I listened to this as an Audio book. It’s about trolls and twelve-year old villains. The book explains that this boy has been left unattended due to his mother’s hysteria over his father going missing. This boy is a genius, and attempts to trick fairies out of their gold.

I’m glad that I listened to this book. As stated in other blogs, I don’t enjoy children’s books for the most part. Half-listening while cursing the rolling-speed-bumps on the highway couldn’t have been more perfect. I get why the boy’s autonomy and hired help would appeal to kids. There’s so much of their lives that they can’t control. It’s probably a shared childhood fantasy to have control. Isn’t that the main reason we long to grow-up?

But as an adult reader, I just find the boy’s behavior so implausible. One would think that I would say the same about the fairies. They are less obnoxious, as they are wholly fictional entities. I know twelve year-old boys. I don’t know any fairies. Fairies have flying suits? Sure. Twelve year-old boys are genius criminal masterminds? Not so much.

Had I found this book as a child, I would probably like it. As an adult, I notice that the best developed characters are the non-human ones. I won’t ever read this again, but I would be happy to suggest it for anyone under the age of fifteen.