ARC Review: Cold Cereal

Cold Cereal (Cold Cereal, 1) by Adam Rex, February 7, 2012. 432 pages. Published by Balzer + Bray. Source: Publisher for review (unsolicited).

Scottish Play Doe-aka Scott-is used to being a little different, and not just because of his name. Sometimes he hallucinates things that no one else can see: Mermaids. Unicorns. A talking rabbit-man in tweed pants.
   But then one of these hallucinations tries to steal Scott's backpack, and he comes face-to-face with an honest-to-goodness leprechaun inn a tiny red tracksuit. Mick not only claims that Scott must be part faerie but desperately needs his help-Mick's on the run from, of all things, the Goodco Cereal Company.
    With the help of his friends Erno and Emily (who have their own weird connection to Goodco) and their enormous and suspiciously hairy housekeeper, Biggs, Scott and Mick uncover Goodco's sinister plans-and take the first steps in saving the world from the evil cereal company. (from back of ARC)

First Sentence (ARC):

In the busy airport, baggage turned slowly on a carousel.

After recently finishing my first Adam Rex book, The True Meaning of Smekday, I thought there was no way Cold Cereal was going to beat it. I was wrong. Cold Cereal was brilliant and could barely peel my eyes from the page-even considered missing sleep just to finish it.

Part of what makes Cold Cereal such a win in my book is that it has both an element of mystery and fantasy in the storyline, and that it is a quick and fun read. I loved how Mr. Rex blended the fantastic (leprechauns, faeries, and unicats) and evil plotting of Goodco Cereal Company to make one addictive read that had my eyes glued to the page. Yes, it was that good.

One thing I am definitely looking forward to in the next book is finding out more about Goodco;'s scheme and what Scott and friends are going to do to stop them. Also looking forward to seeing how some of the unanswered questions from Cold Cereal are going to be answered, like, maybe a little more about Erno and Emily and their past and how they came to be in the care of Goodco. What am I saying! I just cannot wait for book two because I want more Scottish and just more of the world and characters.

Okay, I admit it, I loved Scottish Play Doe (and the story behind his name). I thought it was kind of interesting that in the beginning of the book Scott did not realize that what he took for hallucinations were actually there...only problem, must people could not see what he could. Scott was just a great character and I cannot wait to read about his next adventures and where it will take him and the story.
Erno and Emily, were definitely an odd pair. There actually so much I would like to say about the two of them, but sadly everything I want to say would be one humongous spoiler. All I will say about them is that I have a feeling that the next book will have the two for them playing an even bigger role in things to come.
Ah, the baddies of Cold Cereal all I am saying is that Mr. Rex out did himself in this book because the villain(s) of this book are pretty crooked and I do not think that we've seen the tip of their crazy iceberg.

If I had to name one point as my favorite from Cold Cereal it would have to be how well Mr. Rex's writing is able to pull the reader in from the very beginning. His writing managed to blow me away yet again in his latest book, plus I totally loved the characters, story, and setting in this book-fun, thrilling and full of adventure. This just ended up being the perfect read when I was under the weather and not feeling up to much. Will definitely have to get my hands on a finsihed copy of Cold Cereal when it comes out.

Having read an ARC of Cold Cereal, my only complaint would have to be that a lot of the art shown throughout the book was either not final or not there at all, and that was kind of disappointing because the ones that are shown are absolutely stunning. I would have definitely liked to have seen all of the artwork for this book.

Final Verdict: Cold Cereal brilliantly funny, and filled with action and awesomeness.

Cold Cereal earns 5 out of 5 pineapples.