Review: Timothy and the Interchange by Adam Hutchinson

Series: The Kingdom Heir #1
Publisher: Self-published
Source: Author for review
Goodreads//Lulu                                                                     
After taking a ride on a transport without purchasing a ticket, Timothy Stokes finds himself stuck in an imaginative world completely new to him. By obtaining a position at the Interchange, the Ministry of Trans-World Transportation’s complex headquarters, Timothy is able to uncover a secret conspiracy along with the help of his two new friends James and Nancy, his co-worker Alice, and a mysterious woman known only as the Agent. With the fate of an entire kingdom at stake and the truth about his parents’ secret lives on the line, Timothy must unveil the conspiracy before the Ministry can put its shocking plan into action.

I know it says on our policy page that we are not reviewing self-published books at this time, but  this arrangement was made way before we updated it.  Please note that this action is not at all related to Timothy and the Interchange.


Firstly, when I first received Timothy and the Interchange I was a little put off by the cover.  I know well enough not to judge a book by its cover, but I couldn't help feeling a little 'disheartened'.  Honesty here, I got to like the book a lot as we got further in, so this idiom really applies here.  Before I continue, this book is aimed at middle-grade audiences so please bear that in mind.


The first few chapters really settle you into the book, slowly we get absorbed inside; even if other things are running through your mind you can still concentrate on reading.  After a few more chapters, I felt as though things weren't really progressing very much.  There was quite a lot of description and information to tell us about the setting and the characters in the book, which was interesting to know about, but I think it lingered on just a little too much.  I would have liked to see the action and the happenings in earlier that it is.


All the characters were really unique, and the cousins James and Nancy constantly managed to amuse me.  The king gave off a bit of a 'gullible' aura, sort of not knowing much and not particularly intellectual or royal.  I understand that the king was meant to portray a kind and almost 'grandfatherly' character, but it's a point where its almost unrealistic.  Some characters were also a bit strange, and I got pretty mixed up between all these different Ministers and their special rank names.  I'm glad that I didn't pick up a single spelling mistake throughout the whole book, although at some point I would question the grammar.  I didn't look to check its accuracy, because I wanted to move on in the book.  Yep, it was that interesting and I'm not even sarcastic here.  Not that I have been in previous reviews, I don't think.


I haven't read very many self-published books myself, only heard a lot of 'gossip', so I can't say for sure but this was a pretty good book.  I liked the plot - it was pretty original, the characters were good - at intervals I could really connect with them, and the writing wasn't bad - I couldn't find any mistakes.  I think this book would really appeal to the middle-age readers and maybe to a few older teen readers if they were interested in a different read.  It's quite a bit of a change to all the young adult books I've been reading lately, so it was nice.  At no point in the book did I ever feel bored or wanting to skip any parts (apart from to find out what happened next) so that's a good sign!


One more comment - the ending was a little bit childish in the 'happily ever after' fashion, but it left off a mini cliffhanger.  There are still quite a few unanswered questions and no set resolution, which is yet to come out in the second book of The Kingdom Heir series.  It told a nice story and overall was a good read to take a break from my everyday routines.  I'm actually pretty interested in reading the next book in the series, when it comes out.  Four out of five stars.

~Alvie~