ARC Review: Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve

Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve
Source: eARC via Random House Publishers |  Netgalley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars :star :star :star :star

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“‘No, this is a completely different place,” said Iris. “It's called the Sarcastic Sea, and sailors fear it because the weed keeps making horrid, hurtful comments about them.'"

This was an incredibly adorable book. When I first got invited to read this book, I had no idea what it was about. I saw the title, cover, and that it was middle grade, and said yep I'll give it a shot. I'm really glad I did. Because even though sea-wigs are not some type of fluffy animal, they are still a very cute and amusing concept.

The book is about a boy, Oliver,  who grows up with parents who are adventurers. He's excited because they've finally adventured the world enough to have seen all they wanted to see, and are about to settle down and live in a house (with beds!) and he can finally go to school (for the first time). Oliver's pretty darn excited when they arrive. But, as his parents go off to explore the surrounding islands, something happens. They don't return. Oliver goes in search of them and, as you can imagine, an adventure ensues.


The book is short, so I don't need to say much more about the plot except that it is perfectly paced. The illustrations are really amazing. It's not often that I see a book with illustrations as riveting as the actual story. I found myself admiring them for several moments and having to force myself to go back to read and stop giggling over the cute pictures. It helps that the story includes wonderful characters to see drawn: such as a chubby mermaid who is nearsighted, little monkeys, sarcastic sea (made up of sarcastic comment-throwing seaweed) and islands that talk and move. What are sea-wigs, you might wonder? Well, they're the "wigs" these roving islands create for themselves by piling junk on their shores. They're made up of numerous things...wrecked ships, animals, plants, chests of treasure, etc. Creative, isn't it?


I will definitely be purchasing this book for my niece and nephew. Heck, I will probably end up getting myself a copy too just to see it on my shelf. The thought of being able to open up and see that chubby mermaid makes me very, very happy. ^_^


*Note: Quote came from arc version of the book, and may appear different in final version.