PRE-READING
Before we get to anything else, I need to give thanks for the most beautiful thing a second book in a series can contain:
A recap.
A whole page telling me what happened in the first book a year ago. What a concept! What a gift! I didn't have to try to remember who everyone was, what the summonstone did, or exactly how much trouble the Doomsday Club had got themselves into. I could simply read the recap and get on with the story. More of this, please.
POST-READING
The Doomsday Club: Bog Bodies picks up the contemporary Irish-myth adventure with Conan, Jack, Jerry and Yash heading off on a school trip to the remote island of Inis Fola. Conan is already having nightmares about bog bodies - and honestly, I don't blame him. Bog bodies are terrifying enough without having to wonder whether one might actually come after you.
Kevin Moran does a great job of creating a feeling of unease from the very beginning. There is something wrong here, and you can feel it long before anyone has actually disappeared into the bog. The school trip is also appropriately awful in the way that all school trips seem to be: uncomfortable, inconvenient and somehow guaranteed to become much worse than anyone expected. Add girls, posh kids from another school and a cursed island to the mix, and things are looking particularly promising for disaster.
I was also pleased to discover that the person I thought was probably evil was, in fact, evil. Sometimes you don't need a twist. Sometimes you just need to be right.
As I expected
The Irish mythology is once again one of the strongest parts of the book. It is woven through the contemporary adventure rather than taking it over, so the story still feels like a group of modern kids getting themselves into increasingly supernatural trouble rather than a mythology lesson with some children attached.
The atmosphere is particularly good, with the bog, the strange blue lights and the stories of what might be buried beneath the island creating a lovely sense of something is definitely not right here.
And, naturally, I loved the map of the island. I will never complain about a map in a fantasy or adventure book. Give me a map and I will immediately start studying it for places where the characters are probably going to get into trouble.
I was surprised by
How nicely balanced the ending is.
There is clearly more story to come, but this doesn't finish by simply chopping the book in half and telling you to wait for the next volume. There are unanswered questions and a reason to be excited about the next adventure, but the book still feels like it has reached a proper stopping point.
That is exactly the sort of series ending I like: give me enough closure to be satisfied, but leave me wanting the next book.
And yes, I am very excited to see what happens next.
Assuming the next book also has a recap, naturally.
RECOMMENDATIONS
If you like contemporary children's fantasy where mythology is lurking just beneath the ordinary world, try The Storm Keeper's Island by Catherine Doyle. And if you want a TV recommendation with a similar mixture of young people, supernatural danger and things that are definitely more sinister than they first appear, try Lockwood & Co.
MUSIC PAIRING
“The Foggy Dew” — The Chieftains & Sinéad O'Connor
It feels suitably Irish, atmospheric and ominous for an adventure involving an ancient evil beneath a bog.
VIBE CHECK
Colour palette: Bog brown, peat black, misty grey and the eerie blue of the lights crossing the island.
Soundtrack: Wind over open ground, distant voices, footsteps where there shouldn't be footsteps, and the sudden silence when everyone realises something is wrong.
Season: Late autumn.
Mood: Uneasy, adventurous, mysterious, with the occasional I KNEW IT moment.
Scent: Wet earth, peat, rain and cold sea air.
Texture: Damp grass, rough stone, muddy boots and ancient things that really ought to have stayed buried.
TAROT CARD PULLED
The Moon
The Moon is secrets, nightmares, uncertainty and the uncomfortable feeling that you don't know the whole story. It seemed perfect for a book where the characters are surrounded by old myths, strange lights, disappearances and something lurking beneath the surface.
Sometimes the thing you are afraid of really is there. And sometimes the person you thought was evil really is evil. Congratulations, Conan.
✦ THE TRUE QUESTION ✦
How do you know when an old story is just a story - and when it's trying to warn you?
The Doomsday Club: Bog Bodies publishes on 5 October 2026. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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