Astrid and the Accidental Slip Between Worlds by Jaclyn Moriarty

The book Astrid and the Accidental Slip Between Worlds is another book full of mysteries from the ‘Kingdoms and Empires’ series. 

Astrid can always tell when someone is lying, which makes her a special kid that everyone looks up to. But is it helpful if she is thrown into a world that makes her forget the essence of who she is?  She keeps writing notes to her sisters, but they won’t answer. Will she get help in time? Or will it be too late?

Kelly illustrates beautifully, and it really made me think about this book outside the box. The floating cards, shadows of creatures, Astrid falling from a gap with plants and a beautiful red dress, paired with a bright yellow cardigan. It really unboxed my mind about what this meant. 

Jaclyn uses lots of funny and serious moments where I just couldn’t take my eyes off the book. Sometimes I was laughing out loud or saying, ‘Oh no, what will happen?’ giving me shivers down my spine. She hooked me from the first page and left me on a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter, making me desperate to read more, even at midnight.

The story splits into four sections: The Tournament, Astrid Mettlestone-Staranise, a Wilderness Camp, and Astrid's Diary. While there are two worlds in this book, Kingdoms and Empires, and The World, ten-year-old Astrid belongs to one of them.

While she assists the mayor, she accidentally gets sent to one of the worlds and lives in a girl’s house called Echo. While Astrid’s in a different world, she keeps a diary. In that diary, she writes about what’s happening and expresses her emotions by scribbling on the page or writing her neatest. On one of the pages, it says, ‘SAVE THEM, SAVE THEM, SAVE THEM.’ When someone asks Astrid what that meant, she whispers, ‘It’s too late...' She tries to explain to people that she came from another world, but people think she’s just imagining a bunch of baloney.

The World is treacherous. If Astrid stays there for too long, she will forget who she is, or worse, forget what her life is.

This heartwarming, fierce book by Jaclyn Moriarty is perfect for fans who love Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling or anyone into fantasy. I would rate this a 5 out of 5. Yes, that’s how much I love it, and I think you'll agree once you’ve read it. It is a must-have for 10- 15-year-olds or anyone into fiction!

Reviewed by Parishay Khan

Allen & Unwin