This review is coming from someone who absolutely adored the Artemis Fowl books and Eoin Colfers work growing up. I was a huge fan of Holly Short and the whole gang.

However, this just fell a little flat to me. I was a little disappointed that it just felt quite samey I guess and wished for it to perhaps be something entirely different.

Me and my son read this together. We loved it. The characters are great and the twins had us hooked from the start.
We loved the action packed storyline and just when you think they are safe something else happens. It was great fun.

Great follow up of the first book. Interesting plot and well-rounded characters The Fowls Twins is an adventure that will satisfy its audience.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

I am a great fan of Mr Colfer, and I loved the original Artemis Fowl book, so I was looking forward to reading this. I did enjoy it, but I think it is more suited to the younger age group at which it is aimed. I loved the relationship between the twins, and the characters and story were well described, as you would expect from this master storyteller, but there was a bit too much twisting and turning and relying on fantastical solutions for me. I should think it would be perfect for an 8-12 year old though.

The Fowl Twins is a spin-off series from the author's extremely popular Artemis Fowl series. Artemis is the twins' big brother. The writing and feel of the books is very similar, so if you've read and enjoyed the Artemis books then you will almost certainly enjoy this one as well. If you haven't - don't worry. I have only read one Artemis Fowl book, and I didn't feel like I was missing any vital information when I read this one. It would probably be an extra bonus to have that background, but not essential.

The twins are Myles and Beckett Fowl. They live on the family's private island. As the twins would likely say themselves, Myles thinks about thinks and Beckett does things. In other words, Myles is the mastermind of the operation and Beckett's skills are more on the physical side.

Now, the Fowl family is notorious, if you didn't already know. Their reputation has both good and bad sides to it, but they have in the past been known as criminal geniuses, and as a result they have made some enemies over the years. They have also made some friends. And some of those friends are fairies. Myles and Beckett never really believed the stories their brother Artemis told them about the fairy folk, but they quickly find out that they are probably all true. Unfortunately they are not the only ones interested in fairies, and they manage to completely accidentally get themselves involved in a series of very dangerous adventures. Unsurprisingly.

I did enjoy the book. It was particularly funny at the beginning. I would say it is most suited to young teens, maybe 9-10 years and over. Colfer is a great comedy writer, and his writing is really well suited to children's books. This is both light-hearted and action packed, with a fun and interesting plot and loveable characters.

The only downside for me, and why I didn't give this full marks, is just because it did take me a while to read the book, and it wasn't my favourite. But for younger readers I think it would be very well suited, and I would have loved this if I'd read it at the appropriate age!

The Fowl Twins is a funny and engaging, fast paced action/adventure story, which is perfect for younger readers. It works well as a standalone, I haven't read the original Artemis Fowl series and I had no trouble understanding the relationships and dynamics - it is a good introduction and I'm now interested in checking out the original series. There's plenty of twists and turns to keep readers engaged, and the dynamic between the twins is great - and now I find myself wanting a toy troll as companion to adventures! Myles and Beckett are criminally hilarious duo, although I have to admit that some of the jokes are rather juvenile for my taste, which I don't held against the book since I'm not the target audience. I think the younger readers, from eight upwards, will definitely enjoy The Fowl Twins and I highly recommend it to them.

It was a fun book but didn't have as much impact on me as an adult. Yet, I think young reading will enjoy.
Thanks a lot, NG and the publisher for this copy/

I didn't find this book as engaging as the original Artemis Fowl series, and is definitely a lot more tailored to younger readers, maybe 10 and under? It was still fun, but not in the ageless way that the original series is and for that I was disappointed. However, if you are wanting to pick this up for a child I'm sure that they'll really enjoy it and have a blast! Just maybe not for the older fans.

I absolutely loved 'The Fowl Twins'! Myles literally had me laughing out loud for the majority of the book. I was a bit worried I wasn't actually going to understand it as I haven't read 'Artemis Fowl' but it was great as a stand-alone title. The book was so fast paced and there were these little wacky facts and statements thrown in that really just added to the humour so much. I also want a toy troll as my best friend!

Thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley for the review copy!

Did not finish, struggled to engage with the book as much as I did with the original Artemis Fowl series.

Artemis Jr... and doubled. A new series with a new spin.

I've loved Artemis Fowl (and author Eoin Colfer) since reading the first Fowl book back at university, two decades ago (come on, film version!!!). I've read all 8 of his adventures and enjoyed the progression of the characters. Seeing that his baby brothers were now featuring in their own 'spin off', I was of course intrigued - how would the franchise work if Artemis himself wasn't the protagonist?

Well, in some ways, this is a new Artemis story. We've got a super-smart Fowl boy (Myles), pernickity, agile-minded, highly articulate and fond of suits. But we also now have Beckett - his twin physically but diametrically opposite in personality, habits and leanings. Beckett is physical where Myles is cerebral. He'll fight with fists rather than words, Myles is organised and focused, Beckett unsystematic and carefree.

