Clive Barker - Abarat

Pros: Great characters, amazing illustrations.
Cons: Still not the most original as far as PLOT is concerned.

“As a kid I was a huge reader of what we would call fantasy, though I don’t think it was called fantasy back then--C. S. Lewis’s THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, J.R.R. Tolkien’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT, and also that bundle of influential ...

Pros: The secret to Candy's connection to the Abarat is revealed!
Cons: Nothing!

This is the sequel to Clive Barker's the Abarat and is way better than the original. It still features the illustrations form the first book, but has new illustrations as well. The heroine returns to Chickentown and finds out a dangerous secret about her life.