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The Secret Circle of Imaginary Friends
Something strange is happening in the village of Hedgely.Children are walking in to the woods in the middle of the night. Secrets are being kept closely guarded. Destruction to homes and threatening messages are becoming common.For Simon and his friends, being visited by strange creatures calling themselves the imaginary friends is not quite as childish as they thought it might be. The creatures like to keep their lives a mystery, but want to know an awful lot about the people of Hedgely.The Secret Circle of Imaginary Friends is an exciting journey into the unknown, where you never know just who may be watching you.
- GenresFantasyHorrorYoung Adult
230 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 11, 2013
11 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 20, 2013
This is the first book by Mike Jeavons, better known as Mike J, the quirky British man starring on That Guy With The Glasses.
I have watched Mike’s videos for some time now so imagine my surprise and excitement when I realised he’d brought out a book. I will say, this story has potential.
I do think the story could do with being revamped a little. It would be better written for an older audience and would give Mike license to make it creepier and really try to scare his readers. This story just seems like a great idea which has been dumbed down for a younger audience. I don’t know what it is about the imaginary friend idea but I find it has potential in the horror genre. All of the characters could stay the same, even with the description of the creatures in this book, it would all fit into a scary story.
All in all the story is a good one, there is good character development as well as a reasonable amount of action. I find that the pacing could be a little better, but that can be worked out in future books Mike brings out. I don’t think there are many writers who haven’t had that said about at least one book. The other thing is grammar. I try not to cling to things like extra spaces or typos but in this book, every time someone asks a question it is followed by “said [character]” this annoys me. You don’t say a question, you ask it. That, to be honest, is my major gripe with the book, along with the fact I couldn’t quite place the target audience. The book seems to get more grown up as it proceeds and sometimes the children’s speech suggests they’re older than they are.
I have watched Mike’s videos for some time now so imagine my surprise and excitement when I realised he’d brought out a book. I will say, this story has potential.
I do think the story could do with being revamped a little. It would be better written for an older audience and would give Mike license to make it creepier and really try to scare his readers. This story just seems like a great idea which has been dumbed down for a younger audience. I don’t know what it is about the imaginary friend idea but I find it has potential in the horror genre. All of the characters could stay the same, even with the description of the creatures in this book, it would all fit into a scary story.
All in all the story is a good one, there is good character development as well as a reasonable amount of action. I find that the pacing could be a little better, but that can be worked out in future books Mike brings out. I don’t think there are many writers who haven’t had that said about at least one book. The other thing is grammar. I try not to cling to things like extra spaces or typos but in this book, every time someone asks a question it is followed by “said [character]” this annoys me. You don’t say a question, you ask it. That, to be honest, is my major gripe with the book, along with the fact I couldn’t quite place the target audience. The book seems to get more grown up as it proceeds and sometimes the children’s speech suggests they’re older than they are.
January 30, 2018
"Something that's wonderful and magical on the surface instead turns out to be a sinister nightmare" is a horror trope that I love, so at least in premise this one pretty much immediately struck me as a potential good read. Within the first few chapters, however, the story blows right past creepy and into the realm of downright chilling.
Other longtime favorites are fun whimsy with some seriously dark undertones and the fantastical premise that mirrors the real world in a way that's all too spot-on, so this one... yeah, this one hit home particularly hard. A group of much older strangers going out of their way sell themselves as friends to a bunch of kids they have no business befriending, enticing them with promises of fun times and independence, swearing them to secrecy not only from adults, but from anyone who isn't part of their special little circle... Does any of this sound familiar?
Then, once the kids are in so deep that they can't go to an adult without getting in further trouble at best and assumed to be insane or lying at worst, the more sinister stuff starts cropping up. A 7-year-old girl is dragged out to play in the cold without her coat because her "imaginary friend" claimed that putting it on would take too long. The "imaginary friends" ask multiple questions about everything from the kids' parents to their home lives to their relationships with their neighbors, and won't leave off until they've gotten excruciatingly detailed answers, but always evade or refuse answering any reciprocal questions about themselves. All the kids are dragged out night after night in the wee hours of the morning, with not a single thought from their so-called "friends" as to the detrimental effects the lack of sleep will have on their health and social lives. One of them walks for literally two hours to get from his home to the circle, and then a full two hours back, in the middle of the night, just to spend some time at this particular bonfire on this particular night. Whatever it is that these "imaginary friends" have going on here, it's a far cry from simple fun and games.
