3.47 AVERAGE


Sorry, no. Compared to the Boy on a Dress, or Billionaire Boy, this is a poor effort. Perhaps Walliams is writing for a younger audience than his previous books, but if you enjoyed the aforementioned, i think you will be too old to enjoy the humour here.
Whatever the case, he is phoning it in, dropping lots of onomatopoeia and "zany" stuff to cover up a minimal story, weak plot, and lack of coherence in events and their resolutions. This lack of coherence particularly, feels like Walliams is going for crazy hijinks, without realising at all that there has to be a method to the madness. The final one was so anticlimactic and irrelevant, I have forgotten what exactly happened already, and I only read it a few hours ago.
It had its moments - a few funny lines, and I quite liked the boy (but Slime remained completely opaque, or perhaps just one-dimensional throughout - we never see it's motives, or are convinced by any of its apparent likes), and his sister, but the one moment of pathos is broken by there being no development of it at all. One moment it is one thing, then it switches to its opposite. And that was supposed to be in the positive column... and actually, the best thing about it was that I read it with my daughter.
1 1/2 stars.

Read as an audio book, just can’t find audio edition

Još jedna simpatična Davidova umotvorina za klince (i one koji se tako osjećaju)

On the lower scale of 3*. Just not good as Walliams's book used to be.

I grew up reading Walliams' books and I have almost every children book he published. I'm currently in high school and this book would be something third grade me would absolutely LOVE. The art and humor is top tier, as always. I'd recommend it to anyone in elementary or middle school <3
adventurous funny fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A
funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Read- April 2020 for the O.W.Ls (Astronomy- read the majority of this book whilst it's dark)
- It's so weird that I'm up to date with Walliams' books and that I can read them as they are coming out. I always love to read one of his books though, such a comfort read.

David Walliams is one of the most successful British writers of all time. He has sold more than 37 million copies worldwide and has made millions from his work. So, there must be something of worth there, right? After reading Slime I have to wonder just what it is that so many people see in his books. To compare his writing to Roald Dahl is ridiculous. This book was nothing more than a puerile and repetitive book that doesn't really have much of a plot. It just seemed like a desperate attempt to cash in on the slime trend that has been dominant for a few years now.

Now, I know that I'm a hell of a lot older than the target reader for this book but I couldn't say that it is the kind of thing I'd want to read to children. It's not that I mind childish toilet humour in books but I'd like to think that there were multiple layers to them as well. The problem is, Walliams seems to feel as though he has found a winning formula. It's almost as if he throws in a bit of alliteration, makes up some new words, creates some awful stereotypes, and make lots of fart and poo jokes. I guess it's a formula that is obviously working but it does make me a bit sad.

What I will say for Walliams is that he does write stories that highlight important and often unseen members of society. Slime is the story of Ned, a young boy in a wheelchair. Ned lives on the Island of Mulch but he lives a miserable life. He is terrorised by his sister, bullied by his piano teacher, swindled by the local toy shop and ice cream van, and can't play in the island's park. Mulch is owned by his greedy Aunt Greta but she hates children. So much so that she allows the awful adults of the island to treat them however they want. When Ned accidentally creates Slime, a shapeshifting creature, he decides it's the perfect time to exact his revenge.

Walliams is so often compared to Roald Dahl and this book does have some major Matilda vibes. The only problem is, the actual story is so simplistic and is based solely on the same jokes being repeated over and over. It gets really tedious. For one thing, the way he adds the word "slime" to every word and uses the same joke about a Walliamsictionary does get old incredibly quickly. Maybe a child wouldn't notice but I still think even they would tire of it. Then there's the fact that the narrative is just the same idea repeated 6 times. Something that would have been found in the story hadn't moved so quickly but it's like a blink and you'll miss it kind of tale.

I think Walliams should be congratulated for finding such success and for clearly having an understanding of what children want. I think anyone who gets children reading should be praised to some extent. However, if all of his books are as formulaic and repetitive as this one, there should be some question about his skill level. Slime just felt like lazy writing that was too reliant on its disgusting humour and silly words instead of plot and characters. I'm not sure that I would have stuck with Slime as a kid or, at least, remembered it after I'd finished reading it.

Meet Ned - an extraordinary boy with a special power. Slimepower!

As always this was an absolute corker! We both rated it 5⭐️ and each page had us laughing and read to read more. Such a fantastic way to spend time together at the end of each day! Would highly recommend this one for the children