**WARNING!!!! May Contain Spoiler Alerts!!**
Book Title: Up A Tree
Author: Richard M. Brock
Format: Kindle/Digital, ARC
Total Page Count/Location: 3524
Book Genre(s): Humor, Fiction, Young Adult, Adventure, Middle Grade & Young Teen
Categories for Rating - see post at my blog for rating system:
https://the-book-nest.blogspot.com/2021/01/book-review-template-2021.html
Each topic rated 0-10
0-2 = extremely poor, DNF'd (or seriously considered it), difficult to complete
3-4 = somewhat poor although not as bad as "0-2", may have had *some* redeeming qualities
5-6 = mediocre, neutral
7-8 = really good
9-10 = outstanding, exceptional
Then you average the 5 individual ratings to get the overall x out of 10 rating for the book. Once that is done, the overall rating is converted into the following star rating.
0 - 2 = ⭐ (1 star)
3 - 4 = ⭐⭐ (2 stars)
5 - 6 = ⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)
7 - 8 = ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 stars)
9 - 10 = ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars)
A. Characters: 5/6 ... While I realize this book is targeted mainly to middle school aged children, there were many times that the main character(s) - Ruby and Quinn - were not totally believable.
B. Cover Art & Design: 7/7 ... The cover art does give the feel of the expression "up a tree" and does have the appeal that most middle grade students might like.
C. Enjoyment: 5/7 ... I fluctuated a lot between liking it and not being overly impressed with it however I also found that I reminded myself that this book was geared more towards kids that are in middle grades than to actual adults. Doing that helped quite a bit. I *did* find the last 3rd of the book quite enjoyable and was happy with the ending, and glad I stuck it out.
D. Plot (Storyline): 7/5.5 ... I'm being a tad generous here (and also because I'm not sure how to do 1/2 a star with WordPad LOL). All in all it was a good storyline, and it had a somewhat believable feel to it. I found the adventures that Ruby - and later, Quinn - find themselves in to be
E. Writing Style & Editing: 8/8 ... It wasn't bad. It was enjoyable, easy to read and follow, no stumbling over words, for the most part. Every once in a while, during the conversation parts, if the boys were speaking in the Appalachian-style of speech, I might have had to take another glance, however it didn't happen very often. The writing was descriptive and entertaining.
***Additional Aspects of Book that I am reviewing (optional)***
**Pros: Clever and entertaining book, one that definitely should appeal to middle graders. Lots of fun and adventure to keep a pre-teen and/or early teenager, engaged.
**Cons: I guess my biggest gripe was the believability of the two main characters - which actually becaome more apparent as the story went on. While they were born and raised on the Appalachian Mountains, it is difficult to believe, in this day and age, that kids would not know basic geography for the country in which they reside. It seemed a little too stereo-typical, too "hokey" that those born and raised on the mountain are slow and uneducated and, at times, it seems this concept was spread on a little *too* thick.
**Memorable Quote(s):
"History tells us that eventually you have to decide what is right and fight for it. Bad guys don't give up on their own. They are defeated - often at great cause."
**Personal Like/Dislike: While I don't want to give away too many spoilers, I will say that I liked Lodgepole, especially after you get past the initial interactions between him, Quinn and Ruby. Lodgepole is definitely the kind of person that first impressions can be *very* deceiving.
**Does this book "fit in" to the genre(s) it's listed under? yes
If no, why not?
**Final Notes: As I said previously, this book is definitely written with middle grade teenagers in mind. It has a nice, adventurous plot to it and, for the most part, personable and likable main characters.
In closing I would like to thank both the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to view this clever and interesting middle grade/teens book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Final Rating: 6.4 / 6.7 = 3⭐⭐⭐/3.5⭐⭐⭐
Note(s) on Rating: Overall, I think a decent rating. While I might not recommend this book to *everyone*, I do think that boys in the pre-teen to mid-teen ages might find this enjoyable.
This review can also be found here, on GoodReads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3762091664
