by Robert Muchamore
Robert Muchamore is HUGE in the male young adult audience with his CHERUB and HENDERSON BOYS series. Teenage agents, terrorism, action, adventure - everything young boys want in a series. Well, I've just finished Rock War and I'm a bit, well, underwhelmed. I think the young boys may be rather disappointed. There might be more for the girls to love here. Was I expecting too much? The story revolves around three different groups of characters - Jay and his siblings and friends, Summer and her mad school friends, and public school boy Dylan and his mates. They all have one thing in common - music and being in a band. There's a Battle of the Bands type competition to enter, and a Rock War TV series to audition for - but the latter is only really mentioned right at the end of the book so you'll have to wait for book 2 to find out more about that.As a bookseller, I've still got to get the age right of who I'm recommending the book to. There is a huge amount of bad language and adult references, so I've got to say at least 13/14, but will boys in that age group actually enjoy the storyline? I had a quick peak at an online chat forum for Cherub lovers, and they'd heard about Rock War. Their ages were about 11-13, and most of them said they didn't think the storyline would interest them, but they would read the first book to find out.
I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the book, it's the fact there's a lot of hush hush about it (I'm writing this in October, and am not allowed to post the review till the book's publication in February), it's embargoed, there'll be a huge build up, and I just don't think the book is worth all the hype. Just release it now as a new title and let the audience quietly decide.
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