Language: R (100+ swears, 15+ f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (brief underage drinking); Violence: PG (Fantasy violence)
BUYING ADVISORY: HS, ADULT - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Since his mom died, 17yo Larry’s life hasn’t been easy. He’s nothing but a disappointment to his motivational-speaker father--”average in every way”--and he keeps having “episodes” where he sees things from his favorite childhood TV series about a fantasy land called Sunderworld. The only one who kind of gets Larry is his best friend, Emmett--but they’re seniors in high school now, and while Emmett has become popular and well-adjusted, Larry has... not. Finally Larry can no longer ignore the visions, and it turns out Sunderland was real all along. He and Emmett find a way in together, and they realize Sunderland is in trouble. Their efforts to help, however, cause more harm than good, leaving Emmett with a damaged memory. Eventually, Larry forces his way back into Sunderworld and, with a little help from a girl named Isabel and her hippie-genius uncle, makes a plan to help Emmett get back to normal. Of course, larger forces are at work, including the plans laid in place by Leopold’s late mother, who knew a lot more about Sunderland than Leopold ever guessed.
Fans of Ransom Riggs and gritty fantasy will enjoy this book if they are prepared for a more mature read. It was a fun page-turner with a well-developed fantasy world, but it's for a more mature audience than Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children--the main characters are 17 and sweary. There are some cheesy tropes, but they're mostly tongue-in-cheek--Riggs knows what he's doing.
Larry reads white, Emmett is Black, and love interest Isabel is Latinx.
Lindsay Blowers, ELA Teacher
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