Thursday 28 August 2014

Review: Guinea Pigs Online: Furry Towers by Jennifer Gray, Amanda Swift

Publication Date: March 2014
Publishers: Quercus Publishing
Source: Review Copy

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Blurb: 

Fuzzy and Coco are online again, and they've found the luxury guinea pig hotel of their dreams! But at Furry Towers the squeaky pals find themselves in a smelly old hutch with only soggy lettuce to nibble. And with Nasty Nigel the horrible human in charge, it seems something sinister is going on....

Luckily, they've got help from old friends and new! Armed with soap bubbles and a tank full of poo, can the Guinea Pigs save the day again?



Review: 

A big thank you to Quercus publishing for sending me a copy of this novel. It was the first book I read for the Bout Of Books 11.0 readathon. A delightful children's novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. 

As a child, I wasn't really into guinea pigs. I never owned one, and neither did many of my friends. I've always been a cat person. But after reading this book, I think I can see the appeal of the furry and curious little creature. After some google image searching of Guinea Pigs I have decided they are cute, and thanks to this novel, I have been converted to a guinea pig appreciator. 



This novel is such a delightful read for younger children. I loved reading from the Guinea Pigs perspective. They see their world in such a simple and entertaining way. One of my favourite passages was when they described their owners as "forgetful". 


"...but Henrietta, like her husband Ben, was also rather forgetful. Sometimes she forgot to brush her hair, and sometimes he forgot to wear socks, and both of them had forgotten to have children, but it didn't really matter, because Fuzzy and Coco were just as adorable as children, with the added attraction of having lovely soft fur".

I loved that little paragraph because, as a pet owner and animal lover, I can completely identify with that . I found it so funny that the guinea pigs classed this as being "forgetful". 

I enjoyed the plot of the novel. The horrid Furry Towers was really interesting and I loved reading about the adventure of escaping the vile place. I thought the plot was fun and full of little pieces of action that would keep a child completely entranced. 

I found the characters to be very entertaining and funny. I loved out main protagonists, Coco and Fuzzy, and their sibling like relationship. The introduction of new characters such as Pat, the guinea pig with a military side, and Lulu, a guinea pig more used to the finer lifestyle, were both great new characters. I enjoyed reading about them very much. 

The writing style was great. It was funny, descriptive and not complicated. The slightly rude jokes, about poo and so on, would have a child in stitches! There were lots of good jokes, and brief action scenes that would totally captivate a child's imagination. 

I think that this is one of those children books that would make a great bedtime read. I think both the adult and the child would both enjoy the book, and it would be a great book to read together.

Overall, an imaginative and enjoyable children's novel that would have kids laughing out loud. I am going to pass this book onto my younger cousin, as I think it is just the kind of book he would enjoy. 

Rating: 

Three Stars. 

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