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Toxic
Hidden in the heart of the rainforest lies a secret... can three friends survive long enough to find it? An action-packed jungle adventure, perfect for fans of Katherine Rundell's The Explorer and M.G. Leonard's Twitch.
Billionaire beauty mogul Anura Hegarty has pledged to acquire as much of the rainforest as possible to preserve it. But when armed guards appear and bring in portable terrariums to capture wildlife, Jessica and her friend Renata realise something much more sinister is going on.
The rainforest holds a frog with a secret to staying young forever, and Jessica and Renata know they must find and save it first! Together with Briony-Rose, the girls journey deeper into the rainforest.
Danger and betrayal lurk in every corner, and soon they're running for their lives, dodging blow darts and falling into traps. Will the children make it out of the forest alive?
Praise for Mitch Johnson
'Fizzes with adventure and great characters who pop from the page' - Peter Bunzl, bestselling author of Cogheart
'I read it all in one gulp!' - Ross Welford, bestselling author of Time Travelling with a Hamster
'A bonkers Willy-Wonka nightmare designed to get children thinking about the effects of everything they buy' - Ross Montgomery, bestselling author of The Midnight Guardians
'A zany adventure that will make you bubble with laughter and fizz with indignation on behalf of our planet' - Maria Kuzniar, bestselling author of The Ship of Shadows
'An exploding soda geyser of a book - an adventure story that will make you laugh, make you angry and make you want to do something to fix this crazy, messed up world' - Charlie Higson, bestselling author of Young Bond and The Enemy
'Pop! is an explosive and unforgettable adventure with defiant heroes, devious villains, deadly corporate secrets all told with Johnson's brilliant humour. I loved it' - Tamsin Winter, bestselling author of Jemima Small Versus the Universe
Billionaire beauty mogul Anura Hegarty has pledged to acquire as much of the rainforest as possible to preserve it. But when armed guards appear and bring in portable terrariums to capture wildlife, Jessica and her friend Renata realise something much more sinister is going on.
The rainforest holds a frog with a secret to staying young forever, and Jessica and Renata know they must find and save it first! Together with Briony-Rose, the girls journey deeper into the rainforest.
Danger and betrayal lurk in every corner, and soon they're running for their lives, dodging blow darts and falling into traps. Will the children make it out of the forest alive?
Praise for Mitch Johnson
'Fizzes with adventure and great characters who pop from the page' - Peter Bunzl, bestselling author of Cogheart
'I read it all in one gulp!' - Ross Welford, bestselling author of Time Travelling with a Hamster
'A bonkers Willy-Wonka nightmare designed to get children thinking about the effects of everything they buy' - Ross Montgomery, bestselling author of The Midnight Guardians
'A zany adventure that will make you bubble with laughter and fizz with indignation on behalf of our planet' - Maria Kuzniar, bestselling author of The Ship of Shadows
'An exploding soda geyser of a book - an adventure story that will make you laugh, make you angry and make you want to do something to fix this crazy, messed up world' - Charlie Higson, bestselling author of Young Bond and The Enemy
'Pop! is an explosive and unforgettable adventure with defiant heroes, devious villains, deadly corporate secrets all told with Johnson's brilliant humour. I loved it' - Tamsin Winter, bestselling author of Jemima Small Versus the Universe
- GenresMiddle Grade
282 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2024
3 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 12, 2024
I love frogs 5 stars
March 16, 2024
The thing I immediately noticed, was that Mitch Johnson has a very good voice and writing style. He knows how to make the forest come alive and make it fill your senses with its sounds, sights, perfumes and more. You can almost hear the leaves rustling and see the insects flying around you. At times, he makes it into something wonderful, and at other times, it turns dangerous.
