This YA adventure has a quirky writing style that weaves a story that is akin to the story of superheroes but in a way that feels original. Not to give too much away, Barnabas is a relatable character whose just trying to make a difference in his city. He discovers a darkness running through the place he calls home and this unearths something that will require Barnabas to start behaving like a hero. With an eccentric group of characters, "Barnabas Bopwright" is a delightful read that delivers a chaotic and fun adventure.

I found this book on NetGalley and was immediately reminded of “The house in the cerulean sea”
Although they are not at all identical, I am happy I picked this book.

The story is about a boy who discovers a hidden city behind his own which holds one of the biggest political secrets ever. Not only is this city full of giant humans, it has its own culture and governance system too. He finds friends in a circus in this strange place and uncovers a plan which will destroy his beloved city full of towers. And thus the adventure and the title.

I loved the writing. Each detail brings this world to life vividly. Yeah it’s slightly long but it’s worth it. Especially the names, they are suggestive and once you get to know the character you realize you’d not want to call them anything else 😃

The main plot around the terror attack reveals itself toward the last part of the book but on the way you find so many topics explored and discussed. There is politics, teenage identity crisis, relationships and quirks, social disparity and bearing the unsolicited responsibility of saving the city. It is the perfect package and makes for a wonderful YA read with good representation.

Some might find the start slow but if you push past the inertia of first third, it becomes fast paced.

I loved it.

Thank you for letting us read an advance copy of this book. It covered many interesting points but unfortunately it was not (in my opinion ) suitable for the age range I was trying to read it to. They lost interest quickly and wandered off. I think (after much discussion) was that nobody really connected with the characters.

I really want to like this book. The story about a secret valley and a plot against the city made me curios. Unfortunately I wasn't able to connect with Barnabas the hero at all. I don't know exactly why he was in my imagination a 10 years old boy - maybe his behavior or the things he said? Or maybe the style of writing? It seems more written for middle grade than young adults. On the other hands there were topics which are unsuitable for younger readers.
I would recommend this book to someone between the age of 14 to 16 who needs an easy read.

Barnabas Bopwright Saves the City is an engaging middle grade/YA fantasy by J. Marshall Freeman. Released 10th May 2022 by Bold Strokes Books, it's 304 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a straightforward quest coming-of-age fantasy with a heaping dose of blindly stupid adults running around and messing everything up. The titular main character is 15 years old and deeply hormonal. That's fine, but I had a lot of trouble finding him likeable or relatable to any meaningful degree.

This is a one-stop-shopping experience which combines a quirky blend of subgenres - the author has dabbled here with magical realism, a bit of fantasy, a bit of quest driven coming-of-age, some mock gothic children's fiction (think Lemony Snicket), and some academy/school slice-of-life vignettes. I never felt sure what the target demographic was. Much of the writing felt very middle grade-ish, but there are a number of sexual innuendos and some more mature subject matter than is probably appropriate for the average 12 year old. I have no problem with bi-positive and bi-curious characters, but in this case, Barnabas is not a particularly fun or appealing character in and of himself.

There are a number of plot devices which I found poorly explained and not particularly believable (if they know about Tokyo and New York, how can they not know about the valley below The City).

The author does write engagingly and well, and I liked the off-kilter tone of the book. The characterizations and dialogue were rough in places, however.

Three and a half stars. Not sure who I would recommend it for - possibly YA/older teens who enjoy magical realism.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

3.5* upped to 4
There's plenty of potential in this story, an original idea, and a likeable hero.
I liked the story that I found entertaining. Some more editing but I enjoyed it.
It was an entertaining read.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you, Bold Strokes Books, for allowing me to read Barnabas Bopwright Saves the City early!

This was an easy and quick read which had its problems (plot- and pace-wise). I enjoyed the idea behind the story more than its execution.

I am going to start with the things that I liked about this story. I love the overall idea. Everyone at some point in their life has felt like they were not listened to, simply because they were young. I loved the idea of this secret town living parallel to the main City. The way that Barnabas describes The City he lives in was really poetic and beautiful. The author used the subway lines as a way to introduce the reader to Barnabas and his city, and it felt like a perfect way for a city loving kid to introduce us to his city.

The book at times felt like it was written for a ten year old, and then at other times it felt like it was written exclusively for extremely horny teen boys who’s maturity was severely delayed. A particularly juvenile quote “Thumbutter said, jutting out her chin like she was the toughest cookie around”, was then followed by drunken teens, long make out sessions, and a TON of unnecessary unrelated filler. What’s with all the ridiculous names? Toughest cookie around, I just can’t with this writing style. It sounds like its written for a child.

The first 50% of the book had no point and could have been condensed into 3 chapters. We spend an oddly long time getting to know Deni, Cal and The City, only to leave them both behind and not see them again till hundreds of pages later. It felt super silly to set up such a deep back story and subplot (the subplot of Barn being a jealous ass) only to leave them out of 90% of the story. There was WAY too much time spent in the Valley pre junk shop. The junk shop is the real ‘inciting incident’ in the book, and it happens so so late. Everything up until then feels so directionless. Like a rudderless boat waiting for someone to come take control.

The story of how Barnabas accidentally gets to the valley is so ridiculous, and its part of why this book reads so young. The Barnabas gets suspended scene was ridiculous. There is NO way a principal would just say, ‘you were rude the the mayor? Suspended 3 days.’ At the very least, he would have had to go to the office and be formally written up. To add insult on top of insult, the author expects me to believe that the principal would just tell a 15 year old to walk home, and not actually call his parents to let them know he’d been suspended. It just gets more ridiculous and wild from there. I feel like a young kid might be able to believe that kinda wild dishonest view of how the world works, but no one who’s ever been to high school could possibly believe that is how it works. I could go on and on about all the things that were silly and unrealistic, I filled 6 pages of notes on all the things I disliked, so I’ll try and keep it brief.