Then, there's the escalation. The mysterious creatures claim the whole thing is nothing more than innocent fun with no strings attached and that nobody has to stay by the fire if they don't want to... but when someone attempts to make good on that promise and tries to stay in for a night to catch up on missed sleep, his "imaginary friend" shows up to tell him that he'd better come whether he wants to or not unless he wants to run the risk of getting kicked out of the Circle forever. When threats of exclusion no longer work, kids are framed to get them in trouble with the authorities. Once they're in so deep with their parents that further framing would no longer be effective, the physical abuse starts up. Once even that is no longer enough to keep someone in line, it's on to veiled threats against family members, and any kid with half a brain will be able to figure out that Mom and Dad both having a bad day at work for no discernable reason was nothing more than a warning. No matter how bad things get, though, there's always, always the lingering implication that it could always be so much worse.
As for what had the biggest impact, though? Well, that one surprised me.
Stories with child protagonists tend to be really hit-or-miss for me, not least because I don't particularly like children. Here, though, what had me angriest wasn't the predatory supernatural creatures or the stupid brats who were too selfish to see they were getting in way over their heads - it was the negligence of the adults who should have been on the ball over those kids' safety. Not a single attempt to ask why so many formerly well-behaved kids had suddenly started sneaking off into the woods at night for no apparent reason, not a single attempt to get to the bottom of the sleep deprivation epidemic that swept the entire school-age population all at once, just punish, punish, punish, over and over again, because "Whatever it is you're doing, stop doing it" is apparently easier than providing any actual parenting or any other form of guidance.
A little girl sneaks into the woods in the middle of the night and her older brother goes after her to bring her back? Don't try to impress upon him the importance of telling an adult or anything, just yell at him until 3 in the morning for not doing that, then heap all the blame on him when he spends the next day sleeping through his lessons. (No wonder he didn't want to go to his parents if they always insist on blaming him every time his younger sister does something wrong - yeah, I might have been an older sibling myself.) Speaking of school, if the kids keep falling asleep in class, that doesn't mean that they're disrespectful or can't be bothered to pay attention, it means that they're tired. Which is a matter that needs to be brought up with their parents, who really ought to be the ones responsible for enforcing a healthy sleep schedule, rather than immediately punishing everyone who nods off during a boring lesson. This is scarily true to life, and a terrifyingly accurate response to the all-too-common mantra of "Why didn't you tell someone?"
By this point I can guess what you're thinking: if I liked it so much, then why the "meh" rating? Well...
Everything I just said applies exclusively to the first half of the book.
Granted, some of this is my fault for having unrealistic expectations, and for reading in allegories that the author probably never intended. In all honesty, though, that allegory was a pleasant surprise, I would've been perfectly fine just reading a straightforward creepy horror story with no real-world implications attached, and as amazing as it would have been if this book had done for grooming what The Seventh Bride did for rape, I can't in good conscience mark it down for not doing that, since it wasn't what was advertised and I have no right to expect it. What I can and will mark it down for is the extreme change in tone. All that subtlety and creepiness I described in the previous part of the review? As soon as the book reaches its turning point, all that atmosphere is thrown straight out the window in favor of something that looks a lot more like the plot of your generic alien invasion movie.
(I'm not exaggerating about that, by the way. The "imaginary friends" turn out to be )
I don't know whether authors who write for kids tend to think that kids are categorically incapable of understanding subtlety or what, but this felt like a cop-out. It felt like the author couldn't imagine any sort of resolution to the story that didn't involve some sort of messy fight. What all that amounted to was something of a let-down.
I honestly don't think that this was a bad book, given the age group that it was intended for. The problem is that I'm not in that age group, and it's all too likely that all of those subtle clues regarding the negligence of the adults were never meant to be taken seriously, given that they were never addressed as anything other than a joke. So, I think that I'm going to bow out now. If you have kids who like horror, give it to your kids. They at least might be able to appreciate it.
Other longtime favorites are fun whimsy with some seriously dark undertones and the fantastical premise that mirrors the real world in a way that's all too spot-on, so this one... yeah, this one hit home particularly hard. A group of much older strangers going out of their way sell themselves as friends to a bunch of kids they have no business befriending, enticing them with promises of fun times and independence, swearing them to secrecy not only from adults, but from anyone who isn't part of their special little circle... Does any of this sound familiar?
