04 June 2018

Review: The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik

The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik
by David Arnold

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 22, 2018

In THE STRANGE FASCINATIONS OF NOAH HYPNOTIK by David Arnold, high schooler Noah Oakman wakes up in a world where everything he knows, with a few exceptions, is slightly different: small changes that seem meaningless but are eerily inexplicable and random. Noah tries to piece together what happened to him by investigating the few things that stayed constant, which he calls his "fascinations". With no explanation as well as problems besides that parallel universe of sorts he has found himself in, Noah does everything he can to bring his life back to the way it once was.

A refreshing and well-written book, Arnold's third book is a delightful piece of realistic fiction with the tiniest hint of sci-fi/magical realism. It has already been optioned by a film studio to be turned into a movie. The intellectual nature of Noah's thoughts and interests, while familiar, was a clean and realistically executed example of the classic "deep, moody, and knowledgeable of a lot of obscure novels and philosophers" trope common to YA main characters. The confusion I felt reading it and trying to understand what was happening perfectly matched Noah's, and was resolved by the end of the story, making this book more of an experience than a passive read. I would highly recommend this to any fans of authors such as A.S King, Lauren Oliver, and John Green.

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