Books are like
people, you see the cover, you read the first page and instantly you know
whether or not you’ll like the book. That’s what I had with Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend (I liked
it, that is) and it has now become one of my favourite books.
Stories that
provoke the imagination are always a plus in my book. Pun intended. And I also
like characters with problems that aren’t easily solved. In this case that is
Max, the eight-year-old boy with a form of autism. This is also the reason why
he has had an imaginary friend longer than most kids, because he still needs
him. Budo, the imaginary friend, is mostly afraid of disappearing and the theme
of the book, in my eyes, is therefore existence. Everybody (or at least most
people) are afraid of dying/disappearing and in this case that theme is handled
in a very original and interesting way.
The characters
have as much depth as a giant volcano, those are deep right? Even the minor
characters are portrayed realistically and well. The story flows nicely and
everything that happens contributes to the story, AKA no boring parts. I felt
like this book was a fun, intriguing, suspenseful and creative adventure involving
an imaginary friend as he tries to save his friend from an interesting
antagonist. It is also really cool to encounter the different types of
imaginary friends and even though, surprisingly, I never had any imaginary
friends as a kid, I want one now. And yes, even grown-ups can have imaginary
friends, the author said so. So please excuse me, my talking (and snarky) unicorn wants to
play with me now. I am Morgan and I approve this message…I mean, book! J
PS: Follow the author on Twitter: @MatthewDicks
