Emily Snape, Critters (Game On #3), EK Books, September 2024, 216 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922539984
You’d think that after the last two encounters, Max’s brother Liam would have realised that Miss McBoob’s phone is bad news, but no. This time, it sends Max and Liam into a game that starts out by turning them into fleas, and they have to work out the answers to all the animal-based challenges the game throws at them if they want to make it through the levels and win their way back to the real world. And once again, the clock is ticking before the phone runs out of battery charge and they’re stuck inside the game forever.
Max is also dealing with the possibility of his mother’s new boyfriend, Larry, moving in, along with Larry’s obnoxious son Josh. He has a lot of big feelings about that.
Where the first book in the series, Shrinkle, reduced Max and Liam down to miniscule size, and the second book, Glitched, sent them careening through history, Critters puts them in the middle of a game of ‘Would you rather be…?’ where they are faced with a series of critter-based choices. It touches on animal facts and would hopefully inspire young readers to seek out more information.
Readers aged 8 to 12 who have enjoyed the first two books in the series will undoubtedly enjoy Critters. It delivers more of the action, suspense, and jokes about pigeon poo, while remaining light on the character growth. Max doesn’t seem to have developed any more self-awareness than he had in the first book, and Liam certainly hasn’t learned to leave Miss McBoob’s phone well alone, but there are a few brotherly moments, and Max learns that some surprising people have his back in dealing with Josh.
Flea or ant, pigeon or penguin – will Max and Liam make the right choices and survive the game? Read on and find out!
Reviewed by Emily Clarke
