All About Middle Grade Review: The World's Greatest Adventure Machine

The World's Greatest Adventure Machine by Frank L. Cole, August 8, 2017. 320 pages. Published by Delacorte Press. Source: Publisher.

An adventure novel about four lucky kids and a mysterious, but thrilling ride for fans of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Jurassic Park!
CastleCorp and the famous Castleton brothers are unveiling the World's Greatest Adventure Machine! The roller coaster is an experience like no other, and four lucky kids have won the chance to be the first to ride it.
There's Trevor, whose latest stunt got him in trouble at school again. There's Devin, whose father is pushing him to be the next Internet sensation. Nika's wealthy grandfather isn't too pleased about her participation. And Cameron, he'll be the first to tell you, is a certified genius.
The whole world is watching. But as the kids set off on their journey, they begin to realize that there is perhaps more to their fellow contest winners than meets the eye. And the Adventure Machine? It might just have a mind of its own.
Join the contestants on their wild ride if you dare. Your adventure starts now! 

First Sentence

Trevor Isaacs sat in the passenger seat of the faded red Buick, his faced pressed against the window.

How could I possibly resist a book that has the words "world's greatest" and "adventure" in the title? I cannot, that's the answer! I am so excited to have been approached with the opportunity to feature The World's Greatest Adventure Machine on my blog since it ended up being really good. 

• While this book started off a little on the slow side, I still enjoyed it because the slow start gave the reader a chance to get to know the characters individually before their stories were merged together. I really liked getting the glimpse of what set each character apart and how it affected their daily lives before you really dig into what will happen to them during their adventure. It really sets the stage for the growth that they go through during the entire book.

• From the beginning, I knew that there was something fishy about the whole contest in gathering the four children as the 'winners'. That aside, seeing the four of them slowly begin to build up trust and friendship was one of the best parts of the book. Especially since none of them really had that before they met due to their varying conditions, of which you'll learn more about throughout the course of the book. There's a tremendous amount of character growth for all four characters throughout the book. 

• For me, the plot was fairly easy to solve. While I will not be going too in-depth as to why, because no one wants a spoiler, I do wish that the mystery surrounding the problems of the Adventure Machine had been, well, more just more. To my mind, it was just too obvious on who/what was plaguing their adventure. I would have loved to see it a less obvious twist to the ending; though I still found the book entertaining.  

• As for the writing, I thought Frank L. Cole did a great job with the characters and their story arcs. It was really well done and made each of them, and their individual stories, well worth reading as they came to grips with things and faced challenges that pushed them beyond anything they had previously encountered. I also really enjoyed how the whole sequence of events within the adventure machine went; it was trippy and entertaining.  

Final Verdict: The World's Greatest Adventure Machine- A twisty and entertaining read with some of the best character development I've read in ages!

The World's Greatest Adventure Machine earns

A copy of this book was received in consideration for review. All thoughts are my own.