But other elements seem familiar to Artemis fans - the dastardly villains, the earnest LEP Recon representatives, the technology, the other-wordly magic.

Two villains for the price of one here, both rather amusing. A 500-year old mustachioed Duke and gun-toting nun. Lazuli Heitz is the sole representative of the fairy world for almost the entire length of the book (I missed Foley and Mulch or their equivalents), and she gets much less of a role than Holly Short ever did, interacting with the twins but not forming the relationship we knew and loved. Butler is replaced by a wryly funny NANNI, constantly-evolving Nano Artificial Neural Network Intelligence system.

So it feels familiar but yet different, a copy that doesn't bring every element that worked to the new series, though each separately sounds like it should work. Together I just felt it didn't quite hit the same high.

Colfer's narrator is great, lots of language play and moments that made me laugh.:
(Call to the Myishi 24-hour Concierge Line) "A cheerful voice said, "Hi, Lord Bleedham-Drye, this is Douglas on the Myishi Line. YOur crime is worth our time. How may I be of assistance?"

And plenty of character moments, though mostly for Myles who takes the lion's share of the attention:
"Artemis had set a twenty-two-digit security code on his door that he did not realise Myles had suggested to him subliminally by whispering into his ear every night for a week as he slept."

Artemis is mentioned quite a lot, interacts with his brothers via recordings, and I did love how Myles outwits him as well. It was nice to hear what he is up to a few years after the end of 'his' saga.

I'd like to have Beckett featured more in a future instalment, he came into his own more in the second half of the book, he wasn't as well-rounded as his twin early on.

An adventure reminiscent of their elder brother, the Fowl twins will be popular with readers who will identify with one or other of the young antiheroes. It's well set-up for future undertakings, and hopefully the fairy world will feature more prominently again.

For the same audience as Artemis, around aged 8-13.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this return to the world of Artemis Fowl, this time ably crewed by his younger twin brothers. Artemis himself is in space with Butler on a rocket to mars, so Myles and Beckett are left under the supervision of NANNI, their AI carer when the Fowl parents leave town. Naturally, the appearance of the Folk leads to kidnapping, mid-air invisible bicycles, a toy troll named Whistle Blower, nunterrogations, and one extremely luscious beard. Colfer is on fine form as he flits between two very different twin boys - cerebral, arrogant, and more than a little condescending, Myles Fowl is every bit as much the anti-hero as his elder brother, albeit without the same kind of criminal leanings (so far). Beckett, on the other hand, is the more physical of the pair, and excels in cluster punching, whistling, and ... languages? While on the surface the thinker and the doer are a tired trope of twins, Colfer manages to pack enough twists and turns into his story that I developed deep feelings of joy at each adventure of the Fowl twins, together with their new pixel friend Lazuli. Assorted villains amass against the Fowl team, with equally assorted goals, but what results is a rollicking ride across Europe, packed with the elements that made Artemis Fowl himself so thoroughly endearing. Callbacks to elements from the original series are peppered throughout the book, but never enough to feel cloying or unnecessary, and it's done with a light enough touch that I had no trouble keeping up, despite having missed the final four instalments in the Artemis Fowl series. I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure with a new pair of Fowl antiheroes, and look forward to seeing more from them in the future.

A welcome return to the universe so wonderfully explored in the original Artemis Fowl series. Shifting the action to Fowls younger brothers is smart, linking to the previous adventures but very distinct. They are a likeable pair, easy to root for and the dynamic is different enough not to be a rehash.

The antagonists are fun, the adventure high stakes, and so this is an enjoyable start to a new series!

The Artemis Fowl series, by Irish author Eoin Colfer, are hugely popular with children (and the kind of adults who, like me, enjoy reading as if they were a child): a sort of fantasy adventure saga featuring a pre-teen criminal mastermind, the world of fairy and a very novel method of tunnel-digging. This new book introduces us to Artemis' younger brothers - fraternal twins Myles and Beckett - and throws us back into a fast-paced and hilarious fairy-filled adventure.

Myles is rather like older brother Artemis - highly intelligent, meticulous and a bit of a know-it-all. Beckett is, well, something else. He's a bit of a wild-child - doesn't like clothes, books or manners but positively loves mud, wildlife and creating havoc. Myles is inclined to think that the stories Artemis told them about the world of fairies, gnomes and pixies are childish nonsense which are far beneath him: Beckett really hopes they are true. When one of these mythical beings manages to help save the boys (and a tiny little troll) from both an aristocratic megalomaniac seeking immortality and a deadly nun they realise that, for once, Beckett was right. What follows is funny, exciting and, oddly touching, as the bond between such mismatched twins is proved again and again. It was a really quick read for a busy adult but should keep thrill-seeking youngsters - from 8 or 9 upwards - occupied for a rainy weekend.

This is a spin off of the popular Artemis Fowl series, featuring the younger twin brother’s of my childhood favourite morally grey mastermind. However, don’t let the idea that this is a ‘spin off’ put you off if you’ve never read any of the Artemis Fowl books. This is completely enjoyable without having read anything before it (although you’ll miss out on squealing at a few cameos).

