The Sandbox

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

~Quick Statistics~
Overall: 4/5 Stars
Plot: 4/5 Stars
Setting: 4/5 Stars
Characters: 4/5 Stars
Writing: 3/5 Stars
Memorability: 4/5 Stars

~Quick Review~
When I first started reading The Sandbox by J. W. Patrick, I was really skeptical due to the fact that the book was very different from the description. However as I really got into the novel, I found that so many aspects of this book are amazing. While it isn’t one of my favorite books, it certainly was a good and worthwhile read.

~Other Information~
Publisher: J&AW Books
Page Count: 279
There is a possibility that J. W. will write two more books in The Sandbox series, so if you like The Sandbox make sure you look out for those!

~Quick Synopsis~
Isla Duncan is hand-cycling in Oklahoma when a huge storm threatens to end her life. Luckily, best friends Sonny Monroe and Dan Hawk come out of nowhere and rescue here, taking her to their secret hangout, Atawa Cave. During the night, strange alien-like creatures creep into the three teenagers’ bodies, but none of them expect what will happen next. When they find themselves able to go to an alternate reality in their sleep, they know just what they must do. With the help of The Sandbox’s infinite knowledge, Isla, Dan, and Sonny set out to change the world for the better (or so they hope.)

~Characters~
The Sandbox follows three teenagers who are all very different, Isla Duncan, Sonny Monroe, and Daniel Hawk. First off I have to say that I really liked Isla and Dan, however, Sonny really got on my nerves. I don’t know if that was the author’s intention, but nevertheless I could not deal with Sonny always creating new problems for all three of them. Also, I was quite disappointed that a lot of the characters we never learn much about; specifically, Maduka Tokwana, who plays a huge part in the story and the main character’s motivations. Hopefully, we’ll get more information on him and his backstory is the second novel in the series?

Isla Duncan is a strong, stubborn, thoughtful character. At the beginning of the novel she is running a fundraiser for multiple charities. Not only is she traveling across the US and hand-cycling 25 miles a day, but she is also doing it all while being paralyzed from the waist down, raising thousands of dollars in the process. Also, I just love how supportive and respectful her Dad is of her goals and dream. Throughout the novel, Isla’s Dad accepts little to no explanation as to why she is spending all this time in Atawa’s Cave with Dan and Sonny (which by the way, Isla is not from Oklahoma, she’s from Scotland, so staying in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere is quite odd for her.) Anyways, Isla is such a strong, independent young woman and I’m all here for that.

Next, we have Sonny, which as mentioned before, I could not stand. At first glance, Sonny is just some angry teenager who is angry because his family’s farm is a victim of fracking (which we’ll get to later), but after you get into the story he’s honestly just a selfish, irresponsible kid. When the Isla, Dan, and Sonny finally enter ‘The Sandbox’ (more on how that works later) and discover it’s potential, Sonny steals MILLIONS of dollars from a businessman (granted that businessman was a murderer, but still) and bank (not to mention putting all of that money into his parent’s account, even when the murderer businessman threatens to burn all three of their houses down), sends an oil rig to the CEO of the oil company’s yard, and shoots countless helicopters and cars owned by the FBI and US Army with his super-modified weapons! Even when Isla and Dan tell him not to! Honestly, I have to stop myself from ranting about this kid 24/7. Despite all of the listed reasons to not like Sonny Monroe, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him as he has watched his family farm fall apart due to fracking, which his family is getting none of the profits from. So yeah, Sonny is not my favorite character ever, but he has his reasons to be so selfish and annoying (I could write an essay on how much I dislike Sonny.)

Last but not least is Daniel Hawk, also known as Dan. I have to say that I am somewhat disappointed with how many times it’s hinted that Dan and Isla like each other yet all we get of their relationship is a quick kiss on the cheek near the end of the novel. There are whole paragraphs dedicated to Sonny and Dan arguing about their ‘bro code’ and if they’re breaking it whenever they stare at Isla (which we never learn much about and how they’re breaking it), yet there’s really not much for them to argue about? Regardless of the relationship between him and Isla, I liked Dan as a character. He cares a lot about the Chickawata (his tribe) and his mother, which balances out Sonny’s reckless behavior. Anyways, I just feel like I hardly know anything about Dan except for his family, which hopefully we can learn more about him in the next novel. (Fingers crossed!)

Overall, I feel like there was no character development whatsoever, which I’m fine with, but to be able to ignore that I have to be able to focus on other aspects of the characters. However, there wasn’t much to focus on, as mentioned previously. Overall though, the characters were decent, I just wish we knew more about them which I feel would add way more to the story.

~Writing and Setting~
Now here is where the major issues with the book lay: the writing. It’s not bad, but it’s just okay? The issue I had while reading was that in some places there was way too much detail, to the point where I could not really understand what was trying to be said. In other places, there was too little detail so that I wanted to know more and understand but couldn’t. It didn’t affect my understanding and enjoyment with the book, but everyone’s different, so here’s a heads up.

The Sandbox takes place in Hogan, Oklahoma, though it also includes many other places in the world that Isla, Dan, and Sonny visit while inside ‘The Sandbox’ (which is basically a machine that collects data and can create a lifesize model of Earth for whoever it’s connected to.) I found the setting in this book so amazing mainly because of ‘The Sandbox’ which the three teens visit often. While it recreated the Earth for Isla, it still is completely different from our world and holds so many secrets that I want to uncover.

~Plot~
Ah! Okay, so I absolutely love the idea that three teens can be connected to this machine that allows them to access all of the information you could ever want, especially to use for good in the world. It’s a really good idea and I’m so glad that J. W. Patrick had it and created The Sandbox. However, there were so many different ways that the book was going, it was hard to keep up. There’s the mysterious relationship between Jenny Macintyre and Sonny that is preventing Dan from asking her out, Sheriff Hauser committed some sort of crime (possibly murder?), and Maduka Tokwana might have been a serial killer and murdered Sonny’s grandfather. None of these things get answers in the novel, however, this may be due to the fact that J. W. Patrick is planning to write two more novels into the series.

The story’s pace was perfect other than being too slow in the beginning of the novel. As the book goes on the pace quickens, which I think was perfect as everything started going so wrong so fast (thanks a lot, Sonny.)

~Overall Review~
While there are minor issues that I have with the novel, The Sandbox by J. W. Patrick is a really good read and I cannot wait to see if there are more books possibly coming in the series.