Wednesday 31 October 2012

CHLOÉ AND THE HALF-WORLD (SLUMBERLAND STATION BK#1) BY NEON MAY

ISBN:  9780615671093
Publisher: House Of Sub Divisions
Pages: 332
Formats Available: Kindle, Paperback

BLURB from Goodreads
If her father finds out Chloe plays with ghosts after school, she’ll be grounded forever. Why? Because for Chloe, playing with ghosts means racing them from rooftop to rooftop across the Manhattan skyline. Not to worry; when you’re fourteen, you’re immortal, so what could possibly go wrong?

Well, let’s see...

Being asked by a ghost for directions and becoming the target of a seventeen-year-old assassin? Having to ride an actual ghost train and save a friend who never existed? How about befriending the scariest clowns you’ve ever met or learning your father may be a mad scientist and your life a lie?

Now Chloe is left with only one choice: enter the Half-World and seek out the truth that lies beyond reality—if there’s such a thing as reality, of course.


MY REVIEW
I received this book directly from the Author as a review request in exchange fr an honest review from myself.
The cover is fairly plain, though it is an attractive colour it doesn't immediately grab you. The Train silhouette on the cover, to me represents the Ghost Train, so is definitely in keeping with the plot of the book.
The book is quite a complex story, but it unfolds at a reasonable pace, and keeps you interested and wanting to know what will happen to Chloe and her friend Alice. Chloe's father and Alice's mother are sort of "mad scientists" who work at Kling Klang, they create "shifts" as part of their work. There's a lot of company espionage, as another company called "The Industry" want to take over. Approximately a year ago there was a terrible accident and Chloe's mother was killed, ...or was she?....and was it and accident or an experiment that went wrong?
Chloe and Alice go to the rooftops and run with the "Echoes" or ghosts from building to building, then one day one of the "echoes" starts trying to communicate with Alice and Chloe.
There's lots going on in the book, and it has lots of interesting characters. The ending leaves you on a cliff hanger, you don't really know what has happened to Chloe or her friends. I could go on but that would mean revealing much more of the plot and giving you spoilers.
I did like the book and the plot was very imaginative, however there were also times where things felt rather muddled too. I liked the book, but to be totally honest it didn't totally wow me. Some of the names such as Kling Klang are probably more aimed to younger children too. The series title of The Slumberland Station also suggests a younger audience, who I think would most likely love it.
So did I enjoy it? Yes I kinda did, though I think it more suitable to the younger children audience. Would I read more by this Author/Or in this series? Probably yes. Would I recommend? To the right aged group yes. It would be good to prompt children's imagination as to what they think is happening in the book and what they think will happen in Bk#2.

Available at Amazon.co.uk

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