this review! I hope you enjoyed, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Thanks for reading!