The 10 Rules of Skimming by Zella Compton & Jess Swainson (Children's, 10 years +, 9/10)

September 2012, Mogzilla

160 pages, Paperback

Review copy

Themes: psychic stuff, a mentally sick man, family ties, being hunted, getting stuck between a rock and a hard place, freaky mind boggling concepts, loads of major peril and general weirdness

Summary from Mogzilla

Ever had the shivery feeling that someone is ‘walking over your grave’? It’s someone skimming your soul.

Adam finds that skimming brings an amazing rush but joy riding across minds comes with risks.

When he meets Jenny-Ray, he learns about the Board, with their list of approved ‘hosts’ to visit. The consequences of disobedience are terrifying.

Nayuleska's thoughts

I nearly stopped reading at page 95. The enemy is really sick, reminding me of killers and paedophiles who are free in the world. I'm a visual person. I react more strongly to what I see than what I hear. This is good when I need cheering up, but not so great if I'm getting freaked out.

What happens to Adam is strange. The scary part is that it's so easy to take the leap of faith and see his story come alive in my head. The waves of evil coming off the enemy made me want to take a shower. That's something his victims can't do for themselves, and something that is disturbing if I think of all the sickos in the world.

Zella captures the reader's emotions and even when the book ends doesn't let them go. This 9/10 read will make you think hard about the minds of psychos, as well as what makes us us. As for me, I'm heading off to watch a cute anime to level out my head.

You can find out more on Zella's website.

Suggested read

For another book with a high weirdness factor try The Dying Photo by Alan Gibbons