Four children have been chosen to compete in a national competition to find the tastiest confection in the country. Who will invent a candy more delicious than the Oozing Crunchorama or the Neon Lightning Chew?
Logan, the Candymaker's son, who can detect the color of chocolate by touch alone?
Miles, the boy who is allergic to merry-go-rounds and the color pink?
Daisy, the cheerful girl who can lift a fifty-pound lump of taffy like it's a feather?
Or Philip, the suit-and-tie wearing boy who's always scribbling in a secret notebook?
This sweet, charming, and cleverly crafted story, told from each contestant's perspective, is filled with mystery, friendship, and juicy revelations.
Wendy Mass was one of my favorite authors when I was in middle school. This book came out after I left middle school and while I added it to my TBR, for some reason did not get read until now. I mainly listened to this on audiobook but I read the last portion of this in physical form because I really wanted to keep reading! I'm happy to say that this was a fantastic book!
The summary does a great job of summarizing the main point of this book, so I'm not going to give a big rehash, but basically, four twelve-year-olds come to the Life is Sweet candy factory in order to come up with the perfect candy for a national competition. Each character is given a point-of-view, but instead of switching the POV every other chapter, we are given multiple chapters from one perspective, and then it switches. We start with Logan, the candymaker's son, so excited to meet the other kids. We follow Logan until we get to an incident. A really intriguing incident. Then the book rewinds and follows Miles, as he is coming to the factory and meeting the other kids. We follow him until the incident, then rewind to show Daisy (who is not who she seems), until the incident. The same goes for Phillip. So with each perspective we see the same days, but with a different perspective. I've never read a book that dealt with perspectives this way and it was done so well! I loved seeing how each character saw the day, each other, and learning more about them. Each POV ended in a cliffhanger that made me want to see how everything comes together and with each perspective, you see the small details that add up to that one moment. It was just so exciting by the time I got to Phillip's perspective because it felt like everything was coming together! Even though it was tense, I was filled with joy!
The characters in this book were fantastic and I felt like I really got to know them. Logan is such a nice guy and he really knows everything to know about candy making, but he's also anxious about the competition and making friends. But even though he is feeling unsure about himself, he does his best at talking to the others and making his dream candy. Miles is obsessed with the afterlife, has his own language, and is on the watch for signs. I felt bad for him at times because he was so scared, but I loved how he tries to look at life. Daisy, well I can't say much about her due to spoilers, but I can say that I was really surprised by her character. I was also surprised by Phillip because from the first time we meant him (in Logan's perspective) he comes off as obnoxious, but I ended up really liking his perspective. Partially because everything comes together, but also because he's not a bad guy, he's actually a nice guy, but he always has a barrier up towards others. The best part with the characters, though, was them all together. One of the reasons why I love MG books is that there is such a strong focus on friendship and by the end of this book the friendship warmed my heart.
This book is also a wonderful blend of reality and magical. There are some things you may have to suspend disbelief for, but it's so gosh darn fun! And even within the improbable, the characters and their stories bring real and relatable problems. That's another one of the reasons why I loved the characters so much, because I really felt like I understood them and they still felt realistic.
IN CONCLUSION
The summary does a great job of summarizing the main point of this book, so I'm not going to give a big rehash, but basically, four twelve-year-olds come to the Life is Sweet candy factory in order to come up with the perfect candy for a national competition. Each character is given a point-of-view, but instead of switching the POV every other chapter, we are given multiple chapters from one perspective, and then it switches. We start with Logan, the candymaker's son, so excited to meet the other kids. We follow Logan until we get to an incident. A really intriguing incident. Then the book rewinds and follows Miles, as he is coming to the factory and meeting the other kids. We follow him until the incident, then rewind to show Daisy (who is not who she seems), until the incident. The same goes for Phillip. So with each perspective we see the same days, but with a different perspective. I've never read a book that dealt with perspectives this way and it was done so well! I loved seeing how each character saw the day, each other, and learning more about them. Each POV ended in a cliffhanger that made me want to see how everything comes together and with each perspective, you see the small details that add up to that one moment. It was just so exciting by the time I got to Phillip's perspective because it felt like everything was coming together! Even though it was tense, I was filled with joy!
The characters in this book were fantastic and I felt like I really got to know them. Logan is such a nice guy and he really knows everything to know about candy making, but he's also anxious about the competition and making friends. But even though he is feeling unsure about himself, he does his best at talking to the others and making his dream candy. Miles is obsessed with the afterlife, has his own language, and is on the watch for signs. I felt bad for him at times because he was so scared, but I loved how he tries to look at life. Daisy, well I can't say much about her due to spoilers, but I can say that I was really surprised by her character. I was also surprised by Phillip because from the first time we meant him (in Logan's perspective) he comes off as obnoxious, but I ended up really liking his perspective. Partially because everything comes together, but also because he's not a bad guy, he's actually a nice guy, but he always has a barrier up towards others. The best part with the characters, though, was them all together. One of the reasons why I love MG books is that there is such a strong focus on friendship and by the end of this book the friendship warmed my heart.
This book is also a wonderful blend of reality and magical. There are some things you may have to suspend disbelief for, but it's so gosh darn fun! And even within the improbable, the characters and their stories bring real and relatable problems. That's another one of the reasons why I loved the characters so much, because I really felt like I understood them and they still felt realistic.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this was such a wonderful book. I loved the characters, the mystery, the unique layout. When I closed this book I felt like a ball of emotions and I knew I had just finished a great book. Wendy Mass is a great writer and I can still call her a favorite author. There is a sequel and you bet I'm going to read it!
I hereby give this book
5 Stars!
Meaning: A new favorite!
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