Scarier in places than the cover would suggest! :)
Intriguing idea, the gaming aspect will have huge appeal.

I ordered this in for my store and it has sold so well we’re hosting a game themed week for kids before they go back to school. That is how much I enjoyed this book.

Completely unique and published at just the right time as video game books are definitely the new up and comers. The cast of characters are inventive and creative with a narrative that is easy for younger readers to follow whilst still being gripping and fun for any older readers too. Highly highly recommend

This was just the right amount of creepy and spooky for me in a kids book - there were some moments where I was holding my breath! I’m not a massive gamer but I know enough about games that it kept my interest too! I think kids will love this!

This was a spooky and, mostly, exciting read. I felt it went on a little bit long for me, but I'm not the target audience and I imagine the gamers in my class will love it.

Wow, this was maybe the best 9-12 book I've read in a while! I really liked the premise of this. I'm not a gamer myself, but a lot of friends are, and given how many kids are into minecraft and the like, this will do well.

Every child's fear is being left alone, surely? But, what about being left alone and sucked into your favourite game. First this seemed like an exciting adventure for Lori Mills, she can visit the world her and her best friend have created, but soon this changes. The urban myths around children getting stuck in the game seems to be true, and Lori's living room, and houses exits have all been closed, she's stuck in the game without any help or way to contact her mum or best friend....

At times this was pretty scary, but was a great page turner to see if Lori can escape the world she's spent hours building! I read it in a couple of sittings and have already been talking about it to fellow booksellers!

As a grown adult who plays a fair amount of video games, the idea of being trapped in a nightmare version of my favourite game is horrifying.
This is such a great concept and I think that level of horror was perfectly pitched. It’s the perfect book for fans of Minecraft and other online games, and I’m pretty sure there’s some important life lessons in there too.

When I saw this book it sounded like it was written for my 10 year old, an avid reader and a gamer. She was excited when she read the blurb and skipped off to bed to begin reading.
Half an hour late she arrived into me, terrified! This book scared her which surprised me. Its the first time a book ever has and she has read books that to me seemed a lot more likely to scare.
She put it away for a few weeks but was drawn back to it as while scared she was also hooked by the opening chapters.

We came up with a plan for her to read it in small sections during daylight hours and when I was in the room and she ended up glad she returned to it but her interest waned slightly towards the end, in her own words " it ran out of steam a little bit".
Overall a 3-4 star read for her but I would approach with caution for a younger reader or take my daughters approach and read during daylight hours only. She thinks its more suitable for age 12+

3.5

I was quite interested in this book, on behalf of the children I work with in Year 6, who are very into gaming. The game central to this book seems to be a cross between Minecraft and Pokemon, both of which are very popular.

I appreciate that I am not the intended audience for this book, but I really struggled to get to the end. There was so much going on but at the same time, nothing really happens and it all feels very confused. It wasn't clear what was in the game and what was real and the only events that really happened were things from real life appearing in the game. Once this had happened a few times though, the shock wore off and I was left waiting for something else to happen but it never really did.

As I said though, I am not the intended audience and so I would recommend giving this a go if you think you or your students would enjoy it.

Reading and gaming are my main interests so I liked the crossover of the two in this book, fun and easy read overall.

I really struggled with this one. Maybe it is because I do not play online games. I think my students might love it though. I am just not its target audience.

A book that works like a video game, The Last Life of Lori Mills is a mid grader horror (video game horror). As you can guess from the title, the MC is called Lori. She plays the Voxminer with her friend and they need to overcome several challenged and beat Shade Girl.

To be fair, it turns out neither me, nor my 9yo child was the right audience for this book. This was one of the first times I read such a book, part of it being experienced by the characters inside a game (think, worlds colliding). I requested it upon seeing the description and the mentioning Stranger Things and Minecraft. Plus, I like video games.


My child is a little young to follow the full story, and the length is ideal for mid graders.

However, despite our personal lack of experience and grasp, this book is written in an engaging way, with differently formatted pages, comments about the game, relevant and modern elements and I do not think a book that is about and set in a video game can be written more engagingly. It was great that the MC is a girl too.

Ready to play a game of Voxminer?

Max Boucherat’s debut novel The Last Life of Lori Mills is a middle grade horror fiction novel due to be released by HarperCollins Uk on 4th July 2024.

The Last Life of Lori Mills starts as innocently as most middle grade fiction stories with protagonist Lori left at home alone for the first time EVER! Exciting right?! We’ve all been there! Allowed to babysit ourselves, given the list of rules that we barely pay attention to and with that certain TV show, book or video game we’re supposed to put away as the clock hits nine.

However, when Lori takes the rules and turns them on their head, building a blanket fort with the heating on max and Voxminer ready to play on her GG5 within minutes of Mum leaving to work, it appears the game may be beginning to play Lori more expertly than Lori thinks she can play the game.

When the world Lori (nickname: Roars) and Charlie (nickname: Shoelace) have built inside Voxminer is no longer the innocent, fun Kittentopia, Lori starts to suspect something is up, and that’s only made worse when she discovers her own bedroom door has been inserted into the game. A dark lingering presence summons her to open it, and her nearly teenage bravery makes her do so…

Falling deeper into the game, it becomes evident that perhaps that wasn’t the best idea as Lori deduces that legendary glitch Shade Girl may be the entity behind the change in the game and she may have walked willingly into her trap. As the windows and doors to her house vanish, her phone dead (not that anyone was picking up anyway), can Lori defeat Shade Girl’s game and escape before the game defeats her and the life she knows, including her mum and Shoelace ceases to exist?

It's rare that I venture into the realm of middle-grade horror fiction these days. Not for lack of time, but because the genre often treads familiar ground with its tropes and predictable scares. Yet, as an adult well-versed in horror's darker corners, I recognise these elements are crafted for younger audiences. Despite this, Boucherat's The Last Life of Lori Mills has reignited my enthusiasm for the genre's potential evolution.

Devouring this book in just over five hours, I was captivated from start to finish. It's a nostalgic homage to the eerie figures of our youth—Slenderman, Momo, the witch from those early internet maze games—while skillfully weaving in contemporary references that resonate with today's Minecraft and Pokémon-savvy generation. This blend of old and new horror has crafted what’s sure to be an irresistible allure for not just kids, but their parents.

Boucherat achieved what many recent authors could not: they made me fall in love with a first-person narrative. Typically, I gravitate towards third-person stories, finding it challenging to immerse myself in the 'I' perspective unless it mirrors mine or the author’s authentic experiences. But The Last Life of Lori Mills was different. The narration felt authentic to its youthful voice, and Boucherat's skilful handling of scenes with minimal dialogue kept the pages turning with relentless intrigue.

The novel's conclusion (no spoilers, I promise) masterfully balances on the edge of reality and metaphor. It left me pondering long after the final page—was it literal, or symbolic? This is the brilliance of Boucherat's debut. I eagerly await the moment readers can take the journey themselves and draw their own conclusions this coming July.