Slavery! Hard labor, and slavery. The entire point of the Valley is to have slaves support the City, and they use religion and isolation to keep the slaves compliant. To quote the book “how better to galvanize a generational workforce than through the spiritual pantomime of religion?”. You would think that this is a main point in the book, but it isn’t! The use of eugenics to create a strong and obedient workforce is somehow, hardly touched on at all. It glosses over it, and this quote is the only real instance of it being examined. This isn’t even a conflict in the book. It’s just a horrifying and unexamined truth of The Valley. The ‘main message‘ of the book is over consumption and waste of natural resources by the people in large cities, and possibly the ignorance of the public in regards to how their city is run.

Last but not least, the most difficult issue for me to get past while reading. The reader is supposed to somehow believe that a city full of people have somehow never realized that their city sits on the edge of a cliff, and that there is another town just at the bottom of that cliff. There are three large towers that sit on the edge of the cliff blocking the view of the valley, no one has ever seen beyond them, and the towers are the only thing keeping people from seeing the Valley. That means no helicopters, no planes in the area, no drones, and no one going on a walk the the left or right of the towers. You might try to excuse the book and say those things don’t exist. You’d be wrong. Barnabas’s brother lives in Tokyo, they mention New York, and all of the technology that is mentioned is way beyond what we have currently invented. The idea of no one but the Mayor knowing about the Valley is so stupid it immediately soured my attitude to the entire book. I don’t know what I expected, I just thought there’d be a way better explanation as to why the City people didn’t know about the existence of the Vally.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an early copy of this book.

One day on his way to school Barnabas stumbles upon a subway map with an unknown subway line. This discovery leads him to a hidden valley where he uncovers a terror plot to destroy his city. It is up to him to stop the deadly plot.

This is a YA book that deals with many typical teenage problems but the story's whimsical nature, fun names and lack of in-depth world building means it reads as more Middle Grade at times, so would be a good book for those transitioning from Middle Grade books to YA.

The plot was slow at times to start off, but the last ⅓ was very tense and I had to read it in one go.


Overall a fun book with many great characters, many of whom are LGBT without it being a big part of the story which is always great to see.

Barnabas is the unassuming hero in this surrealistic YA novel. The story takes place in an alternate version of our world, where Barnabas lives in The City, which is full of selfish, power-grabbing grown-ups that are hiding dangerous secrets for their own gain. One day Barnabas accidentally learns one of these secrets and his life is forever changed.

Barnabas travels to The Valley, a secret town whose existence is kept from the residents of The City. Here he makes a lot of new friends and even develops a new crush, before stumbling over an even more dangerous secret. Barnabas struggles to get any grown-ups to pay attention to the threat and eventually realises that he needs to save the day himself.

The book is marketed as YA and I think that’s appropriate considering the language and dark themes of the book, however there is a whimsical quality to the storytelling that makes it feel younger at times, almost reminiscent of a Roald Dahl story. This is a coming of age story for Barnabas and he has some really fantastic and earned character development throughout the book.

I read this story slowly because I wanted to savour it, in fact this is without contest the best YA story I’ve read this year. I loved the found family dynamic, the circus vibes, the mystery, the realistic depictions of teenagers interacting and I adored all of the characters. Even the minor characters are wonderfully written and have their own clear personalities and roles.

I can’t recommend this story enough!

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC! This was a fun read and I really enjoyed it. The plot was interesting and I loved the way the main character was portrayed and the way that there were multiple characters on the LGBTQ+ spectrum that weren’t made a big deal out of and it had no bearing on the overall plot overall. I also think the author portrayed the aspect of teenage angst and being ignored by adults looking to satisfy their own struggles for power rather than take responsibility.

This book was so addictive. Barnabas Bopwright is a curious and occasionally scatter brained teenager who doesn't always think things through. He also absolutely loves the city that he lives in. One day he discovers (aka sort of steals) a map of the city's subway system and discovers a subway line that he has never seen on any other map and no one seems to know, or wants to admit, that it exists. Some quick thinking, possibly some bad decisions, and clever hiding allow Barnabas to take a ride on the secret subway line, but the place that subway takes him is in to trouble.
With the help of a clown, some members of the local circus, a dedicated friend and a lot of problem solving, Barnabas realizes that there is a whole secret city next to his beloved city and that the people in his city have been lied to their whole lives. After discovering a plot to destroy his city, Barnabas must not only avoid arrest and get out of the secret city, but figure out some way to save his own city.
This book has been compared to TJ Klune books and I agree that fans of that author will enjoy this book. This is less like Cerulean Sea and more like the Extraordinaries, despite the cover similarities. I got sucked into this book and didn't want to put it down. Barnabas is endearing and the history of the city he lives in is fascinating. I would love more books set in this world.

My favorite aspect of this book was the clever name plays (summer cummlaudy).

Overall it felt a bit more middle grade than ya.

Barnabas accidentally stumbles upon The Valley, a sister village to The City where he lives. While exploring this strange area he discovers a plot to blow up the towers of his city. No one wants to take this seriously and instead chooses to ignore him, hush him up or run away.

It’s left to Barnabas and his friends to try to stop the plot.

This was a quick, easy and engaging read. Well written with a compelling storyline and well developed characters that I loved - especially Barnabas I loved him. It kept my attention the whole way through and I finished it in one sitting. I really enjoyed it.