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Tales From Between #2
The Identical Boy
Things live between awake and asleep. In the moment after your eyes grow too heavy to stay open, but before the dreams take you. Night after night, Sam dreams that he has a real life best friend; but when he wakes up, he always seems to forget him. One day he does not forget. One day he remembers. And on that day, the boy comes to stay... The second spooky standalone story in the creepy world of Between.
200 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2015
5 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Stott
20 books52 followersMatthew Stott writes strange stories.
His novels include the middle-grade book A Monstrous Place and he has had short stories featured in places like The Ghastling, Maudlin House, & The Other Stories podcast.
He has written for BBC television and radio.
He has published authors like Eric LaRocca, Ivy Grimes, Ai Jiang, & Hailey Piper through his small press, Tales From Between.
Chat on Twitter: @mattstottwrites
'Like' on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthewstott...
His novels include the middle-grade book A Monstrous Place and he has had short stories featured in places like The Ghastling, Maudlin House, & The Other Stories podcast.
He has written for BBC television and radio.
He has published authors like Eric LaRocca, Ivy Grimes, Ai Jiang, & Hailey Piper through his small press, Tales From Between.
Chat on Twitter: @mattstottwrites
'Like' on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthewstott...
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 2, 2018
This was still an enjoyable story but I just didn't like it as much as the 1st and 3rd books in the series [you can read them out of order]. The other two were very similar but this one has a different style [multiple narrators, broken up into sections, etc], and also where the other two took place mostly in the Between this one takes place mostly in the real world. I wasn't bad but I just didn't feel like it flowed as well as the other two books and was missing a bit of the 'magic' I guess. Also warning that this one is a bit darker than the other two and there's also an animal death towards the end, although it's not very explicit.
December 5, 2016
Ten Second Synopsis:
Sam is bullied at school and a disappointment to his parents, so when he slips into Between and discovers a friend, it makes perfect sense to help the boy through to Awake, where they can be best friends together. As Sam and his friend start setting Sam's world to rights, it becomes clear that Sam's best ever best friend may not have Sam's best interests at heart.
This second book in the Tales from Between indie middle grade series takes a much scarier turn than the first book. More a psychological thriller in tone, The Identical Boy takes place mostly in the waking world, in which Sam is lonely and bullied...until his friend from Between crosses the border.
The book starts off innocuously enough, with Sam and his new friend dealing out schoolyard justice to a truly nasty gang of bullies, but as the boys spend more time together, things start to get a little out of hand. Gorily out of hand, if I'm honest. I ended up knocking this one over in one sitting because I just had to know what happened next, in that "I know it's going to be bad, but I can't look away" kind of way.
In this book we also meet Ally, Sam's rebellious, anti-establishment baby-sitter who becomes an ally for Sam when things start getting dangerous. We get to see the Tall Man from Between, who appeared in the first book, again, and as the book continued I suddenly realised that Sam's friend may indeed be the Not-Boy from the first book, although this is not confirmed - he certainly shares some of the Not-Boy's personality traits though!
I suspect that the audience for this book would need to be of slightly sturdier stuff than readers who found the first book genuinely scary, because there is a bit of violence and blood-splatting in this one that is scary in a more realistic way than the fantasy frights of the first book. As this series is designed to be a set of standalones though (if that makes sense!), more sensitive readers could easily skip over this one if it's outside their comfort zone.
This is shaping up to be a super-readable series and I am impressed with the variety in content and setting that Stott has shown in just these first two stories. I can't wait to get stuck into book three, which is sitting on my Kindle patiently waiting its turn. It won't have to wait long!
Sam is bullied at school and a disappointment to his parents, so when he slips into Between and discovers a friend, it makes perfect sense to help the boy through to Awake, where they can be best friends together. As Sam and his friend start setting Sam's world to rights, it becomes clear that Sam's best ever best friend may not have Sam's best interests at heart.
This second book in the Tales from Between indie middle grade series takes a much scarier turn than the first book. More a psychological thriller in tone, The Identical Boy takes place mostly in the waking world, in which Sam is lonely and bullied...until his friend from Between crosses the border.
The book starts off innocuously enough, with Sam and his new friend dealing out schoolyard justice to a truly nasty gang of bullies, but as the boys spend more time together, things start to get a little out of hand. Gorily out of hand, if I'm honest. I ended up knocking this one over in one sitting because I just had to know what happened next, in that "I know it's going to be bad, but I can't look away" kind of way.
In this book we also meet Ally, Sam's rebellious, anti-establishment baby-sitter who becomes an ally for Sam when things start getting dangerous. We get to see the Tall Man from Between, who appeared in the first book, again, and as the book continued I suddenly realised that Sam's friend may indeed be the Not-Boy from the first book, although this is not confirmed - he certainly shares some of the Not-Boy's personality traits though!
