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readingrara's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
FBA 2023
mekeisha's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kba76's review
3.0
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this prior to publication in exchange for my honest thoughts.
A middle-grade adventure that covers a lot of ground, takes us on a frenetic journey of mayhem but ultimately keeps us in the dark about what’s happened.
Alfie and his family have moved to a new home after his sister has struggled with the effects of bullying. Alfie finds a friend and seems to have settled in, but when he starts to notice mysterious events taking place around the village it sets up a quite incredible series of events.
Alfie notices bizarre weather situations. He is convinced that the mysterious man in the village known as the Moth Man knows more, and goes to his home to investigate. While there he finds a mysterious box that freezes his trainers. When he opens it, Alfie unleashes something he’s never see before. It’s something fast...and it doesn’t want to be found.
What follows is bizarre event after bizarre event. Alfie finds himself wrongly accused of arson and his attempts to try and return the thing he’s nicknamed Whizzy cause chaos.
All’s right in the end, but we never get a full explanation of what Alfie found or what happened. As a adult reading this I found myself frustrated by some aspects...but I can see the pacing and exhilaration Alfie shows at everything getting younger readers quite engaged.
A middle-grade adventure that covers a lot of ground, takes us on a frenetic journey of mayhem but ultimately keeps us in the dark about what’s happened.
Alfie and his family have moved to a new home after his sister has struggled with the effects of bullying. Alfie finds a friend and seems to have settled in, but when he starts to notice mysterious events taking place around the village it sets up a quite incredible series of events.
Alfie notices bizarre weather situations. He is convinced that the mysterious man in the village known as the Moth Man knows more, and goes to his home to investigate. While there he finds a mysterious box that freezes his trainers. When he opens it, Alfie unleashes something he’s never see before. It’s something fast...and it doesn’t want to be found.
What follows is bizarre event after bizarre event. Alfie finds himself wrongly accused of arson and his attempts to try and return the thing he’s nicknamed Whizzy cause chaos.
All’s right in the end, but we never get a full explanation of what Alfie found or what happened. As a adult reading this I found myself frustrated by some aspects...but I can see the pacing and exhilaration Alfie shows at everything getting younger readers quite engaged.
amysreading_nook's review
2.0
TW: bullying, mentions of eating disorder
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children's Books for allowing me to read an eARC of this book! All opinions discussed here are my own.
The only way I can think to describe this book is weird. I thought it sounded really good in terms of the synopsis but when actually reading it it just became a very bizarre book which was hard to follow. At times some of the language seemed made up - like slang words for this world, which never works for me.
But just the whole story started off as an intriguing sci-fi story and then became some bizarre story with clear racism themes (that were never addressed), a sister with an eating disorder, a best friend who's grandfather has a stroke, an absent father, and then our main character ending up in a youth prison... before he breaks out and rides on a cloud and ends up in his own bed. I just couldn't keep it straight in my mind - at times it felt like a parody...
This just wasn't a winner for me - despite the very catchy cover.
Out 13th May 2021 for you to read yourself!
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children's Books for allowing me to read an eARC of this book! All opinions discussed here are my own.
The only way I can think to describe this book is weird. I thought it sounded really good in terms of the synopsis but when actually reading it it just became a very bizarre book which was hard to follow. At times some of the language seemed made up - like slang words for this world, which never works for me.
But just the whole story started off as an intriguing sci-fi story and then became some bizarre story with clear racism themes (that were never addressed), a sister with an eating disorder, a best friend who's grandfather has a stroke, an absent father, and then our main character ending up in a youth prison... before he breaks out and rides on a cloud and ends up in his own bed. I just couldn't keep it straight in my mind - at times it felt like a parody...
This just wasn't a winner for me - despite the very catchy cover.
Out 13th May 2021 for you to read yourself!
saccalai's review
3.0
There are very creepy things happening in Alfie's new town, Folding Ford. There's a weird giant moth man and weather that appears out of nowhere and disappears just as fast. Probably even weirder is the fact that no one else seems to find it quite as weird as Alfie does!
The descriptions of the fizzy, electrical creature Alfie discovers sound amazing but I did feel bad for his friend Sam, who pretty much gets dragged into all Alfie's mad impulsive plans.
This is written as a journal which I'm not usually that keen on but it is actually incorporated into the story and it does work as an audiobook.
The descriptions of the fizzy, electrical creature Alfie discovers sound amazing but I did feel bad for his friend Sam, who pretty much gets dragged into all Alfie's mad impulsive plans.
This is written as a journal which I'm not usually that keen on but it is actually incorporated into the story and it does work as an audiobook.
scottyoureading's review
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
katrina_reads's review
3.0
With a lot of hype surrounding this book on Social Media, and seeing the beautiful cover image, I was keen to give it a read. Unfortunately, I was left somewhat disappointed.
The book was by no means awful, and I didn't have to 'DNF' it, but it just seemed lacking.
The premise of the plot feels like a brilliant concept, but it wasn't executed well. There seemed no real depth to the story, it jumps from problem to problem with no real substance or analysis of events. This may be due to the fact that the book is partially written in journal form and jumps from date to date, with a brief description of what has happened from the perspective of the MC. I feel had this been written fully as a story, a telling, and not included the journal portions it may have made more sense, and flowed better.
The characters are again intriguing on the surface, great ideas for them with subplots of racism, eating disorders, bullying, peer pressure - but I just didn't gel with them. So much more could have been explored around feelings and experiences to do with this and not been just layers that are touched upon but not fully explored or explained.
For me it felt like the book was a list of events, this, this, then this, with some wacky weather descriptions thrown in, which rather than portraying mystery or magic fell flat, and seemed confusing more often than not.
I feel that this type of story would have been better written for younger readers, younger than Middle Grade, who like a quick, odd story, without the need for that extra oomph that grips a slightly older reader. For Middle Grade readers I would have liked more substance, less confusion and jumping from event to event, as well as to flow more easily when reading.
Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children's Books for the e-arc to review.
The book was by no means awful, and I didn't have to 'DNF' it, but it just seemed lacking.
The premise of the plot feels like a brilliant concept, but it wasn't executed well. There seemed no real depth to the story, it jumps from problem to problem with no real substance or analysis of events. This may be due to the fact that the book is partially written in journal form and jumps from date to date, with a brief description of what has happened from the perspective of the MC. I feel had this been written fully as a story, a telling, and not included the journal portions it may have made more sense, and flowed better.
The characters are again intriguing on the surface, great ideas for them with subplots of racism, eating disorders, bullying, peer pressure - but I just didn't gel with them. So much more could have been explored around feelings and experiences to do with this and not been just layers that are touched upon but not fully explored or explained.
For me it felt like the book was a list of events, this, this, then this, with some wacky weather descriptions thrown in, which rather than portraying mystery or magic fell flat, and seemed confusing more often than not.
I feel that this type of story would have been better written for younger readers, younger than Middle Grade, who like a quick, odd story, without the need for that extra oomph that grips a slightly older reader. For Middle Grade readers I would have liked more substance, less confusion and jumping from event to event, as well as to flow more easily when reading.
Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children's Books for the e-arc to review.
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