Then, once the kids are in so deep that they can't go to an adult without getting in further trouble at best and assumed to be insane or lying at worst, the more sinister stuff starts cropping up. A 7-year-old girl is dragged out to play in the cold without her coat because her "imaginary friend" claimed that putting it on would take too long. The "imaginary friends" ask multiple questions about everything from the kids' parents to their home lives to their relationships with their neighbors, and won't leave off until they've gotten excruciatingly detailed answers, but always evade or refuse answering any reciprocal questions about themselves. All the kids are dragged out night after night in the wee hours of the morning, with not a single thought from their so-called "friends" as to the detrimental effects the lack of sleep will have on their health and social lives. One of them walks for literally two hours to get from his home to the circle, and then a full two hours back, in the middle of the night, just to spend some time at this particular bonfire on this particular night. Whatever it is that these "imaginary friends" have going on here, it's a far cry from simple fun and games.
Then, there's the escalation. The mysterious creatures claim the whole thing is nothing more than innocent fun with no strings attached and that nobody has to stay by the fire if they don't want to... but when someone attempts to make good on that promise and tries to stay in for a night to catch up on missed sleep, his "imaginary friend" shows up to tell him that he'd better come whether he wants to or not unless he wants to run the risk of getting kicked out of the Circle forever. When threats of exclusion no longer work, kids are framed to get them in trouble with the authorities. Once they're in so deep with their parents that further framing would no longer be effective, the physical abuse starts up. Once even that is no longer enough to keep someone in line, it's on to veiled threats against family members, and any kid with half a brain will be able to figure out that Mom and Dad both having a bad day at work for no discernable reason was nothing more than a warning. No matter how bad things get, though, there's always, always the lingering implication that it could always be so much worse.
As for what had the biggest impact, though? Well, that one surprised me.
Stories with child protagonists tend to be really hit-or-miss for me, not least because I don't particularly like children. Here, though, what had me angriest wasn't the predatory supernatural creatures or the stupid brats who were too selfish to see they were getting in way over their heads - it was the negligence of the adults who should have been on the ball over those kids' safety. Not a single attempt to ask why so many formerly well-behaved kids had suddenly started sneaking off into the woods at night for no apparent reason, not a single attempt to get to the bottom of the sleep deprivation epidemic that swept the entire school-age population all at once, just punish, punish, punish, over and over again, because "Whatever it is you're doing, stop doing it" is apparently easier than providing any actual parenting or any other form of guidance.
A little girl sneaks into the woods in the middle of the night and her older brother goes after her to bring her back? Don't try to impress upon him the importance of telling an adult or anything, just yell at him until 3 in the morning for not doing that, then heap all the blame on him when he spends the next day sleeping through his lessons. (No wonder he didn't want to go to his parents if they always insist on blaming him every time his younger sister does something wrong - yeah, I might have been an older sibling myself.) Speaking of school, if the kids keep falling asleep in class, that doesn't mean that they're disrespectful or can't be bothered to pay attention, it means that they're tired. Which is a matter that needs to be brought up with their parents, who really ought to be the ones responsible for enforcing a healthy sleep schedule, rather than immediately punishing everyone who nods off during a boring lesson. This is scarily true to life, and a terrifyingly accurate response to the all-too-common mantra of "Why didn't you tell someone?"
By this point I can guess what you're thinking: if I liked it so much, then why the "meh" rating? Well...
Everything I just said applies exclusively to the first half of the book.
Granted, some of this is my fault for having unrealistic expectations, and for reading in allegories that the author probably never intended. In all honesty, though, that allegory was a pleasant surprise, I would've been perfectly fine just reading a straightforward creepy horror story with no real-world implications attached, and as amazing as it would have been if this book had done for grooming what The Seventh Bride did for rape, I can't in good conscience mark it down for not doing that, since it wasn't what was advertised and I have no right to expect it. What I can and will mark it down for is the extreme change in tone. All that subtlety and creepiness I described in the previous part of the review? As soon as the book reaches its turning point, all that atmosphere is thrown straight out the window in favor of something that looks a lot more like the plot of your generic alien invasion movie.
(I'm not exaggerating about that, by the way. The "imaginary friends" turn out to be )
I don't know whether authors who write for kids tend to think that kids are categorically incapable of understanding subtlety or what, but this felt like a cop-out. It felt like the author couldn't imagine any sort of resolution to the story that didn't involve some sort of messy fight. What all that amounted to was something of a let-down.
