Gregor the Overlander is about a boy and his little sister who fall through a grate in their laundry room. They land in a strange world full of giant spiders, mice, bats, cockroaches, rats and more. Gregor’s dad is missing. It turns out he’s been trapped in the Underland for the past two and a half years. There is a prophecy, the Prophecy of Gray, that includes Gregor. Gregor teams up with a group of humans, their bats,  two cockroaches, two spiders, and one other very important creature from the Underland to find his dad and rescue him. This book is the first in a series called The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins.

Gregor is pathetic, bored, and scared. He becomes awesome in the second book. In the first book, the best characters are Rip Red, Luxa, Ares, and Boots. Luxa is brave, annoying, and stubborn. Luxa is stubborn when she is mad at Gregor, even when he is not upset with her. Luxa is brave when she fights the rats. She is annoying all the time; she’s a queen and overuses that responsibility on Gregor and always tells him what to do. As the books go on, there are more common characters who you learn more about.

My favorite part was probably at the very very end (warning: spoilers) when Gregor and Ares bond. This is significant because Gregor gets his own bat. Ares has a sad back story. Also Now that I have read the whole series it’s also kind of sad because I know sad stuff is coming. (spoilers over). Another favorite part is when Boots and Temp the cockroach meet. That is very funny and throughout the series Boots and Temp serve as comic relief. It’s funny because it’s a 2-year-old and a giant cockroach having a conversation and the 2-year-old isn’t even scared.

As the books go on you learn just how many prophecies Gregor is in. If you love the first book, be warned the other books are gorier. If you don’t like gory stuff don’t read them. This is a very fast paced book. The first two chapters are kind of slow. Like Harry Potter, it takes a while to get into the action but once Gregor falls into the grate it’s like snap snap snap and he’s on an amazing quest. Some important things happen before that so you need to read those two chapters (some very funny stuff happens like when his Grandma calls him “Simon”). those books where there are tons of characters and also it’s kind of a mystery with the prophecies – they need to find them and unravel them. This series is sad, happy, and violent. If you know how Suzanne Collins writes, if you read the Hunger Games, you will see this is much better. I rate this book on a ten star scale 100 stars.