Name: The Imaginary
ISBN: 9781408850176

A.F. Harrold

Rudger is Amanda's best friend. He doesn't exist, but nobody's perfect. Only Amanda can see her imaginary friend – until the sinister Mr Bunting arrives at Amanda's door. Mr Bunting hunts imaginaries. Rumour says that he eats them. And he's sniffed out Rudger. Soon Rudger is alone, and running for his imaginary life. But can a boy who isn't there survive without a friend to dream him up? A brilliantly funny, scary and moving read from the unique imagination of A.F. Harrold, this beautiful book is astoundingly illustrated with integrated art and colour spreads by the award-winning Emily Gravett.

The Imaginary

A. F. Harrold

Something's hunting Rudger, and all he can do is run. There's nobody to help him. Nobody will listen to him. Oh. and he doesn't exist. An extraordinary tale illustrated by the incomparable Emily Gravett

Hope Brockway

I tend to make wild predictions and, if the book does not follow the feelings I imagined, I get disappointed. I've learned this about myself. Yeah, it's not good, but that's how I live my life. 

And, as you might surmise from my rating, that's exactly what happened in this book. 

I was expecting something magical and light and funny and whimsical and that's not what happened. It was a bit scary and darker than I initially thought. I found myself slogging through the pages. The only reason I finished this was because of the book's length. 

Yeah, not really a vote of confidence. So sorry. 

First of all, there's a huge spoiler in the preface of the book. It tells what happens in the middle at the very beginning. So it was a bit confusing to read that then actually start with the main characters meeting. Like did this really happen? Has this already happened and I'm reading the aftermath? How does this make sense? 

It was a time. 

And not one that I enjoyed. 

Then there was the creep factor. I'm not a fan of scary stories (or most things creepy, for that matter), so even the slightest scary thing is enough to send me running. So, Mr. Bunting--who I did not expect to even be in this story--really freaked me out. And his goth/vampire/super creepy sidekick was absolutely terrifying. (view spoiler)[ And when Amanda saw aforementioned goth/vampire/super creepy sidekick illuminated by the lightning and freaked, so did I. I almost stopped reading right then and there.  (hide spoiler)] 

Okay, okay, so I know most of the stuff I've complained about is in the actual blurb of the book, but I swear it wasn't there before (or maybe my memory's not what it once was). When I added this to my tbr eons ago, I don't remember anything about Mr. Bunting and his freaky girl friend (or friend who's a girl, if you prefer). 

I do have to say, though, that the illustrations were gorgeous. They were the whimsical, fantastical parts of the book I was missing. I love them. 

And Amanda and Rudger's interactions were super sweet. I love them. 

So this was not the book for me. If you enjoyed this book, great. If you like creepy stories with goth girls and men who wear Hawaiian shirts, then great. Read this book. 

But, if you don't really enjoy those things, then don't. And please don't read this to kids. It's genuinely frightening.

The Imaginary

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