Review: Alex and The Other

Title: Alex and The Other
Author: Philippa Dowding
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Dundurn
Source: NetGalley
Release Date: April 24, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Beware the haunted bathroom mirror at school. Beware strangers in overcoats and dark glasses, whispering in the trees. But most of all, Beware The Other …
Alex is the loneliest boy at school. Not only are his parents away (again), but his beloved cat is missing. Plus, one morning his reflection in the haunted bathroom mirror at school starts talking to him. Then two mysterious strangers in overcoats and sunglasses appear, whispering the same message, over and over: Beware The Other …

But, worse than all that, is the girl with the braid. She looks just like Alex. She’s better than him at everything, and they even share the same name. Soon, she’s the only Alex anyone can see, at school, at work, even at home. In no time, it’s almost as though the real Alex never existed at all.

Can the real Alex outsmart his evil twin and get his life back before she replaces him for good? And more importantly, who is the real Alex, anyway?

Review:

I loved this story!

It’s a very short middle grade book. I read it in about an hour. It is part of a series of weird stories, but I believe they can each be read on their own. I haven’t read the previous books, and I wasn’t missing anything.

This story was really creepy. Pigs can be strange creatures, and after reading this book, I’ll never look at them the same way! (You never know if an alien has taken over the pig’s body!) It really was a spooky, weird story, but it was very entertaining because I didn’t know what was going to happen.

Alex learns a lot throughout the story. People who he thought were bad at first sight ended up helping him, and the ones he thought would help ended up trying to harm him. He also learned that it’s okay to ask for help. Sometimes you can’t do everything on your own, and it’s good to ask for help. These are both important lessons for kids to learn too.

I loved this story! It is great for young readers and adults!

Author: jilljemmett

Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book. View all posts by jilljemmett