Book Review: GEEK FANTASY NOVEL

Author: E. Archer
Number of Pages: 320
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Release Date: March 29, 2011

"What happens when a science geek and magic collide?

Be careful what you wish for. Really. Because wishes are bad. Very bad. They can get you trapped in fantasy worlds full of killer bunny rabbits, evil aunts, and bothersome bacteria, for example. Or at least that's Ralph's experience. He's been asked to spend the summer with his strange British relatives at their old manor house in order to set up their Wi-Fi network. But there's much more to it than that, of course. It's just that nobody told Ralph. He's a gamer, sure. But this game is much stranger--and funnier--than anything to be found on his xbox."
                                                           - Goodreads.com

I saw this at my town library and thought that it looked like a mildly funny/entertaining book, so I grabbed it. However, I was slightly disappointed when I finished reading it. It's not that it wasn't mildly entertaining, because it was. This novel just sort of fell flat for me. I could see the potential it had to be a really funny, really enjoyable book, but it just didn't play out right. Sometimes the plot was too random, yet at other times I was correctly predicting what would happen next. It was sort of all over the place.

Although I do have to say that the characters were very likable. They all had their own personalities (my favorite was Cecil), which made the story a bit more interesting. I also really liked how the narrator would interrupt the story at times and interact with the reader a bit. And the twist at the end of the book with the narrator was really clever.

Overall, there were good things and bad things about this novel. The framework for a great story and an awesome book were there, but it just didn't happen.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) 3 out of 5 smileys.

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Maybe. Probably not, though.

Always,
NutFreeNerd