Search For A Review:
Reviews are in order by last name of author.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G| H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| Books of the Year | About Me |
| ARC Reviews | Recent Posts |
| The Den (Home) |
MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.5/5
Format: Kindle Whispersync
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Ever wonder what else is out there? So does twelve-year-old Drew Shipley, a daydreamer whose only fear is growing up. To escape his present and avoid his future, Drew and his friends roam their small town playing night tag, fantasizing about aliens and spaceships, and exploring the haunted Gladhill barn. But Drew’s fantasies become reality when a starfighter from another dimension crashes in the cornfield behind his house: Sheela Vestril, commander of the Dimension Warriors and last hope in a galactic war to save their world from the vile Lord Malgore. As Drew learns more about Sheela, he and his friends band together to help her complete her mission and keep her a secret from their parents, a suspicious deputy, and a ruthless gang of bullies.
But this isn’t a game, and Drew and his friends have no idea what they’ve signed up for. Who is this girl and what’s chasing after her? Are Drew and his friends really cut out to save the universe? Is this Drew’s chance to escape the realities of his life, or will those realities follow him no matter what galaxy he’s in? Time is running out, and growing up is no longer a choice: It’s a matter of life and death.
MY REVIEW
I don’t remember who’s instagram page I happened to see this book on, but the cover and title caught my eye, and after finding out that it was going to be a nostalgic read of my childhood of being a 90’s kid, I was even more interested. With the popularity of Stranger Things, the “kids on bikes” genre has been ushered back into the spotlight and stories like Weird Space are on the rise because of it.
Wiley landed this nostalgia-driven story with precision, fans of The Goonies, The Last Starfighter, E.T, The Sandlot, Stand by Me, The Never Ending Story and I guess Stranger Things too, will fall in love with Weird Space. It is for sure an amalgamation of these incredible movies I loved as a kid. It was funny, emotional, tense and had a great pace, it hit the right spots at every turn. Also have to mention that Howard Kazanjian, the producer of Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark called this a “must read.”
The prose is tight but written in a similar style as Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, that is fit for a younger audience. I do think adults could still enjoy this, but it is definitely in that coming-of-age, middle-grade genre territory. Don’t get me wrong, that genre is no slight, there is something I do enjoy about these middle-grade style books. They are fun, plain and simple. Not over abundance of religions, political intrigue or deep thoughts, just a fun palate cleansing story. With that in mind, there is slight drug use that alters the mind, but Riordan’s use of Lotus flowers is no different.
Weird Space starts in the summer of 1992, I was 7 years old, so not much younger than the characters of the story that were essentially my older brother’s age. The story is told from a third-person narrative, but the main character is Drew, who I assume may be based on the author, whose name is Andrew. Anyways, Wiley introduces characters that are not the typical annoying teen/pre-teens, they are very likeable all the way through and get some great emotional depth. The friendships and banter between the boys and the girls makes this book work even better. The focus was almost entirely on the kids and the young commander of the Dimension Warriors, Sheela, until the end when they had to go head to head against Malgore and his army. I can’t talk about characters and not mention the mini-Ewok, porg-like creatures called Talk-Talks also. Yep, Wiley made sure to add in some cute and kinda annoying furry creatures you just can’t help but love.
The narration is performed by the author, Andrew Michael Wiley, himself. I think he does a very good job, but he struggles with female voices, not really a knock, but the almost teenager females were very manly sounding. Where this was top tier was the production, it is a borderline graphic audio with its sound effects that helped make the immersion that much better. Unfortunately, the second book in this series currently uses virtual voice, so I won’t be continuing unless it is a placeholder.
Overall, I think this self-published story is going to capture an older readers childhood or a younger readers imagination of what it was like in the 90’s and send either one down a magical rabbit hole of fun and danger. I definitely am going to be looking into more books within the 80’s-90’s throwback nostalgia just to relive my childhood some more.
Wolfmantula.com 