The living toys
3/5
REVIEW OF FREE COPY
This is a book review of ‘The Living Toys’ by Alexis J. Star. I have it as a free review copy and have selected this title as it was advertised to be in the sentiment of the story ‘The Nutcracker’, which I love and particularly focussed around how toys can be a powerful protective shield for children.
SPOILER ALERT: This review will go into details of the plot, so if you wish to maintain that element of surprise, please stop reading now.
Synopsis:
Michael is a young boy who loves his toys, and he has lots of them, many of which he has inherited from his aunt and uncle who were great toy collectors. His collection ranges from old soldiers and knights, to dolls, a vintage rocking horse, cuddly toys and many, many more. However, his favourite toy is a sock monkey.
Michael leads a solitary life. The other children at school bully him for playing with old toys rather than modern tech toys and consoles, his mother is away most of the time working and he doesn’t have any other siblings or extended family. He is an introverted child who obtains more comfort from his toys than from his family and friends (which he doesn’t have). One day he finds a brooch and manages to return it to its rightful owner. In return, he receives an amulet for good luck.
This amulet has the magic power to bring his toys to live and together they help him face two of the biggest bullies in his life and even make a new friend.
Review:
I expect the target audience for this title are young adult readers, especially those who might struggle to keep up with the fast pace of today’s society and find consolation and comfort in imaginative play. Wouldn’t it be great if your favourite toys came alive and you could go on adventures with them or have someone to talk to?
Based on the title and the description, I was expecting a whimsical, feel-good story. Maybe I’ve watched too many horror films, but personally it struck me more like a horror story. Many of the toys Michael has are really old, which evoked images of toys of Victorian toys in my head. Some of those looked really creepy and I definitely wouldn’t want any of those coming to life.
His sock monkey is the first to come alive and not only can he remember everything he has experienced this his creation, but he can also feel. Michael, the protagonist, is absolutely thrilled to have so many proper playmates now and doesn’t seem to be freaked out at all that all of his toys are constantly watching him now, only pretending to be ‘normal’ toys when other people are around. Just the thought of all these toys remember everything even before they came to life scared me.
Two of them, his favourite toy Sock Monkey and his aunts favourite doll, accompany him to confront his biggest bully, Jacob. The initial intention is to make him see how awesome the toys are by showing him that they are actually alive, but Jacob already laughs Michael out of his house when he sees the doll. Both toys then secretly proceed to enter the house and destroy Jacob’s expensive console. When Michael is reunited with his toys, he runs home and bumps into none other than the neighbourhood bully, Derek, who had previously smashed Michael’s bicycle to pieces. Derek dropped his mobile phone when Michael bumped into him and it gets run over by a car. As a result, Derek chases Michael home to give him a beating, even breaking into the house to do so. All of Michael’s toys come to his rescue and start to defend Michael with all their might. For a moment, it looks like they might succeed, but then Derek destroys every single toy. He literally rips them apart, stomps on them and smashes them to smithereens. Remember how I said that the toys could now also feel? I had a very distinct picture of a battlefield with disembodied toys in a lot of agony in my head. The magic of the amulet repairs them and they start their fight afresh. Only when Michael sees his toys repair themselves again, does he finally find the strength to stand up for himself.
With the help of the repaired toys, Derek is chased out of the house and put into prison, with a lot more children speaking out about his crimes now. In the end, Derek’s parents come over to apologise and Michael befriends his younger sister, who admires his extraordinary toy collection (at this point, not knowing that they are alive).
While I do like the idea of toys as protectors and defenders of the child they belong to, and the toys in this story do show a lot of courage that Michael lacks, there were too many scenes that I found more creepy than heartwarming, but that is only my personal opinion and I advise you make up your own mind about it.
I would also say, that the story would have benefited from another thorough round of editing. For me personally, there were too many ‘some kind of’ (or similar phrases).
Reading a book is very personal as much as it is to write one (I speak from experience), so I do hope Alexis does not feel offended by my review, but this one wasn’t for me.
If you’re interested in reading the book for yourself, you can buy it here:
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