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H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education by Mark Walden
Genre(s): Young Adult, Thriller, Science Fiction
Amazon: H.I.V.E. (Higher Institute of Villainous Education) eBook : Mark, Walden: Amazon.co.uk: Books
Free Download (z-lib.org)
PDF: H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education | Mark Walden [Walden, Mark] | download (b-ok.cc)
Blurb:
Thirteen-year-old master criminal Otto Malpense has been chosen to attend H.I.V.E., the top secret school of villainy. But there is one small catch - he cannot leave until his training is complete.
There's no way Otto is going to spend six years studying something he has such a natural talent for. He is left with one option. Escape. He just needs to figure out how.
One of the first science fiction books I've read and actually ENJOYED. Think Harry Potter, or Percy Jackson. That's basically this book. Except, it's a school for villains, which changes it up a bit. This is the first book in a series of 7, and hopefully reviews for the other books in the series will be posted soon. :)
The school was very detailed and planned, and the storytelling was awesome. The characters were very well created and had a bit of humour in them, which I personally think should be in every book, whatever the genre.
The only thing that brought me a bit off track was the scenes where Dr Nero was talking to Number One, or having dinner with his staff, it just sort of seemed unnecessary and irrelevant. I also felt like the person who sponsored Otto should have been a surprise throughout the whole series, and only be figured out at the end because I really like unexpected endings. Or, he could have figured out in this book, but not by Dr Nero talking to Number One, instead, Otto and his friends could have seen some clue and figured it out themselves.
Otto Malpense was the main character, who has unnaturally white hair and an uncanny ability to absorb all the information from books in minutes. Before being taken to H.I.V.E., he was an orphan and he was trying hard to stop the orphanage he was in from shutting down, which also included making the Prime Minister look like a total idiot. there is a whole bunch of other characters too, but since there is too many I'm just going to give a brief sentence for each of them. They are all in the Alpha section, like Otto.
Wing Fanchu, Otto's best friend, an Asian boy who is calm and extremely good at fighting.
Laura is a Scottish girl who is very good at technology. Her best friend is Shelby.
Shelby is an American girl who is very fussy about her clothes, hair, makeup etc. but is actually a jewel burglar in disguise.
Nigel Darkdoom is there because his father used to be one of H.I.V.E.'s most successful students.
Franz is a large German kid who only ever thinks about food.
Everyone except Nigel and Franz attempt to escape from H.I.V.E. Keyword attempt. I'm going to do the same thing for the the teachers:
Dr Nero, the headteacher who is very mysterious and sinister.
The technology professor who barely notices anything, and is the creator of H.I.V.E. mind.
The second in command who seems to have mind controlling abilities, the Contessa.
The teacher who got turned into a cat because of the technology professor.
Probably the worst teacher ever, the PE teacher who's hobby seems to be hating on people.
A ninja who we don't know much about.
And H.I.V.E. mind, who has human emotions but is not allowed to show them.
So far this book is pretty intriguing. The adventures are fast-paced, and it's a very well thought-out book overall.
Because of all this, I'm giving this book four grapes. I hope I've not scared you away from the book too much, and I will hopefully be reviewing the other books in the series soon! Just to let you guys know, expect a review sometime next week as straight after publishing this review, I can finally pick up another book I've been wanting to read the whole week now, ever since my friend recommended it to me. You have to wait till next week though! No spoilers.
Okay that's it! Bye everyone, and hope you're all doing ok. See ya next week! 💖