Blog Tour & Book Review: The Treasure Hunt by Kate Willis

Today’s mid-week book review is part of a blog tour for The Treasure Hunt by Kate Willis, which re-released on Monday, May 25. This is a fun one, so let’s jump to it!

About the Book

Title: The Treasure Hunt

Author: Kate Willis

Genre: Middle-Grade Mystery Novella

Synopsis: A boring summer vacation turns into an exciting adventure when Anna and her brother David discover a mysterious note. Soon they are hunting for clues, solving puzzles, and cracking codes–all on their own farm!

Available on Amazon.

My Thoughts / Review

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy of this book. A positive review was not required. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.

The Treasure Hunt by Kate Willis is an adorable middle-grade(ish) novella. This is a fun story about siblings who go on a treasure hunt around their farm, and about just enjoying time with your family. The characters are sweet and, while not entirely fleshed out, they are individualistic and easy to keep apart.

The first time I read this story was last year, and it wasn’t one that I expected to re-read. That said, as I re-read it for this tour, I found myself enjoying it just as much as the first time around. Finding the clues and going on the hunt with the characters flawlessly transported me into this family, and made me feel like I was one of them. The last chapter, especially, is full of those feel-good aspects which make simple stories such fun to read. It’s not political, it’s not complicated, it’s not even suspenseful – The Treasure Hunt is a perfect break from more serious reading, and I fully recommend it to anyone and everyone who is looking for a fun story to jump into briefly. I read this in less than an hour.

Also, the new cover is ADORABLE! Sea-foam blue/green is one of my favorite colors, and the scene clearly captures the whimsical essence of childhood summers.

I will admit that some of the answers come almost too easily to the protagonists, and there are multiple times where information is rather bluntly thrust into the story in order to fill in what could have been a bothersome plot hole. The clues are impossible for anyone outside of the family to solve, including the reader, which just makes for a different type of mystery than I expected. This doesn’t really take away from the story, but it does demonstrate room for growth. Because of this I can’t quite give the story 5 stars, but it does receive from me four glowing stars and a strong recommendation!

Check out Kate’s website Once Upon an Ordinary for more blog tour fun! She is hosting a fabulous giveaway as well as sharing some fun posts and linking up with other bloggers who are talking about the book.