I honestly don't think that this was a bad book, given the age group that it was intended for. The problem is that I'm not in that age group, and it's all too likely that all of those subtle clues regarding the negligence of the adults were never meant to be taken seriously, given that they were never addressed as anything other than a joke. So, I think that I'm going to bow out now. If you have kids who like horror, give it to your kids. They at least might be able to appreciate it.
December 13, 2013
So I originally only purchased this book because I am a fan of MJ's videos. Let me say though I was pleasantly surprised.
I was really drawn into the story mostly by Sebastian. All of his questions and dialogue were things that I wanted to know about, and I was just as frustrated as he was when nothing seemed to be answered.
I think my favorite part of everything was the kids acted like kids. I never felt like I was reading about adults trapped in children's bodies, I knew that these were young kids trying to deal with being a kid.
I would have liked to know more about the Imaginary Friends, but because so many things were left out in the opening I am hoping that means a sequel (or prequel) is in the works.
I was really drawn into the story mostly by Sebastian. All of his questions and dialogue were things that I wanted to know about, and I was just as frustrated as he was when nothing seemed to be answered.
I think my favorite part of everything was the kids acted like kids. I never felt like I was reading about adults trapped in children's bodies, I knew that these were young kids trying to deal with being a kid.
I would have liked to know more about the Imaginary Friends, but because so many things were left out in the opening I am hoping that means a sequel (or prequel) is in the works.
July 18, 2014
Although it has a lot of the mistakes commonly seen with first time novels, the book was very enjoyably. There were moments the main seemed a bit too adult, even though he's supposed to be a 12 year old boy. He was very likeable, and it was refreshing to finally have a kid character that didn't fall for things until it was too late.
January 22, 2015
A cute, quick read. Probably we'll suited to a tween or young teen. I found it in a similar vein to Goosebumps or RL Stine. I enjoyed Mike Js first effort and look forward to more.
December 26, 2019
A quick read about a group of english kids who have imaginary friends and together spend their nights cavorting around the woods in their town. The story stars of innocently enough but becomes darker and darker as Simon becomes suspicious of the imaginary friends.
It's a fun little adventure but the characters aren't well defined and it is somewhat repetitive. The use of weapons like firearms was totally unexpected. Good book for kids but not much to me.
It's a fun little adventure but the characters aren't well defined and it is somewhat repetitive. The use of weapons like firearms was totally unexpected. Good book for kids but not much to me.
November 4, 2025
I think I might be the wrong age as I found this book confusing. it started too slow, the ending was too fast. Half of it felt for younger kids, the other half for older ones. Not sure what to make of it.
July 11, 2018
It's a different kind of story. The twist was a little disappointing, but only because of the build up.
January 2, 2020
Clearly someone's first written book.
April 20, 2021
Awesome
This is the 2nd book I have read of mikes.
His imagination knows no bounds.
I hope he carries on writing for many years to come.
This is the 2nd book I have read of mikes.
His imagination knows no bounds.
I hope he carries on writing for many years to come.
June 6, 2021
Fantastical & a wild ride. A great children's book with lots of wonder. Can definitely recommend.
I can also recommend Viral by the same author for adult readers.
I can also recommend Viral by the same author for adult readers.
December 17, 2022
a surprisingly quick read.
I have seen the author on Youtube
so I could hear his voice as I read.
there is a sequel
I have a copy
I will read it
more to follow
I have seen the author on Youtube
so I could hear his voice as I read.
there is a sequel
I have a copy
I will read it
more to follow
June 6, 2015
Let it be known, I'm a sucker for a good dark-themed Imaginary Friend story. Been a favorite topic of mine since the episode "Imaginary Fiend" from Big Wolf on Campus. Surprisingly enough though, it's a bit hard to find a book with that theme (if you know one, recommend it please!) - so I was rather excited to find this one. :D
And I enjoyed it quite a bit! The Secret Circle of Imaginary Friends is a great dark adventure story. It never gets so scary that I wouldn't recommend it to a preteen, but it does have a dark enough edge to keep it creepy. It's a nice mix of adventure, suspense, and action with a good cast.
Book starts with a slow build (things are mostly ordinary save for a few unexplained occurrences) and builds until the whole town is involved in the Friends' mischief. It's a nice escalation and reminds me a bit of old horror movies--and also a bit of fresh air. It's hard to find newer novels that know how to take their time with set up before running into the action.
