This was a book that was getting many mentions on Goodreads so I thought I’d read it. It’s a rollicking adventure, great pace, and a great hero in 14 year old Cassidy Jones. I really enjoyed all the minor characters too, especially the school kids, although I confess that the teens at schools these days seem nothing like they were at my school.
When the book started I found some of the physical descriptions of people a bit over-bearing and some of the early descriptive writing a little stodgy. But the book soon comes alive with Cassidy’s ‘accident’ and her feelings and emotions as a result of that are brilliantly written; you can really empathise with her. I got distracted by yet another book telling me someone was reigning in their emotions. I suppose raining in their emotions would be even worse, but reining in one’s emotions, like using the reins on a horse to control it, is correct! The power of the writing and the excitement of the adventure soon got me through my grouchiness, though, and — in that old cliched phrase — I couldn’t put it down!
A thoroughly enjoyable read,well plotted and characterised, complete with a megalomaniac baddie, ninjas and comic book heroes, that would suit all ages from about 9 upwards.
Elise Stokes: Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula
