Colourful Description, Broad Imagination and Emotion

Rating: 4.5/5

“So…you suddenly find out you’re the new ruler of the world. You can do what you want. You even have power over the fabric of the universe itself. So, what are the first three things you do?”

This is a question posed to main character, Frankie Finnegan by his friend, Wookie in Keith Brooke’s The Unlikely World of Faraway Frankie. And what follows is an exploration into loss and imagination.

A quick read reminiscent of stories like Patrick Ness’s When a Monster Calls and Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, The Unlikely World of Faraway Frankie was a richly descriptive book with a relatable lead to guide me through a twelve-hour shift.

It follows Frankie, a young boy, whose family and school life has never been the same since his sister’s death. Until, one day he finds himself in Faraway, a land completely under his control and where his sister never met her tragic end. A dream come true at first. But as Frankie will learn dreams don’t last long and sometimes the only way to overcome a nightmare is to face it head on.

Whether you’re an adult or a child, The Unlikely World of Faraway Frankie will draw you in with its dream-like prose. Brooke is highly creative in his descriptions. I particularly loved his comparison of store clerk Cindy to an automaton, needing a key to wind her up at the start of her shifts. Even Frankie’s exaggerative talks about his day brought a smile now and then.

Brooke’s Frankie captures the adolescent mind really well. He is an outcast whose appearance is mocked by his fellow classmates. But he possesses a sharp wit and a big imagination that holds an underlining of the truth. Sometimes fiction is the best remedy to handle topics on grief and pain, Faraway is Frankie’s way to manage it. Until it’s not. Much like Coraline’s discovery of Other World and its inhabitants, Faraway’s residents aren’t all what they seem. Parental figures are being replaced and survivors are forced to hide within the gaps of Frankie’s shifting world. Being master of the universe isn’t all it cracked up to be, but it’s the necessary push for Frankie to accept what he can’t change, leading to a rushed but fitting conclusion. 

If you want something quick and descriptive try The Unlikely World of Faraway Frankie, it’s a heartfelt story readers will enjoy.