I was very impressed with the 2021 debut of Cardboardia. It tells of 4 kids who learn of a link between our world and a world made of cardboard thanks to the quartet falling into a cardboard box. In the first book, Pokey was separated from her siblings and found a friend. Meanwhile, the three older kids discovered an ancient board game called 'Cardboardia' that had their images on the cover.
Book 2 has Pokey trying to find her friends while the other kids are pondering on just how to play the game they've discovered. Meanwhile, the wicked ruler of Cardboardia has discovered the location of the interlopers from our world and is attempting to apprehend them. This results in the group getting even more split up and unexpectedly, it also means a return to the world of dirt and rock for 2 of the friends!
12 months or so is just too long between volumes. I had a little bit of trouble recalling what had happened previously. But I also noticed that the tone of this book had changed.
I learned at the end of this book that when co-creators Richard Fairgray and Lucy Campagnolo were making volume 1, they were together. But volume 2 was crafted in the middle of the throes of the pandemic, resulting in the pair being separated. On two separate sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Richard was working on the book in the mornings in the States and Lucy was completing work in the evenings from her locale in Europe.
This kind of disconnect made for an uneven read which probably would be even more noticeable if I had read these first two volumes back-to-back. 'This Side Up' does offer an origin story of the evil ruler of Cardboardia and it adds some more intriguing mysteries to the story. It's just that some of the magic from the debut volume is missing here in book 2 and I think you have to blame COVID for that.
Book 3 is on the way. Just not sure when it will hit stores. Hopefully it won't take as long as it did for book 2 to hit bookshelves. (To be fair, this book came out in November, 2022. It took me until May, 2023 to find it! But still... long time.) Fairgray and Campagnolo promise that they've been reunited now that travel restrictions have been lifted. I just pray that the magic returns now that they're back together!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
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