There's something poetic about his writing, with all the metaphors and comparisons, but it doesn't get too strange or heavy. He's incredibly good in finding the right balance. That also goes for the messages he's trying to get across: Toxic is set in the rainforest, so it will be no surprise that there are some problems he wants to address regarding humanity's habit of destroying nature. But even though he does mention it quite often, he doesn't do it in such a way that it makes you feel bad or depressed or anything. He says what he wants to say, but he doesn't go on and on about it.
I liked most of the characters. Jessica and Renata were fun, of course, but I also liked Jessica's parents and, for some reason, Rich - even though he's not around that much. Briony is difficult to describe, for reasons I'll explain below.
The frogs were fun. I mean, how cool is that concept - a poisonous frog who can make you young again?! Great!
The story is less than 300 pages long, and I do believe it would have been better if it had been a bit longer. I was interested in what was happening from the start, but it does take a while before things actually start speeding up... And I have to say that I didn't entirely get what I was expecting. This isn't a book filled with real, grave danger; even the final chapters are not that exciting. I was missing that a bit.
But there is a bigger problem with this book, and it all starts with one thing: the cover.
Before I move on, I just want to say that, down below, in the spoiler part, I will actually just tell you what happens in the book and how it ends. You've been warned.
In the end, the story turned out to be a bit too clear to my liking, due to an 'error' that could easily have been avoided. I liked Toxic, it was fun to read it, but I'm not keeping it.
7/10
There's something poetic about his writing, with all the metaphors and comparisons, but it doesn't get too strange or heavy. He's incredibly good in finding the right balance. That also goes for the messages he's trying to get across: Toxic is set in the rainforest, so it will be no surprise that there are some problems he wants to address regarding humanity's habit of destroying nature. But even though he does mention it quite often, he doesn't do it in such a way that it makes you feel bad or depressed or anything. He says what he wants to say, but he doesn't go on and on about it.
I liked most of the characters. Jessica and Renata were fun, of course, but I also liked Jessica's parents and, for some reason, Rich - even though he's not around that much. Briony is difficult to describe, for reasons I'll explain below.
The frogs were fun. I mean, how cool is that concept - a poisonous frog who can make you young again?! Great!
The story is less than 300 pages long, and I do believe it would have been better if it had been a bit longer. I was interested in what was happening from the start, but it does take a while before things actually start speeding up... And I have to say that I didn't entirely get what I was expecting. This isn't a book filled with real, grave danger; even the final chapters are not that exciting. I was missing that a bit.
But there is a bigger problem with this book, and it all starts with one thing: the cover.
Before I move on, I just want to say that, down below, in the spoiler part, I will actually just tell you what happens in the book and how it ends. You've been warned.
In the end, the story turned out to be a bit too clear to my liking, due to an 'error' that could easily have been avoided. I liked Toxic, it was fun to read it, but I'm not keeping it.
7/10
March 6, 2024
Toxic is the tale of a special frog and the chase to get to it first. It starts by following Jessica and her two mothers, Mum and Momma, as they make their way to an Amazon research station. Jessica’s mothers are herpetologists which means they research frogs, but Jessica kind of resents having to always move around the world with them, not being able to settle and so not being able to make any permanent friendships.
Having arrived at the research station Jessica is handed “a strange little book”, “an account of the curious life of Hadley Cavendish-DuPont, a gentleman explorer who had lived over a century before… He learned of a tribe, deep in the Amazon rainforest, that did not age.” And this frog and its toxin are the key to that. But it isn’t just Jessica and her newly made friend Renata from the local Amazon village that are trying to find the frog. There is a more dangerous pursuer – Anura Hegarty, “the most beautiful woman in the world”, the billionaire owner of Hegarty Cosmetics, who would stop at nothing to get her hands on this frog in her quest for eternal beauty.
