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beckyyreadss's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I originally read this book when I was around 11 years old. However, during lockdown and doing some spring cleaning I came across my set of Jacqueline Wilson books that I have. I decided to re-read them and to review them.
This book follows Tim, who we met in Cliffhanger, he likes to read and play boardgames and puzzles. He doesn’t like any sports or activity. It's the summer holidays and he and his family are going on holiday and Tim is bringing his best friend Biscuits. Tim cannot wait for this trip. But the trip unexpectedly becomes truly, terribly adventurous and when an encounter with two local bully boys threatens to disrupt the fun. Tim will have to make a choice whether to run away or to stand up for himself.
I liked the idea of friendship and family within this book and how there can be so many different families on holiday during the holidays but that they can all have fun together. I love Biscuits and Tim’s friendship even if they did have a few disagreements during this book. Everyone's personality really showed in this book, even if it’s only 160 pages long. Tim wanted to build sandcastles and see the castles of Wales, Biscuit wanted to eat and enjoy the weather, Tim’s dad wanted to play cricket and Tim’s mum wanted to sunbathe and shop. I liked the addition of Tim’s and Biscuits diaries, but I would have loved for Biscuits POV in some of these chapters.
This book didn’t do well than cliffhanger because of the way that the adults (basically Tim’s parents) treated Kelly and Biscuits. They kept mentioning Biscuits weight in almost every other page, that it just got to the point of annoying. They didn’t like Kelly because of the way she acted which was basically like a caravan kid. They kept looking down on Kelly’s family even though they weren’t doing anything wrong. The ending was sort of abrupt and it was just cut off it just didn’t feel right.
Overall, this book was okay, but it would have been better if it was longer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Violence, and Bullying
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