Reviews

Chester Keene Cracks the Code by Kekla Magoon

anakuroma's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

TW: bullying, absent parent
*SPOILER*
...
...
...
...
catfishing (communication from who you thought was one person actually from another)


Not quite the clever code cracking caper it advertised on the sleeve, but more a sweet story about a boy coming to terms with a lot of growing up problems, from bullying to blending a family to the truth about his dad and imperfect parents who mess up.

sarahvlovestoread's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

tayberryjelly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

cmatekel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

emilysbookishlife's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

michelle4589's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

lisamcdreads's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

library_kb's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

This was not a book for me--I listened to it via @Libro.fm, but it took me a long while to get into the book--the mystery part does not really get going until 20% into the book or so. I also felt like I would have enjoyed this more if it had been shorter, and there were some aspects to the story (either the bullying subplot or the robbery subplot) that I think could have been taken out to streamline the book. However, once the character conflict of Chester dealing with his absent father and his mom's new boyfriend picked up, I did enjoy this book more. 

emmae's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

book_cwtch's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad

Chester is very set in his ways and in an attempt to find his father by answering a set of clues, he finds out more than he bargained for. This is a very cute Mg book about divorce and blended families, bullies and figuring it out