INTRODUCING: Grasshopper Jungle

We want to introduce you to the weirdest YA book, arguably of all time.

Published

27/02/2014

Publisher

Electric Monkey

This is Grasshopper Jungle. It's already out in stores in paperback and there is already a lot of buzzing in the grass of bookselling. Here's what its all about:

(From the Waterstones website)

"If you're a fan of John Green, Michael Grant, Stephen King or David Levithan, get your pincers stuck into this. In the small town of Ealing, Iowa, Austin and his best friend Robby have accidentally unleashed an unstoppable army. An army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises that only want to do two things. This is the truth. This is history. It's the end of the world. And nobody knows anything about it. Funny, intense, complex and brave, Grasshopper Jungle is a groundbreaking, genre-bending, coming-of-age stunner."

It's one of the most bizarre things we've ever read and we want to share it with you, because we think you'll be just as baffled. If you've read it, we want to know what you think. If you haven't - why not?! Reserve and collect it through the website. Oh, and while you're in store check out our Grasshopper Jungle Birmingham poster - it's one of a kind.

#grasshopperbirmingham

REVIEW

I had no idea what to expect from a book that mentioned John Green, Michael Grant and Stephen King on the back... It seemed such an unlikely combination that I didn't think it were possible; but oh boy, it is perfect for fans of all three authors and more!

It is by turns a sci-fi, coming of age, horror story! Austin is a brilliant character; his narration is strong, he sticks to his guns and his constant lust for his girlfriend, his friend and well, anything really is equalled only by that of the preying mantises lust for each other! Quite how we get from two boys messing about in a skate park to an unstoppable army of preying mantises is pure genius, it seemed scarily believable to me. Throughout the novel I was constantly surprised and each twist in the plot made me love it even more.

I can't accurately describe either the book or my feelings for it; it's simply one of those books you immediately pass on to a friend with the exclamation "You MUST read this!" 

Simply put it's bloody awesome! I know the film rights have been sold, I just pray that if it does get made the film does justice to the sensitive elements to the plot as well as the more outlandish moments.

- Gem