The Black Market
by Jed Alexander

3 out of 5 stars

Martin’s aunt gives him a special pair of shoes made from the leather of an extinct animal. She tells him that she got them from the Black Market, a secret place where people come to trade in magical items. It constantly changes location, and is only open on Halloween. Martin and his friend, Jess, go searching for the Black Market, and Martin exchanges the shoes for a Bag of Dirty Tricks. He loves playing innocent pranks, but some of the tricks included in the bag are downright mean and dangerous. Martin and Jess get involved in more and more deceitful lies as they start to use the dirty tricks, and they are dismayed to see that their victims are genuinely suffering because of the pranks.

The writing is excellent! The plot is fun and adventurous and a little spooky. I liked that the characters are complex and well-rounded. The world-building surrounding the Black Market and all the magical tricks is superb! It’s really imaginative and original.

I did not like that Martin and Jess are constantly lying to their parents, sneaking out of the house, and playing mean tricks on people that they think “deserve it”. They are unapologetically out to “get revenge” on people that they think have somehow wronged them. They are selfish and spoiled and dishonest and vile.
But in the end, they realize that they are being mean, and they stop doing any more tricks. They sort of try to make up for what they did by being nice to people later on, but they don’t apologize, they don’t admit the truth, and there are no consequences for all the evil things they have done. They halfway learned a moral lesson, but not really. They are the villains of the story, and they know it.

To see all the instances of lying and dishonesty in this book as well as other sensitive content, check it out on the Screen It First website! https://screenitfirst.com/book/the-black-market-2593031

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review.