I suspect that the audience for this book would need to be of slightly sturdier stuff than readers who found the first book genuinely scary, because there is a bit of violence and blood-splatting in this one that is scary in a more realistic way than the fantasy frights of the first book. As this series is designed to be a set of standalones though (if that makes sense!), more sensitive readers could easily skip over this one if it's outside their comfort zone.
This is shaping up to be a super-readable series and I am impressed with the variety in content and setting that Stott has shown in just these first two stories. I can't wait to get stuck into book three, which is sitting on my Kindle patiently waiting its turn. It won't have to wait long!
June 30, 2020
How I read this: bought on Amazon
This was very good, but while I think it's meant for children, I would never give this to a child to read. It was proper adult scary and dark. Like, super dark. Gory and bloody too. And awfully depressing, even if the end message was good.
There are also tons of triggers. I was pretty shook as an adult.
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This was very good, but while I think it's meant for children, I would never give this to a child to read. It was proper adult scary and dark. Like, super dark. Gory and bloody too. And awfully depressing, even if the end message was good.
There are also tons of triggers. I was pretty shook as an adult.
Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
May 24, 2016
Great story about a sad young boy who is lonely and that leads him into some dark trouble but he finds unexpected help at the end.
May 26, 2019
Loved it!
May 6, 2021
The Identical Boy
The moral of the story is very good. I'm not thrilled with the author's writing style though. I would not recommend this book to most people.
The moral of the story is very good. I'm not thrilled with the author's writing style though. I would not recommend this book to most people.
October 31, 2017
I read the first book in the word of between and enjoyed it, an interesting concept that I was hoping the author would expand on and it seems that he has in a fun way. I found the story a little round about but interesting taking it from 3 different characters viewpoints dependent on what was happening. It did retract slightly from the ending however that it seemed as if it was slightly rushed ending. However I still enjoyed the story and it has a good learning point.
December 14, 2015
Enjoyed it!
Took me a while to get into the story, but once it became clear where things were going I was hooked. Fantastic imagery, some of which is genuinely scary. A lot of reviewers mention that this is more for children, but I heartily disagree - as an adult I loved Coraline, which has a similar tone (in fact, I would argue that Coraline is somewhat tamer in the scares department).
The cover perfectly sums up the feel of the story - if that is what drew you in, take the final leap and give it a try.
Took me a while to get into the story, but once it became clear where things were going I was hooked. Fantastic imagery, some of which is genuinely scary. A lot of reviewers mention that this is more for children, but I heartily disagree - as an adult I loved Coraline, which has a similar tone (in fact, I would argue that Coraline is somewhat tamer in the scares department).
The cover perfectly sums up the feel of the story - if that is what drew you in, take the final leap and give it a try.
June 26, 2016
Sam is a lonely 11 year old who dreams of a friend when he is in between asleep and awake. One day his dream becomes a reality. Sam is able to pull his friend into the awake. His friend ends up looking just like him. but causes a lot of trouble. Now things are getting out of hand. But what can Sam do and what will his parents say?
* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
December 14, 2015
Interesting and entertaining
Although this has some scary parts, it also has some life lessons. I read a monstrous place by this author, and found his style most interesting. Not for very young children, but a 9 or 10 year old could enjoy. I will look for more from this author. He could give R.L. Stein some competition.
Although this has some scary parts, it also has some life lessons. I read a monstrous place by this author, and found his style most interesting. Not for very young children, but a 9 or 10 year old could enjoy. I will look for more from this author. He could give R.L. Stein some competition.
November 7, 2016
Well done! Once again I have enjoyed traveling to the world of Between and Awake. In each book you see a different part of Between and you meet a different and frightening creature. I had a lot of fun reading the book and look forward to more from Michael Stott!
January 19, 2016
Short and just dark enough to be fun.
June 6, 2016
Good
Couldn't put it down really enjoyed it
Looking forward to reading more thank you
Looking forward to reading more
Thank you. Peace
Couldn't put it down really enjoyed it
Looking forward to reading more thank you
Looking forward to reading more
Thank you. Peace
July 3, 2016
Interesting
Interesting and scary and sad and happy. For a little while I was worried about where the story was going, but I was very happy about how it ended
Interesting and scary and sad and happy. For a little while I was worried about where the story was going, but I was very happy about how it ended
October 9, 2016
Loved it! More unique creepiness and haunting wonder.
October 26, 2016
Now, even though this is a kids book, I have found this quite frightening in places.
Very dark. very good.
Very dark. very good.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews