The Goldfish Boy - Book Review

Hola Lexicans! How are you? Today I'm back with a book review, this time reviewing MG mystery The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson. As you all know, I love mysteries and MG books when I'm looking for a nice and easy read, so when my sister recommended this I was all over reading it!

Matthew is a 12 year old boy who clean his hands and the things around him endlessly and hasn't stepped outside in months. This is because Matthew has a very severe case of OCD and a phobia of germs. He thinks if he cleans, every surface in his house, every day it will prevent germs killing Matthew and his family. Besides cleaning, Matthew spends most his time looking out of the window, watching his neighbours do their day-to-day chores. And then a toddler staying at his neighbour's house goes missing, and Matthew was the last person to see him...

not my photo

I really liked this book! As a character, Matthew was well-developed and I sympathised with him throughout the book. The story reminded me very much of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time by Mark Haddon, and Smart by Kim Slater as they both contained a boy of about 12 years old, with some form of a mental disability solving a mystery so if you enjoyed either of those books, you will love The Goldfish Boy.

One of the great things about this book, was that there was a lot going on yet it never got confusing or like there was too much happening. A book just about Matthew would have been sufficient, as would a book just about the mystery, but both makes is perfect! I often find that books with a lot going on, often are very confusing and will cause me to go back and re-read certain sections, particularly as I'm such a quick reader.

Overall, I loved this book and would recommend it for 8-11 year olds. Personally, I'm above the recommended reading age for this, yet I still love to read a good old MG book now and again and this was definitely worth the read. Next post (which should be up this Sunday), is on the theatre play School Of Rock, which I went to see last weekend.

Xxx