The Secrets of Arkaim (The Reeds of West Hills) by B. E. Padgett – Review by Shea Gilkerson 8/31/23

The Secrets of Arkaim by B E Padgett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Franklin (Frank), his twin brother Jon, and the rest of the Reed family are back in another intriguing peek through the looking glass of this gifted family as the twins enter their second year of school. While having gained a bit of experience and control over their gifts, there are still many things they don’t understand.

Jon has been suffering from a shadowy being visiting him in his sleep, trying to tempt him into trouble, but in reality terrifying him and making him lose sleep in order to avoid his nightmares. Worried his parents will be frightened by his nightmares, he keeps the secret to himself. However, after pushing to the point of exhaustion to avoid the scary visitor, he wakes Frank while sleepwalking. Frank uses his mind reading talents to see what Jon is dreaming about, and encounters the shadowy figure – who attacks Frank! The boys turn to a teacher in their school, whose gift is seeing the future. What Mr. McClery finds is that their beloved school could be in danger.

Between the dreams, the fears the twins hold, the school bully, and learning to control their gifts the boys have a lot of stressful situations, but have an excellent support system. It helps relieve the stress to be excited about the Zodiac Games and helping their house, Aries house, win. Along the course of the games, it seems rules are changing as they go, people are cheating with an ancient artifact getting included, and the boys learn and grow through each challenge.

I enjoyed how easy it was to get drawn into this story, found it charming and intriguing at the same time, and I absolutely loved how the adults in the twins lives are all supportive, trusting, helpful, but also give the kids room to learn things themselves and do difficult things. Looking forward to reading further along with the story as the series grows!

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