A fun vacation at the beach… with a death worm in the ground! What could possibly go wrong?

😍 The death worm (when reading about it) was terrifying. How it wiggled in the sand. Didn’t stop until it had a snack. How it lurked around and made use of the soft earth that the town had.
😍 A small town hiding something (which reminded me of Dandadan as it was almost the exact same premise). I loved the mystery of the town and learning more and more about it and the death worm that lives in the ground.
😍 I love that the arcade machine about the worm was the big clue. I already had a suspicion/hunch given how much it told things so I don’t see it as a spoiler. I liked that someone in the past decided that someone needed to know and this was the best way.
😍 The baddies were perfect! Two of them especially. And yes, I would call them baddies. I mean, hiding a worm of doom from the public and then allowing it to snack on tourists? Yeah, you are a baddie.
😍 I loved seeing the kids go on adventure/figure things out. OK, it was mostly Milo who was enthusiastic but that is fine with me. I loved seeing them explore various places, like a derelict golf park with dino’s falling apart.
😍 I loved that we got dyslexia presentation in Milo! We see how he struggles with it, see how he has all these wonderful ideas but no clue how to get them recorded (I wanted to step into the story at times and just hand him a recorder or a pc with spelling control or a friend who wanted to write things down for him). I hope that with this adventure he has gotten stronger and more secure in how he stands with his dyslexia.
😍 The ending was a hoot. First up a lot of excitement with a big battle against the worm at a festival (yes, really), and then running away from the wrath of the town. I really enjoyed it, though I wouldn’t have minded an epilogue!
😍 Oh oh, I cannot forget the AMAZING stories that Milo concocted. OMG, I need a whole book with them. Please!

🤔 I mean the worm was released due to explosions. But given that two of the, shall I call them this.. yes, baddies are big shots in the town, why didn’t they stop it? I mean, do you want the death worm to wiggle around?
🤔 Wasn’t sure how I felt about the friendship between the kids. Milo is about to move and this is their last time together (there may be more vacations, but with Milo’s family’s finances he knows it won’t happen).  But the way his friends treat him. At times dismissing him, talking in whispered voices when he isn’t around, not wanting to go with him on adventures, and other things. It was very weird and off-putting. Here we have a group of friends and I just couldn’t really see it at times.

😂 But sorry I was just laughing so hard at the worm. In the story it was constantly named as terrifying (and sure the parts with him were scary) but all I saw was a tube thing with googly eyes. XD If anything it reminds me of those toys you could get at a supermarket during special soccer seasons though the worm was less fluffy in the book than those toys are. XD

All in all, another fun book by Kathryn Foxfield, curious what spooky MG/YA she will write next!