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llinthelibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
emychii's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing. Confusing alternate universe. First of a series, but the ending of this one does not stand alone.
lehughes19's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
What a fun, fast paced story! Great character development and an even more fun plot. I finished it a few minutes ago and am literally about to start book #2! Just remember this is a middle grade book. While much of it is well written for adults to thoroughly enjoy, certain thoughts and scenarios are way over explained for an adult but in a completely appropriate way for kids. For that reason, I think I’ll read the next book instead of listening to the audio so I can skim over those parts. There were a few plot holes, but again this is a middle grade book!
Content Warnings
Minor: Kidnapping
bookshopsandbanter's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
raul3893's review against another edition
4.0
Wow this book was amazing and it’ll probably be my favorite book of this year ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and although the main plot twist of the story was really predictable I enjoyed it , I want to know more about the alternate reality and want to know how they are going to come again I liked that the chapters were short and as a whole I really liked it ,the characters were kind of annoying(except for Natalie), but I read the last 100 pages on a sit and was super entertaining and I can’t wait to the read the second part
deb_is_reading's review against another edition
3.0
It's hard for me to rate middle grade since I'm obviously not the target audience. So while I'm not "going easy" on this book, I also want to keep in mind that this book falls more into "a book for younger readers" as opposed to "something younger readers can also enjoy".
The Good: I think the premise and the setup was fun and mysterious. A group of siblings gets kidnapped and they also have the same names and ages as our main characters?! Then our main characters' mother up and disappears right after?! Like that would be really interesting for any age group. The kids are all mostly charming and there were definitely cute childlike moments that would make an older reader have the emotional reaction of "aww these kids, they're trying their best". Though the youngest does occasionally get on my nerves, but I just have a low tolerance for crying/whining children. I say that because these children do act like children and I think that's great. I did kinda like the sci-fi elements that were thrown into this in the second half but I'll elaborate on that in the "bad" section of this review.
The Bad: I was really enjoying the mysterious adventure these siblings + friend were on. Their mother left our main characters clues to find and decode and that was great but once the more sci-fi elements were introduced the pacing changed completely to 100mph and it felt like reader whiplash for me. So yes I like the sci-fi elements (it reminded me of a very popular adult sci-fi book I hated, The Strangers was better imo) I just wish the transition into it was better. Also all these kids were really harsh on their neighbor/friend Natalie for almost no reason??? She was set up to be a mean girl at school but we never her saw her being harsh to anyone but her mother lol. It was random and could have been done away with.
Definitely something fun and eventually fast paced for anyone to enjoy.
* I don't really keep in mind if content is "appropriate" or not for children, so I wasn't thinking of that while reading. I do remember words like stupid or dumb were used but I was dropping f-bombs and Spanish cuss words by the time I hit middle school so not a big deal for me.
The Good: I think the premise and the setup was fun and mysterious. A group of siblings gets kidnapped and they also have the same names and ages as our main characters?! Then our main characters' mother up and disappears right after?! Like that would be really interesting for any age group. The kids are all mostly charming and there were definitely cute childlike moments that would make an older reader have the emotional reaction of "aww these kids, they're trying their best". Though the youngest does occasionally get on my nerves, but I just have a low tolerance for crying/whining children. I say that because these children do act like children and I think that's great. I did kinda like the sci-fi elements that were thrown into this in the second half but I'll elaborate on that in the "bad" section of this review.
The Bad: I was really enjoying the mysterious adventure these siblings + friend were on. Their mother left our main characters clues to find and decode and that was great but once the more sci-fi elements were introduced the pacing changed completely to 100mph and it felt like reader whiplash for me. So yes I like the sci-fi elements (it reminded me of a very popular adult sci-fi book I hated, The Strangers was better imo) I just wish the transition into it was better. Also all these kids were really harsh on their neighbor/friend Natalie for almost no reason??? She was set up to be a mean girl at school but we never her saw her being harsh to anyone but her mother lol. It was random and could have been done away with.
Definitely something fun and eventually fast paced for anyone to enjoy.
* I don't really keep in mind if content is "appropriate" or not for children, so I wasn't thinking of that while reading. I do remember words like stupid or dumb were used but I was dropping f-bombs and Spanish cuss words by the time I hit middle school so not a big deal for me.
situationnormal's review against another edition
3.0
This book was well-written and intriguing, but I just wasn't feeling it. Not currently planning to continue the series (even though it ended on a cliffhanger).
lesliewatwar's review against another edition
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised how exciting this book was. A dark little mystery that's a fun family read.