Book Review | Revenge of the Space-Surfing Butt Monkeys @CDGallantKing

Revenge of the Space-Surfing Butt Monkeys came out on May 3rd. I knew I wouldn’t be able to review it in time for the launch, but thank you to the author for the ARC all the same.

Revenge of the Space-Surfing Butt Monkeys (Gale Harbour Book Two)

By C.D. Gallant-King

Newfoundland, Canada, 1993.

It’s been a year since a handful of kids defeated the Psycho Hose Beast in the sleepy town of Gale Harbour, Newfoundland. Our heroes have entered into the era of rollerblades, Super Nintendo and oversized plaid shirts… unless you’re a goth, then it’s the era of Maybelline eyeliner, boots with too many buckles, and infected safety-pin piercings.

Thirteen-year-old Niall O’Neil is navigating a blossoming relationship with his crush, Harper Jeddore. Unfortunately, the power that allowed them to defeat the monster from the deep is still within them, and they are no closer to understanding or controlling it. When just touching your girlfriend can kill innocent bystanders, it complicates the already precarious practice of teenage dating.

But lurking in the backdrop of teenage romance, a sinister power is growing in Gale Harbour, and dangerous people are turning up in the small town with possibly deadly intentions.

Will the kids defeat this new threat? What did the US Air Force leave in the abandoned Hansen Air Force base? What is a space-surfing butt monkey? And most importantly—will anyone get to touch a boob?

My Review

It took me a while to get into it. That’s because I was aware it didn’t fit any of my usual categories. Then I wondered why I was trying to fit it into any categories, and started enjoying it.

I enjoyed it so much I finished it in one day! That seems to be a trend at present, not wanting to put the book down after having let it simmer for a few days, a few chapters in.

The characters are outrageous, and several are weird. Everyone has a hang-up or three, and most of the parents are reprehensible in some way. The references to the previous book are many, so you know what the whole story was fairly early on (if you haven’t read it, as I hadn’t). Niall’s thoughts on Harper (I had difficulty remembering that’s a girl’s name, another good reason for reading straight through) are brilliantly exposed, and I can only imagine that CD Gallant-King had similar qualms when entertaining the idea of holding hands with a (gasp) girl at Niall’s age. And does the RCMP officer ever sleep?

The plot twists several times, and has several ‘oh, no!’ moments, but some of the things the kids get up to are laugh-out-loud funny, even in times of great tension.

Revenge of the Space-Surfing Butt Monkeys delivers on all the promises in the title – a ludicrously funny, scary, suspenseful adventure with added aliens to be thwarted. First class!

Book Review | Revenge of the Space-Surfing Butt Monkeys @CDGallantKing – a ludicrously funny, scary, suspenseful adventure with added aliens #ya #aliens Click To Tweet