Who Framed Klaris Cliff? by Nikki Sheehan
Jul. 7th, 2014 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
People used to call them ‘friends’ and said how they were good for your brain. And then a day came when all that changed … when they became the enemy.
Now, anyone found harbouring a rogue imaginary person is in for the Cosh – an operation that fries your imagination and zaps whatever’s in there, out of existence.
That’s why I wish Klaris Cliff had never shown up and why I know that proving her innocence is the last hope I have of saving myself.
13-year-old Joseph Reece lives in a world where imaginary friends are dangerous. Ever since an imaginary friend killed a load of people, both they and the children they befriend have been viewed with suspicion. At the first sign of an imaginary friend going rogue, the child’s whipped off for an operation called the Cosh, which fries their imagination and destroys the imaginary friend. All this explains why Joseph’s keen that no one discovers that he can hear Klaris Cliff, his 7-year-old neighbour Flea’s imaginary friend. Joseph needs his imagination because it’s his only connection with his mum, who disappeared several years earlier.
When Flea’s dad accuses Klaris of committing a series of strange events around his house, Joseph teams up with Flea and his best friend Rocky (who’s also Flea’s older brother) to clear her name. But that isn’t easy when everyone seems so sure that she’s guilty …
Nikki Sheehan’s debut middle grade novel is a fantasy with a great concept but the execution doesn’t make good on its promise and it’s being marketed as a thriller when it’s more a book about grief. While I enjoyed Joseph’s relationship with his father (who’s sensitively shown trying to move on from his wife’s disappearance) and his developing friendship with the withdrawn and shy Flea, what’s missing is the relationship between Joseph and Klaris, which for me needed to be more central to the book. In addition, the writing’s strangely flat with the story turning on a couple of contrivances that stretched the internal logic while the side characters don’t rise above caricature. This is a shame because there are some great ideas at play and I really wanted to learn more about the world – e.g. what exactly happened at Shorefield, the link between ghosts and imaginary friends and why the authorities are so keen to get rid of them. Ultimately, although this book didn’t quite work for me, I would definitely check out Sheehan’s next book.
There are a lot of good ideas and scenes within the book. My favourites are where Joseph sees a child undergoing the cosh, another character explaining how and why they got two dogs drunk on whisky and a suggestion of corruption for specialists tasked with investigating rogue imaginary friends. I actually wished the book had been three times longer so the ideas had more room to be developed.
The Verdict:
Nikki Sheehan’s debut middle grade novel is a fantasy with a great concept but the execution doesn’t make good on its promise and it’s being marketed as a thriller when it’s more a book about grief. While I enjoyed Joseph’s relationship with his father (who’s sensitively shown trying to move on from his wife’s disappearance) and his developing friendship with the withdrawn and shy Flea, what’s missing is the relationship between Joseph and Klaris, which for me needed to be more central to the book. In addition, the writing’s strangely flat with the story turning on a couple of contrivances that stretched the internal logic while the side characters don’t rise above caricature. This is a shame because there are some great ideas at play and I really wanted to learn more about the world – e.g. what exactly happened at Shorefield, the link between ghosts and imaginary friends and why the authorities are so keen to get rid of them. Ultimately, although this book didn’t quite work for me, I would definitely check out Sheehan’s next book.
WHO FRAMED KLARIS CLIFF? was released in the United Kingdom on 6th February 2014. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.
People used to call them ‘friends’ and said how they were good for your brain. And then a day came when all that changed … when they became the enemy.
Now, anyone found harbouring a rogue imaginary person is in for the Cosh – an operation that fries your imagination and zaps whatever’s in there, out of existence.
That’s why I wish Klaris Cliff had never shown up and why I know that proving her innocence is the last hope I have of saving myself.
13-year-old Joseph Reece lives in a world where imaginary friends are dangerous. Ever since an imaginary friend killed a load of people, both they and the children they befriend have been viewed with suspicion. At the first sign of an imaginary friend going rogue, the child’s whipped off for an operation called the Cosh, which fries their imagination and destroys the imaginary friend. All this explains why Joseph’s keen that no one discovers that he can hear Klaris Cliff, his 7-year-old neighbour Flea’s imaginary friend. Joseph needs his imagination because it’s his only connection with his mum, who disappeared several years earlier.
When Flea’s dad accuses Klaris of committing a series of strange events around his house, Joseph teams up with Flea and his best friend Rocky (who’s also Flea’s older brother) to clear her name. But that isn’t easy when everyone seems so sure that she’s guilty …
Nikki Sheehan’s debut middle grade novel is a fantasy with a great concept but the execution doesn’t make good on its promise and it’s being marketed as a thriller when it’s more a book about grief. While I enjoyed Joseph’s relationship with his father (who’s sensitively shown trying to move on from his wife’s disappearance) and his developing friendship with the withdrawn and shy Flea, what’s missing is the relationship between Joseph and Klaris, which for me needed to be more central to the book. In addition, the writing’s strangely flat with the story turning on a couple of contrivances that stretched the internal logic while the side characters don’t rise above caricature. This is a shame because there are some great ideas at play and I really wanted to learn more about the world – e.g. what exactly happened at Shorefield, the link between ghosts and imaginary friends and why the authorities are so keen to get rid of them. Ultimately, although this book didn’t quite work for me, I would definitely check out Sheehan’s next book.
There are a lot of good ideas and scenes within the book. My favourites are where Joseph sees a child undergoing the cosh, another character explaining how and why they got two dogs drunk on whisky and a suggestion of corruption for specialists tasked with investigating rogue imaginary friends. I actually wished the book had been three times longer so the ideas had more room to be developed.
The Verdict:
Nikki Sheehan’s debut middle grade novel is a fantasy with a great concept but the execution doesn’t make good on its promise and it’s being marketed as a thriller when it’s more a book about grief. While I enjoyed Joseph’s relationship with his father (who’s sensitively shown trying to move on from his wife’s disappearance) and his developing friendship with the withdrawn and shy Flea, what’s missing is the relationship between Joseph and Klaris, which for me needed to be more central to the book. In addition, the writing’s strangely flat with the story turning on a couple of contrivances that stretched the internal logic while the side characters don’t rise above caricature. This is a shame because there are some great ideas at play and I really wanted to learn more about the world – e.g. what exactly happened at Shorefield, the link between ghosts and imaginary friends and why the authorities are so keen to get rid of them. Ultimately, although this book didn’t quite work for me, I would definitely check out Sheehan’s next book.
WHO FRAMED KLARIS CLIFF? was released in the United Kingdom on 6th February 2014. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.
