Ronan Boyle's parents are in jail and to prove their innocence, he joins the Garda, an Irish police force that handles the misdeeds of the numerous magical creatures who exist in plain sight along side the real humans of the Emerald Isle. This is an event driven plot, where the reader is introduced to hilarious human characters and the wiley creatures of Irish folk and fairytales. Sometimes you want to stop mulling the real world, and just laugh, and laugh you will. I can't wait for them to reappear in the next installment!

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles is absolutely a "gross humor" type of middle grade novel, which surprises me more than it probably should. I didn't realize that books for pre-teens could still have fart jokes in it and be enjoyable at the same time, but this first Ronan Boyle book ended up being good. And yet, I'm not giving this book four stars because of the gross humor-- there was just way too much of it, which took away from the character development that could have happened instead.

The strongest part of this book was the section that actually had to do with the Bridge of Riddles, around the two-thirds mark or so. The jokes were funnier and there was more action than the beginning of the novel. That's not really saying much, though, because the beginning was weird in the sense that it jumped right into the action and didn't contain a solid, well, beginning for the book. I had no idea what I was reading, but it all made sense at the end-- but it took until the end for me to consider this a good novel.

I would have liked a lot more character development from this book. All I learned about Ronan throughout the story was that he's awkward and Irish (which are both mentioned at least ten times each). But that's what the rest of the books in the series are for, right? I liked Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles because of its unique setting and action scenes, but I would have liked a tone-down on the rude humor and repetitiveness.

When I found out that Thomas Lennon, the Thomas Lennon, was writing a middle grade novel…I had to get my hands on it. Unfortunately the best I was able to do was get my eyes on it. Had I been able to get a physical copy, my review would consist of a short video of me, new book goofin’ with this amazing new book.
I’ve been a fan of Lennon since 19 blah biddy blah. You get it, the last century. His sense of humor and skills are delightful and Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles lives up to my expectations in every way. Ronan is an awkward kid, as all really great middle grade characters are. The kind of character building associated with not quite fitting in comes in handy when his parents are arrested for a crime they didn’t commit. Taken under the wing of the unintelligible Captain Fearney, Ronan finds himself called in to participate in a special case….because he’s tall and skinny.
Thus begins Ronan’s time in the Garda Special Unit, under the tutelage of Captain Siobhan de Valera and his adventures as a Garda Special Unit Detective with a side mission of setting his parents free. I don’t want to go into too much detail as the journey awaits for you, but be sure to grab a flask of Jamie, or maybe some unicorn and chips to accompany you on this adventure that has enough whimsy to make the Old Fashioned Guy Blush.

"Fourteen-year-old Ronan Boyle is the youngest and lowliest recruit to the secret Garda, an Irish police force that handles the misdeeds of numerous magical creatures. Ronan’s parents are in jail, but Ronan is convinced that they were framed by the wee people. So, despite his small size, poor eyesight, and social awkwardness, he’s determined to learn all he can in the Garda in order to prove his parents’ innocence. To show he’s got what it takes, he’ll have to confront a fiery leprechaun, a sinister harpy, and a whole world of monsters hidden in plain sight next to real-life Ireland. Fast paced, action packed, and completely hilarious, this is the start to an exciting new middle-grade series by actor and writer Thomas Lennon."

I worship everything Thomas Lennon does. Therefore I worship the fact he's now a children's author. I only wish he was doing an event closer to me!

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles is a fun, imaginative fantasy that explores the concept of Irish mythology through the adventures of a bumbling young man named Ronan Boyle. I read somewhere that this is an Artemis-Fowl-esque series, and while the fantasy and mythology certain remind me of this series, I love that the main character is a relatable, awkward teen rather than a criminal mastermind. 

I really enjoyed this book; the characters are all incredibly quirky and there are moments in here that made me laugh out loud. Lennon does an amazing job in twisting Irish mythology to fit this world he's created; I have read quite a lot of fantasy based on Irish mythology, and this had a different flavor of fae than I've ever experienced.

My only complaint is that not much really happened in this book aside from setting up the world. While that in itself was enjoyable, the plot was rather thin and just when I thought some progress was finally going to be made on the Boyle intrigue, the book ended. Of course, this makes me VERY excited for the next book, I just hope that is actually paid off at some point. Readers who like more action-packed novels might not love this book, but I'm hoping the sequel is more exciting.

This book packs some of my favorite tropes into one book: an awkward teen main character, a boarding-schoolish feel with Boyle training to be a Garda, and a young man in search of redeeming his family. It's all put together with a wink and a sly smile; this is a book that is pure entertainment and fun that you're really not supposed to take very seriously. Overall, I enjoyed it, even if I felt it dragged in bits because of the overarching plot not advancing very much.

I really enjoyed this books Irish settings and lore. I felt very immersed into the various Irish creatures and even dialect. The descriptions were very interesting and funny, while being pretty gross many times. I did not feel very attached or invested to the overall storyline, but I did enjoy the individual encounters that Ronan Boyle faced along the way.