A school trip that should have been fun… turns bad with creepy aliens and oh yes, DON’T SLEEP! EVER.

I was so excited about a new Jennifer Killick book, I LOVE her books and I am always excited to see what she will write next. This time we have a group of kids going to a new activity center and having a great school trip… or well that is what it is supposed to be but strange things happen.

This will be a good/not so good review (though I only have one not so good).

Good:
+I loved our MC, he really reminded me of Alex Sparrow in the way he acted and talked. I did feel sorry for him that he had to endure bullying by Trent and also crappiness from Hoche. I knew he wasn’t a bad apple, despite what Trent and Hoche were telling. You could just see it how he treated his friends, was there for them, put others before himself (not always good, but in this situation it is).
+I was curious about why he had to sleep alone and had several ideas but I hadn’t expected that one to be it. I loved how the author wrote about it and I am glad we finally have a child character with this. I am sure there is a kid out there who is excited to see someone like them.
+Plus, what he had was helpful for the story.
+I loved the friendship and the dynamics between the kids.
+The aliens were awesome, and creepy, and disgusting. I had a couple of scenes that I was just NOPING (like when they removed their skin to show stuff, NOPE).
+The aliens plan was pretty fantastic and while they were evil bastards I do feel for them that they crashed on this planet and never could leave. OK, they ruined it by the whole taking over ideas instead of just going home, but hey, they must have been pissed. 😛
+I loved Crater Lake, I would have loved to see it in action without the aliens as it seems there was plenty to do and explore.
+I want to play Geek, Robot, Overlord now!
+I loved seeing the kids that remained (well, with the exception of Trent who was just a lazy and scared doodoo) try to figure out how to stop the aliens and to save the world.
+The actual cure and how they implemented it was just fantastic.
+The cover is amazing! I just love how it has that whole creepy and spooky vibe.
+I loved that the story kicked off being creepy immediately when the kids arrive at Crater Lake. Bloody hands, creepy guy with mysterious messages. Oh yes!
+The whole don’t sleep is perfect because you need sleep eventually. It all seems fun to stay up for long, but eventually your body just gives you a giant kick and demands sleep or else.
+That we find out why Lance put Trent in a toilet and locked him up. Gee, I would have done the same. Though I would have been honest with my friend (s) why I did it.
+There were many other parts that I just loved to bits, I just flew through the book. Before I knew it it was over.
+I had such a big laugh near the end when they found out a cure and Chets said a certain thing.
“Hey, Katja,” Chets calls out. “Basically, I ate some magic moss and it made me feel a bit weird, but the good news is that I don’t think I’m sporeling anymore.”

Not so good:
–That we already knew what the aliens/creepy stuff was before things actually happen. We learn about a certain critter and what it does. I just think it was a shame as I would rather have had them first meet the aliens/monsters/critters and then they see a tv somewhere with that documentary and find out what the aliens/monsters/critters are.