This was everything I was expecting. Adventure, technology and fighting, with the twins (polar opposites of each other) bouncing off each other’s personalities with the usual snarky wit I’ve come to expect from Eoin Colfer. They’re well rounded characters, with layers to their personalities that sets them apart from your average middle grade character. I fully admit I did sometimes feel there was an elephant in the room, with the absence of Artemis. He was such a big personality to these stories, and at times I really felt his absence acutely.

The story itself is also fast paced, and full of fancy technology talk that I’ve come to love with the Fowl novels, without dumbing down the language for a younger audience. The writing overall also still retains a lot of humour, and is so easy to read. The threats and scrapes the boys get into feel realistic too, and the villain of the piece is great.

Great adventure tech story, that is original enough to stand up on its own without the shadow of it’s big brother hanging over it - although at times I did feel it was missing a bit of that Artemis shine.

Artemis Fowl was easily one of my favourite series growing up. So when I found out there was going to be a sequel series, God knows how excited I was. And this, the first book in that series, does not disappoint.

The Fowl Twins follows Artemis’s younger twin brothers, Beckett and Myles. The narrative is somewhat of a collision course between four parties: the twins, Lazuli (a pixel), Lord Teddy Bleedham-Drye (one of the villains, chasing immortality, and yeah, the name still makes me laugh every time I read it), and Jeronima (a nun working for a shady organisation searching for proof that fairies exist). And it’s a very enjoyable collision course, with several points where I started laughing out loud, subjecting me to strange looks from my mum and sister.

Because that’s what Eoin Colfer does best, creates a really good adventure story, where it doesn’t matter that you’re now twice the age of the protagonists (God….), you’ll still have a lot of fun reading it. Maybe I’ll just go back to reading books marketed at 9-12 year olds if this is how much fun I have compared to reading more adult books.

Part of it might have been some kind of nostalgia when it comes to Artemis Fowl, sure, because I definitely remember the first series having more action in it than this one (but obviously, it being the opening book may account for that). But even despite that, you’re never bored reading this book. Partly because you get to see everyone involved’s POVs throughout. Sometimes 5 POVs can seem like a lot, but not here because they’re all so distinct from one another and their plotlines are converging too.

All of which to say, you should definitely read this book, even if you haven’t read the original series.

When I was younger I loved the Fowler series and I was a little afraid that now, some years older, I wouldn’t enjoy this world as much. But boy was I wrong. It was exactly as entertaining and beautiful as I remembered. Just as funny and witty, with amazing characters.

Having been an avid fan of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl books for many years, and with a 10-year-old son who has very recently discovered the wonders of this marvelous series, Sophie was very keen to read The Fowl Twins when it was announced earlier this year. While Artemis himself is conveniently on a mission to Mars, the focus of this first book in a new series is his 10-year-old twin brothers, Myles and Beckett Fowl.

Myles is almost (but not quite) a clone of Artemis with the same fanatically neat sense of fashion, certified genius-level intellect, and, unsurprisingly, more than a slight interest in criminal activity. Beckett, on the other hand, is very much a child of nature who—on the surface, at least—appears to have not inherited the family’s prodigious level of intelligence and favors more simple interests leaving the “thinking” to his twin brother.

This introductory adventure tale sees the Fowl twins abducted by a super-secret intelligence organization called ACRONYM whilst at the same catching the attention of a 150-year-old Duke who is on a fanatical quest to keep extending his life span and traces a potential source to the Fowl family’s island.

And thus Eoin Colfer weaves one of his typically humorous adventure stories full of exciting action, razor-sharp wit, ingenious plans for capture and escape, and a breathless cat and mouse chase across parts of Western Europe.

As with the previous Artemis Fowl series, although this is marketed and aimed at eight to 12-year-old children, it is an enjoyable read for all ages with a few jokes and references only adults will understand and be amused by. Sophie is sure her son will love this book when he has finished the original Fowl series. She did.

This was my first foray into the world of Artemis Fowl and I really enjoyed it! This tells the story of Myles and Beckett Fowl, the twin sons of Artemis Sr and younger brothers of Artemis Jr, an aristocrat searching for immortality, a toy troll called Whistle Blower, a nun-terrigator and a special agent fairy. What I enjoyed most about this tale was the tone. It is very wry and tongue in cheek and as an adult, really appealed to me. I also loved the ways in which the twins were so different - for me, Myles definitely felt like the main protagonist or focus, but Beckett had a very important role to play and the relationship between the brothers was heart-warming and fun. I also thought the plot was really solid and interesting, paced in such a way to keep those pages turning. The characters were well drawn and felt authentic and I would definitely read more books in the series, both those to come and previous examples. Obviously, as an adult, I am not the target audience for this book, but I genuinely enjoyed the reading experience and I think I would have really enjoyed it as a child. It has just the right blend of magic and real life scenarios to appeal to a wide range of children and overall, I thought this was a pretty great and fun book.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.