Our twelve year old protagonist Simon is a likable character, he's witty and clever while still maintaining a bit of the childish edge you'd expect him to have. He's worried about his sister and has a good relationship with his family. There's a good supporting cast though I did lose track of a few of them (tends to happen with large casts) but it wasn't anything too distracting.
The imaginary friends themselves are a fun bunch. The leader, Kannon, in particular is just the right about of charismatic and creepy to keep you wanting more and on edge. One of my favorite parts of this book is Simon & Kannon's relationship, and how they play off each other through out the book.
Honestly, my only disappointment with the book was that the Imaginary Friends turned out And that's less a comment on the book and more my own hopes. I still like where the book went, and I thought it was a lot of fun from start to finish.
If you want a fun adventure novel with a dark edge to it, I'd highly recommend it. :3
And I enjoyed it quite a bit! The Secret Circle of Imaginary Friends is a great dark adventure story. It never gets so scary that I wouldn't recommend it to a preteen, but it does have a dark enough edge to keep it creepy. It's a nice mix of adventure, suspense, and action with a good cast.
Book starts with a slow build (things are mostly ordinary save for a few unexplained occurrences) and builds until the whole town is involved in the Friends' mischief. It's a nice escalation and reminds me a bit of old horror movies--and also a bit of fresh air. It's hard to find newer novels that know how to take their time with set up before running into the action.
Our twelve year old protagonist Simon is a likable character, he's witty and clever while still maintaining a bit of the childish edge you'd expect him to have. He's worried about his sister and has a good relationship with his family. There's a good supporting cast though I did lose track of a few of them (tends to happen with large casts) but it wasn't anything too distracting.
The imaginary friends themselves are a fun bunch. The leader, Kannon, in particular is just the right about of charismatic and creepy to keep you wanting more and on edge. One of my favorite parts of this book is Simon & Kannon's relationship, and how they play off each other through out the book.
Honestly, my only disappointment with the book was that the Imaginary Friends turned out And that's less a comment on the book and more my own hopes. I still like where the book went, and I thought it was a lot of fun from start to finish.
If you want a fun adventure novel with a dark edge to it, I'd highly recommend it. :3
September 12, 2016
Good, but the first half was really slow going.
January 21, 2016
I'm a fan of Mike's through his youtube videos so I thought i'd give the book a shot and you know it wasn't bad. I found it simply written which is good for the age group it's obviously aimed for, but it wasn't boring for me to read like it was simple but still had a charm and it worked. I thought the kid characters were pretty realistic and weren't irritating in anyway which is so hard to do a lot of the time, the plot wasn't anything super unique but it kept me interested i legitimately wanted to see where this was going which is half the battle right there. I appreciated the childhood view of adults, like the teacher was a miserable cow for example and it made me chuckle.
Obviously, this is his first book, so its not going to be perfect but it was good effort and as the series continues i'm sure they'll just keep getting better.
Obviously, this is his first book, so its not going to be perfect but it was good effort and as the series continues i'm sure they'll just keep getting better.
January 10, 2016
This book is okay if you're a 3rd grader (or whatever the UK's equivalent might be) or younger. For an adult, however, it's not all that. (Sorry Mike, still love your videos!) It's just hard suspend disbelief in many of these things and I have to say as the youngest of four and the only girl - if my brothers had gone out after me when I was sleepwalking, my parents would've praised them for caring that much about their baby sister, not yelled at them. And my parents are the kind who spanked kids if they thought we got too far out of line. So that part REALLY bugged me.
November 13, 2016
This is the perfect book for preteens...if it was a bit shorter. I feel like the story could have been a bit tighter but otherwise there's a lot of good ideas here. But it's so exciting to read a book by someone that I admire greatly. Hope to read his other novels soon.
August 5, 2014
An very well written book. It is written for a slightly younger audience, it kind of took me back to a time when I read R.L Stine. Captivating, engaging story. Highly recommended.
January 4, 2015
Not bad for a first novel, it was written a bit simplistically but it was ok.
November 5, 2020
3.75 Stars
January 12, 2016
Good read
The book was very good until the ending. The ending could have been better. I was looking for the book to have a sequel ending.
The book was very good until the ending. The ending could have been better. I was looking for the book to have a sequel ending.
to-read-own
January 28, 20161/28/16 $1.99 for Kindle.
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