A well-paced action fantasy, absolutely brimming with Caribbean folklore and dialect. Fantastic.

Read this if you like: rich world-building, gripping fight scenes, fascinating villains.

I think Offset just flows better as a comic book especially the way it jumps between characters and scenes. As prose it was harder to read. It's still got all the making of a great fantasy I just had a harder time staying engaged.

Rating: 3
Thank you Beyond Publishing Caribbean for providing an e-copy through NetGalley.

Synopsis: Kyle Harding has noticed something strange on the Caribbean island of Bimshire. An eerie flue melody drifts through his thoughts, and when it does, a wooden doll-like creature stands ominously in the distance, watching him. The bus stops that dot the island are also not what they seem. But Kyle isn’t worried at first. Proficient in the lost art of Sticklicking, he uses a superhardened sugarcane to fight off most adversaries, like, for example, Damien Collins, who out of nowhere attacked Kyle at school. Collins is a Canecutter - a blades man who specializes in using cutglass as weapons - and, after his parents died in a car crash, was mysteriously told to follow “the one who wields sugarcane.” So Kyle’s and Collin’s paths collide, and not a moment too soon, as the doll creature decides to go for the kill. With Collin’s help, Kyle is barely able to defeat the creature, known as a Baku. But why did it attack him in the first place? More mysteries surface and Kyle must confront his suspicious neighbor Ms. Pringle, inhuman specters called Shaggery Bears that are out for blood, a sniper with superhuman precision, and a Gully powered by supernatural forces. But Kyle is not alone, and with Collins and some unexpected help, he must fight for his survival and uncover the dark secrets of Bimshire, including why he has a powerful sugarcane in the first place.

What I Liked: Offset: The Mask of Bimshire is an action-packed fantasy steeped in Caribbean folklore and martial arts. Fight sequences are intense and thrilling to follow, as the battles are written clearly and with good detail on movement, reaction, and effort. The Obeah and Caribbean folklore, an essential part of the story, is woven well into the atmosphere and nicely details the dangers of Bimshire. The dialect of the characters brings personality to the book; Most YA novels tend to avoid dialect, but Offset decided to take a risk and add the Caribbean language to bring its culture into the spotlight, and I respect the authors for it. The glossary at the back of the book is informative and a nice touch as well, for those who are struggling with definitions. Characters are unique, both in personality and power, and Kyle and Collins really bounce off of each other well. The plot is intense and ripe with mystery, drawing readers to want to read more about this eerie island. Characters are mostly African-Caribbean. This is a book that I could recommend to teenage boys who want something different from the usual YA collection, or who like reading action comics/manga and want a similar type of novel.

What I Didn’t Like: The book was hard to read. Not because of the dialect - I thought that really added to the story - but because of scene writing and perspective changes. Except for the fights, the pacing of mundane scenes can be jumpy, moving too quickly to a new location or character without giving the readers to think. The perspective changes are what really make the story hard to follow. The writing will switch between one character’s inner thoughts to another as quickly as the next sentence, and many times the writing doesn’t indicate that we have entered the thoughts of another character. This will happen with dialogue as well. This made reading confusing and time-consuming, as readers will have to parse through who is doing the thinking and talking.

Review Date: September 26, 2023

Kyle is a busy boy he is raising his little brother going to college and just tries to have a little bit of romance on the side. The only problem is things are weird around his town he sees things staring at him about the bus stop people are being killed and he find his self smacked him in the middle of all this trouble. This book was so good I wish I was good at knowing what to say and what not to say but this book is set on the isle of Bimmshire and I love a book with an international flare and although this is a book meant for middle school children I still as a grown woman found it creepy and gave me goosebumps more than once. It is a book that took only one day to read and I absolutely enjoyed it and highly recommend it do not let the age range for this horror story stop you if you love horror you love the book. I want to thank the publisher andt Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I liked the fantasy approach in this book, as well as the fast-paced way the story unfolded and the use of illustrations between chapters. An inviting read.

As a huge comic book fan, and big reader, this book was awesome. I loved having the illustrations between chapters, and the storyline was really good.
There’s a lot of action and the characters are really well fleshed out. Their interactions were lacking a bit but it wasn’t that noticeable for the most part with everything happening.
It’s setup for a sequel and I’ll be checking it out when it comes.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this and give my feedback.