Thursday, October 31, 2013

ARC Review: The Creature Department

The Creature Department by Robert Paul Weston
3/5 stars
Razorbill, 2013
331 pages
MG Fantastical
Scheduled to release November 5

Source: Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Halloween everyone! This is going to be a short review because I don't have much to say.

I received a copy of this unsolicited from the publisher and was thrilled to discover that it glows in the dark after being exposed to much light. After checking out its release date, I decided to save it for review on Halloween and to hope for some spooky going-ons.

I don't know that I'd classify this necessarily as "spooky" but it fits some out of the ordinary adventures. For example, the Research & Development team at DENKi-3000, the world's fifth-largest electronics factory, is staffed by creatures, hidden from the world but intent on creating magnificent inventions that seem to defy human science and logic. But lately they haven't had a hit and are in danger of the company being taken over. So the human head of R&D, Archie, invites his nephew Elliot and friend Leslie to the company to assist. While there, they uncover a darker plot and help save the day!

This book was cute enough but it didn't have anything special that really popped out at me. Everything felt so familiar except for the descriptions of the creatures, who are brought to life via the book's website. They are very colorful, of all kinds of different shapes and sizes with helpful personalities. Another delight was the descriptions of Chinese food, which left me craving some!

Overall: A fun read-may be better suited for its targeted middle-grade audience as this adult didn't find much crossover appeal.

8 comments:

  1. Oh, I adore this cover :D Might be a book for me, as I adore fantasy. Glad you mostly enjoyed it, even if you didn't love it :) Thank you for sharing. <3

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    1. I agree-the cover is so fun! The contents were just very meh for me.

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  2. Great to hear it was cute even if not extraordinary

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    1. It might be more enjoyable for kiddies who haven't read as widely yet-for me, it was just so formulaic.

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  3. Sorry there isn't a love of cross-over love here, but I like that it glows in the dark. Sounds fun for the younger crowd.

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    1. That's probably the thing I like most, which doesn't speak very highly unfortunately!

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  4. I have two kids who love the middle grade books and I will be adding this one. :)

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    1. Hope this works better for them-I'd love to know what some actual kids think of it!

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