Artemis Fowl - The Opal Deception
The Opal Deception is the 4th book in the Artemis Fowl series and begins with Artemis and bodyguard/best friend Butler out on another heist. Due to the events of the previous book, Artemis no longer remembers his fairy friends (“The People”) and has reverted back into his criminal ways. Unbeknownst to him and The People, their arch nemesis Opal Koboi is no longer under lock and key like they think she is. Opal has escaped her prison and is not only bent on destroying the fairy world, but also on revenge against those who have wronged her.
This may be my favorite Artemis Fowl story yet! I really liked seeing Artemis revert back to the boy he was in the first book. Any growth he had made was completely erased, and he and Holly had to rebuild their friendship from scratch. Even with their issues though, they still made such a great team. Opal is an even better villain here than she was in her previous book. She does such a good job of only outsmarting the heroes, and actually does some real damage to the team that made me quite sad. I know I’ve said this before, but again, the stakes were raised in this book in a major way. There were real consequences in this story and unfortunately, not everyone made it out unscathed.
My only small complaint, is that is was annoying that after everything Holly had done for The People, that they were so quick to believe the worst about her, without giving her the benefit of the doubt. Because of that though, I was happy to see Holly finally stand up for herself at the end, and make some decisions that should change her life for the better. Also, there is no Juliette in this book which is kind of a bummer, but I’m not sure where she would have fit in this story anyway so I guess I can’t really complain about that one.
Overall, The Opal Deception was another great book in the Artemis Fowl series, and may be my favorite one so far. The high stakes and real consequences kept me turning the page, and the great character development left me feeling hopeful for the future of the series.
