Review of The Imaginary by A.F Harrold
I recently received a copy of The Imaginary by A.F Harrold to review and when it first arrived I wasn't sure I would really like it as it looked quite different from the books I normally enjoy but I decided to give it a go and read it with Mum as my bedtime story over the last week-I was really surprised but after a few chapters I couldn't put it down.
'Rudger is Amanda's best friend. He doesn't exist, but nobody's perfect.
Only Amanda can see her imaginary friend - until the sinister Mr Bunting arrives at Amanda's door. Mr Bunting hunts imaginaries. Rumour says that he eats them. And he's sniffed out Rudger. Soon Rudger is alone, and running for his imaginary life. But can a boy who isn't there survive without a friend to dream him up?'
I thought this book was fantastic- I liked the way Amanda created whole new world's with her imagination and how this was her huge strength in the end. I loved the loyalty that Rudger shows to Amanda and how even though you grow up and out of imaginary friends you can still see them again when you really need to if you try hard enough. I loved the idea that when a child doesn't need their imaginary any more there is somewhere for them to go until someone does need them.
The illustrations in the book were beautiful, really descriptive and are worth a good look on their own, I kept turning back to look at them in between reading the story. I liked the way the words on the page also reflected the story - such as when there was a power cut and the words were in white written on a black page so you felt like you were there in the power cut.
The story was really quite scary in places and kept your attention as you wanted to know what happened next and the ending was really dramatic. I think this is definitely one of the best books I have read this year and would really recommend it to anyone age 7+ up to any age at all - my Mum really enjoyed it too so I think it would appeal to nearly everyone who enjoys a good book.
