Fluffy Strikes Back (A P.U.R.S.T. Adventure)

My son (9, 3rd grade) isn’t into reading independently too much but read this book cover to cover on his own. It held his interest and the pictures kept him reading. Great book for early readers.

I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaway program in the hopes that I would leave an honest review.I have mentioned in the past that I don't really like graphic novels all that much. This book was an exception to that rule. There are many reasons why this might be the case, but I think the biggest is that it's targeted towards children, so the sequence for the graphics was easier to follow. I may also have enjoyed it more because I read it to my daughter, so I made more of an effort to read it in an excited fashion. The fact that it's about a cat, so it was reminiscent of Garfield comics from my youth in a way, helped as well. But ultimately, it was just a fun story.I felt like the story here was almost like Spy Kids meets The Secret Life of Pets. Even though Fluffy is a cat, he made me think of Gidget from Secret Life of Pets. He is strong, determined, and tenacious, just like Gidget. He refuses to give up even though the situation at hand seems almost hopeless. That can do attitude is exactly the kind of thing I want my children to be seeing. Also, they're both white and fluffy.The graphics are relatively simple as far as graphic novels go, but again, this book is for children so that makes sense and is to be expected. I do think that contributed to making this book feel a bit like the Garfield comics I loved to read in the newspaper as a kid though, in spite of the fact that nothing could compare to mailing Nermal to Abu Dhabi.Overall I give Fluffy Strikes Back 5 out of 5 stars because not only did I enjoy it, but my daughter did too.

Comics, or perhaps they are graphic novels (I don’t know where the line is drawn), are often written for older crowds. They also can work great for younger ones, though considering they are more mature than a simple picture book but offer more than a simple novel. FLUFFY STRIKES BACK tries to achieve this balance...through cats. Sgt. Fluffy Vandermere is a big, fluffy white cat who runs a secret organization to protect humans from aliens, which are really just lots of insects. The narration is light and descriptive. In some cases there is little exposition and is reminiscent of old sci-fi movies where two people would talk and introduce the audience to the plot through telling each other things they already know (e.g., “As you well know, Dr. Jones, the thingamabob does…”). This is sort of the way some of the beginning of FLUFFY STRIKES BACK goes, although it is a bit more excusable in a book geared for a younger audience. Still, it was a bit of a distraction. The dialogue is limited to random cat sounds--mostly variations of “meow.”Other than the whole cats versus insects thing, the story here is no different than many other alien-fighting stories. Replacing humans with cats might have more appeal to children, but otherwise if you have read one of these types of stories you have read them all. Apparently this is a spinoff of another cat comic series, so perhaps fans of that series would want to start this one right at the beginning. Some people are into cats--cat memes, Caturdays, etc. The cats are drawn well in mostly black and white, and they convey a lot of emotion. For those kids (and maybe people older than kids), FLUFFY STRIKES BACK is likely a fun read.In the interest of full disclosure, I received a complimentary advanced review copy of FLUFFY STRIKES BACK from the publisher. Meow.

I liked Fluffy Strikes Back as much as the other Binky books in the series. It's a fun series for young, avid readers. Yes, it takes a somewhat different perspective (P.U.R.S.T.pective?) than the Binky books. It gives a little more character backstory than usual, and the characters do some cool strategizing on how to outwit the attacking aliens (which is the coolest part). No, it's probably not outstanding literature, but it's a lot of fun, the characters work together and care about each other, and the illustrations are really cute. I'm definitely looking forward to more books in the P.U.R.S.T. adventure series, and if you liked the Binky books, I'm sure you will be too!

*Guest Blog by Joshua Hunt (My 11-yr old son) My name is Joshua and Alyssa (A. Renee) is my mom. She's always reading books and when she gets children's books, she usually uses my niece and nephew to help with the reviews. This time, she got one I wanted to help on. When she received Fluffy Strikes Back, by Ashley Spires, I was all over it!​ The main reason I wanted to help is because it's written like a comic book. Each page is full of photos that explain things that you'd usually have to read. They tell you everything you need to know about P.U.R.S.T. P.U.R.S.T. is an acronym for Pets of The Universe Ready for Space Travel. This company is lead by Fluffy Vandermere- a fat, white cat. Fluffy's job is to protect the world from alien domination. The aliens are flies and bees. All over the world there are dogs and cats, trained to fight these cruel invaders, protecting humans and other animals too. When P.U.R.S.T is invaded, it's up to Fluffy to defeat the evil hoard and rescue his fellow agents who are being tortured with miniature spray-bottles of water. That part was hilarious!...*For the full review: (...)**My mom received this book from a Shelf Awareness drawing for a honest review.

The illustrations in this comic are beautiful and so detailed. And a great and fun story about cats! 64 pages? Many panels in each page. Great for mid-level readers who maybe need a little push to get more interested in reading.