Not only is this book written very well with language that brings it alive, but the story contains wider messages about the importance of conservation of habitat and species, about friendship and about beauty standards and where we all fit in to that (this being particularly well put in the afterword). But these aren’t clunky or forced messages. The messages are seamlessly interweaved into the fast and flowing plot. I loved the book and rate it 5-stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Having arrived at the research station Jessica is handed “a strange little book”, “an account of the curious life of Hadley Cavendish-DuPont, a gentleman explorer who had lived over a century before… He learned of a tribe, deep in the Amazon rainforest, that did not age.” And this frog and its toxin are the key to that. But it isn’t just Jessica and her newly made friend Renata from the local Amazon village that are trying to find the frog. There is a more dangerous pursuer – Anura Hegarty, “the most beautiful woman in the world”, the billionaire owner of Hegarty Cosmetics, who would stop at nothing to get her hands on this frog in her quest for eternal beauty.
Not only is this book written very well with language that brings it alive, but the story contains wider messages about the importance of conservation of habitat and species, about friendship and about beauty standards and where we all fit in to that (this being particularly well put in the afterword). But these aren’t clunky or forced messages. The messages are seamlessly interweaved into the fast and flowing plot. I loved the book and rate it 5-stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
February 23, 2024
An adventure set in a rainforest...what a great setting for a story!
Toxic by Mitch Johnson opens with the main character, Jessica, moving to a research facility in the Amazon rainforest where her parents are scientists who specialise in frogs. There she meets a local girl called Renata and they become friends.
Jessica is gifted an old book about a man who disappeared into the rainforest one hundred years ago in search of a frog with special properties that allow you to stay young forever, but little did Jessica realise she would get caught up in the mystery in the present day.
When a billionaire beauty uses her fame and money in a quest to find the frog, Jessica and Renata are determined to foil her plans. But when the adventure turns into a nightmare as danger lurks around every tree, they wonder if they will be able to get out of the forest alive.
This was a fast and exciting read. There were some facts that weren't initially explained -Jessica's parents and the Cambridges - but once you understood, the back story became clearer.
I really enjoyed the plot and the setting, and became engrossed in the plight of the characters. There were some real twists and turns which were cleverly written, and the pace and exciting episodes kept you interested and wanting to read more. I liked the size of the chapters and that they were named, making you wonder what was going to happen next.
A very entertaining read which I would definitely recommend!
Toxic by Mitch Johnson opens with the main character, Jessica, moving to a research facility in the Amazon rainforest where her parents are scientists who specialise in frogs. There she meets a local girl called Renata and they become friends.
Jessica is gifted an old book about a man who disappeared into the rainforest one hundred years ago in search of a frog with special properties that allow you to stay young forever, but little did Jessica realise she would get caught up in the mystery in the present day.
When a billionaire beauty uses her fame and money in a quest to find the frog, Jessica and Renata are determined to foil her plans. But when the adventure turns into a nightmare as danger lurks around every tree, they wonder if they will be able to get out of the forest alive.
This was a fast and exciting read. There were some facts that weren't initially explained -Jessica's parents and the Cambridges - but once you understood, the back story became clearer.
I really enjoyed the plot and the setting, and became engrossed in the plight of the characters. There were some real twists and turns which were cleverly written, and the pace and exciting episodes kept you interested and wanting to read more. I liked the size of the chapters and that they were named, making you wonder what was going to happen next.
A very entertaining read which I would definitely recommend!
March 25, 2024
A prologue'A 1000 ways to die,' hooks the reader, well written and uplifting messages for children regarding environmental issues
April 14, 2024
The overlying subtext is fact, climate change, deforestation, extinction, beauty are all massive concepts with differing views displayed by various people, a great educational book. However, there is still some fiction and fun, slowing you not to get too depressed over these problems yet still making you aware.
February 25, 2024
This is a great story with many different messages. There are messages about growing old and the inevitability of it, of doing the right thing and of conservation and rainforest protection. I think this story will open up discussions about the rainforest and the animals within. I love how it's about an animal that many children won't know much about. It's not cute and fluffy, so it's not often talked about. I will definitely be buying this for school for use when there is a rainforest unit.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews