What is a sandbox. My definition is from my childhood of playing with sand in a box as part of my science lessons in infant’s school. Experiments with shapes and water to create.
For a programmer it’s a place to train and experiment with code.
Three teenagers find themselves hiding in a cave in the Oklahoma mountains from a storm. Sonny and Dan are locals who often camp out in the cave, they are childhood friends but very different in nature. Dan is a native American and a good student who cares about life, Sonny is a gifted but wild/angry teenager who Dan tries to keep out of trouble. Isla is a red-headed beauty from Scotland who lost the use of her legs as a child and is now doing a hand-bike charity ride around the USA. The boy's rescue her from the storm when she finds herself too far from her father's car.
They spend the night in the cave and Sonny has a nightmare that worms crawl over them and invade their bodies. He names them 'butt worms'. When they wake up, they find the all had a similar dream and Isla, who is disabled is able in the shared dream.
When the finally go to leave they find a large crater outside, it looks like a plane has crashed, but weirdly the photos they take disappear before they can show anyone. When they go back the crater has gone.
Wanting to know more the three become friends and return for another night in the cave. When they arrive, they find Isla's broken sunglasses, she left behind, have been mended and the next morning they wake to find Sonny's truck is fixed and souped-up. The name the place they find themselves in the Sandbox. When they are in the Sandbox, they find they can do/go anywhere. They can also access the real-world information systems.
They decide to help Sonny stop the frackers on his family’s farm from destroying the local ecology but that's when things start getting scary. Any more is spoilers so I will just say it is well worth the read.
By the end of the novel my thought was 'this did not end up where I expected'. I felt that I needed to read the complete trilogy to figure the story out.
If you are looking for your next science fiction/fantasy read where three teenagers are the good guys, then this is for you. It's well-written characters and credible settings will make this an enjoyable read. I do love it when authors keep me guessing and this does that as the teenagers explore the limits of the Sandbox.
I was given a free copy by netgalley.com for my fair and honest review.

i really enjoyed this book, it wasn't just a young adult novel but it worked with all elements. The characters were great and I really enjoyed that it was kinda like X-Men.

English Covertext:

After a mysterious impact in the dry Oklahoma landscape, three teenagers discover a world where they can do anything they want. Anything at all: Play. Explore. Fly. Destroy. But as a ripple of consequences impact on reality, Sonny, Isla and Dan realise this is far from a game. Do they now have the power to change the real world? Because if they do, they know exactly what they want to do first.

Dirt-poor Sonny Monroe blames the oil company that fracked his family ranch for his problems. Dan Hawk, a Native American from the Chickatawa tribe, has never forgotten who stole his native Homelands. Idealistic Isla Duncan, a Scottish Paralympian junior on a charity handcycle tour, would just like to make the world a better place.

As the three teens attract global enemies and the killings begin, grave doubts divide them: Do they control this new-found power? Or is it controlling them?

If so, what on Earth does The Sandbox want?

My review:

I started reading the book based on a different, less representative covertext, and therefore different expectations – more SF / Fantasy elements, less activism. But I am glad it turned out to be this way, it’s a good mix of the two elements.

Sonny and Dan have been close friends for a long time and Isla ends up stranded in their hometown due to a tornado. The three teenagers have very distinct and interesting personalities, which are consistent in their actions throughout the book. Because of that they react and interact very differently to and with The Sandbox – the alien technology which crashed on earth and whose organic interface is now connected to them.

The idea of this technology, this word they can enter, is really interesting. The teenagers discover more and more about it and what they can do with it, how they can impact the real world through it – from just reading books inside this world, where time seems to pass much slower, to save some time regarding homework, to getting involved in much more dangerous situations when they take action against an oil company.

The story is well-written – suspenseful, interesting ideas and characters, the pace of them discovering new things about The Sandbox is great and the developments outside of it seemed realistic enough for me, even if towards the end a bit drastic. The book’s ending is a bit much, but still okay, I think – and a bit open. So far there is only part one, but at the end of the book part 2 and 3 are announced. I’ll read part 2 as well, once it comes out.

My Rating: 8/10 Punkten

Conclusion: Solid book, interesting story and characters, suspenseful, I’d like to know more about The Sandbox, which will hopefully happen in Book 2.

I really expected this book to appeal to me more than it did. I feel like the synopsis didn't really describe this book at all. While I was expecting more of a YA dystopian or sci fi story, It really was more of a political book. As such I really did not like it as much as I wished I did. Although I think going into it, even if I had known, I probably wouldn't have liked it because it's not really my type of book.

The storyline is not as realized as I would like either, and feel like it needed a little bit more work before publishing.

~Quick Statistics~
Overall: 4/5 Stars
Plot: 4/5 Stars
Setting: 4/5 Stars
Characters: 4/5 Stars
Writing: 3/5 Stars
Memorability: 4/5 Stars

~Quick Review~
When I first started reading The Sandbox by J. W. Patrick, I was really skeptical due to the fact that the book was very different from the description. However as I really got into the novel, I found that so many aspects of this book are amazing. While it isn’t one of my favorite books, it certainly was a good and worthwhile read.

~Other Information~
Publisher: J&AW Books
Page Count: 279
There is a possibility that J. W. will write two more books in The Sandbox series, so if you like The Sandbox make sure you look out for those!

~Quick Synopsis~
Isla Duncan is hand-cycling in Oklahoma when a huge storm threatens to end her life. Luckily, best friends Sonny Monroe and Dan Hawk come out of nowhere and rescue here, taking her to their secret hangout, Atawa Cave. During the night, strange alien-like creatures creep into the three teenagers’ bodies, but none of them expect what will happen next. When they find themselves able to go to an alternate reality in their sleep, they know just what they must do. With the help of The Sandbox’s infinite knowledge, Isla, Dan, and Sonny set out to change the world for the better (or so they hope.)

~Characters~
The Sandbox follows three teenagers who are all very different, Isla Duncan, Sonny Monroe, and Daniel Hawk. First off I have to say that I really liked Isla and Dan, however, Sonny really got on my nerves. I don’t know if that was the author’s intention, but nevertheless I could not deal with Sonny always creating new problems for all three of them. Also, I was quite disappointed that a lot of the characters we never learn much about; specifically, Maduka Tokwana, who plays a huge part in the story and the main character’s motivations. Hopefully, we’ll get more information on him and his backstory is the second novel in the series?

Isla Duncan is a strong, stubborn, thoughtful character. At the beginning of the novel she is running a fundraiser for multiple charities. Not only is she traveling across the US and hand-cycling 25 miles a day, but she is also doing it all while being paralyzed from the waist down, raising thousands of dollars in the process. Also, I just love how supportive and respectful her Dad is of her goals and dream. Throughout the novel, Isla’s Dad accepts little to no explanation as to why she is spending all this time in Atawa’s Cave with Dan and Sonny (which by the way, Isla is not from Oklahoma, she’s from Scotland, so staying in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere is quite odd for her.) Anyways, Isla is such a strong, independent young woman and I’m all here for that.

Next, we have Sonny, which as mentioned before, I could not stand. At first glance, Sonny is just some angry teenager who is angry because his family’s farm is a victim of fracking (which we’ll get to later), but after you get into the story he’s honestly just a selfish, irresponsible kid. When the Isla, Dan, and Sonny finally enter ‘The Sandbox’ (more on how that works later) and discover it’s potential, Sonny steals MILLIONS of dollars from a businessman (granted that businessman was a murderer, but still) and bank (not to mention putting all of that money into his parent’s account, even when the murderer businessman threatens to burn all three of their houses down), sends an oil rig to the CEO of the oil company’s yard, and shoots countless helicopters and cars owned by the FBI and US Army with his super-modified weapons! Even when Isla and Dan tell him not to! Honestly, I have to stop myself from ranting about this kid 24/7. Despite all of the listed reasons to not like Sonny Monroe, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him as he has watched his family farm fall apart due to fracking, which his family is getting none of the profits from. So yeah, Sonny is not my favorite character ever, but he has his reasons to be so selfish and annoying (I could write an essay on how much I dislike Sonny.)

Last but not least is Daniel Hawk, also known as Dan. I have to say that I am somewhat disappointed with how many times it’s hinted that Dan and Isla like each other yet all we get of their relationship is a quick kiss on the cheek near the end of the novel. There are whole paragraphs dedicated to Sonny and Dan arguing about their ‘bro code’ and if they’re breaking it whenever they stare at Isla (which we never learn much about and how they’re breaking it), yet there’s really not much for them to argue about? Regardless of the relationship between him and Isla, I liked Dan as a character. He cares a lot about the Chickawata (his tribe) and his mother, which balances out Sonny’s reckless behavior. Anyways, I just feel like I hardly know anything about Dan except for his family, which hopefully we can learn more about him in the next novel. (Fingers crossed!)
Overall, I feel like there was no character development whatsoever, which I’m fine with, but to be able to ignore that I have to be able to focus on other aspects of the characters. However, there wasn’t much to focus on, as mentioned previously. Overall though, the characters were decent, I just wish we knew more about them which I feel would add way more to the story.

~Writing and Setting~
Now here is where the major issues with the book lay: the writing. It’s not bad, but it’s just okay? The issue I had while reading was that in some places there was way too much detail, to the point where I could not really understand what was trying to be said. In other places, there was too little detail so that I wanted to know more and understand but couldn’t. It didn’t affect my understanding and enjoyment with the book, but everyone’s different, so here’s a heads up.

The Sandbox takes place in Hogan, Oklahoma, though it also includes many other places in the world that Isla, Dan, and Sonny visit while inside ‘The Sandbox’ (which is basically a machine that collects data and can create a lifesize model of Earth for whoever it’s connected to.) I found the setting in this book so amazing mainly because of ‘The Sandbox’ which the three teens visit often. While it recreated the Earth for Isla, it still is completely different from our world and holds so many secrets that I want to uncover.

~Plot~
Ah! Okay, so I absolutely love the idea that three teens can be connected to this machine that allows them to access all of the information you could ever want, especially to use for good in the world. It’s a really good idea and I’m so glad that J. W. Patrick had it and created The Sandbox. However, there were so many different ways that the book was going, it was hard to keep up. There’s the mysterious relationship between Jenny Macintyre and Sonny that is preventing Dan from asking her out, Sheriff Hauser committed some sort of crime (possibly murder?), and Maduka Tokwana might have been a serial killer and murdered Sonny’s grandfather. None of these things get answers in the novel, however, this may be due to the fact that J. W. Patrick is planning to write two more novels into the series.

The story’s pace was perfect other than being too slow in the beginning of the novel. As the book goes on the pace quickens, which I think was perfect as everything started going so wrong so fast (thanks a lot, Sonny.)

~Overall Review~
While there are minor issues that I have with the novel, The Sandbox by J. W. Patrick is a really good read and I cannot wait to see if there are more books possibly coming in the series.

Thank you so much for sending me the e-ARC of The Sandbox by J. W. Patrick!

This is a poorly described book. The book blurb does little to allow the reader to embark on the reading journey more knowledgeably.

The main focus of this book is the oil industry and fracking. The author appears to have a personal vendetta with fracking, which is fine. But this book could have been much better advertised and attracted a more prepared audience.

I was expecting something a lot more science-fictiony based on what I read, and I thought there would be a lot more to do with "The Sandbox" than there was.

The three main characters that are chosen are a weird combination. It almost felt as if they were selected to try to reach a wider audience than actually having anything to do with the plot of the ebook.

There are a lot of exciting ideas here, but they do not feel fully fleshed out. Instead of running with the clear main plotline, there is too much bouncing around without much that feels connected except for the use of the "sandbox" as the link.

This book feels like it needs a professional edit that could clean up a lot of these issues, and then it would feel more polished and have better flow and be able actually to lift the fantastic idea of the Sandbox.

Unfortunately, I have to rate this as is, which is that in its current form, it is just ok. 2 stars