Joe Rover

Once upon a time, an alchemist created a goodness potion. The potion was designed to make someone completely good. What happened instead is that it split the person into a good person and a bad person. It also caused the Black Sun, bad sun, to slowly eclipse the Golden Sun, good sun, throwing much of the world into darkness. Years later, Tom discovers that he is one of the two split by the potion. Now, he must learn if he is the good child or the bad.

The Goodness Potion and Its Side-Effects by Joe Dawson is a good read. It took me about a week to finish. I kept wanting to read more and more. Any chance I got, I would sneak off to read it. I tried to figure out spots in my schedule I could rearrange so that I could read more.

Dawson did an excellent job in keeping the story’s revelation a secret. He offered clues here and there so that when the secret was uncovered you felt like it made sense. The clues were also subtle enough that you noticed them but not really. You’d think, “That was odd.” You could find the clues, but you weren’t completely sure on how they fit. All the clues paid off in the end, there weren’t any unanswered questions.

However, like with people, the book isn’t perfect. There were typos, like one time “Tom” is written as “Tome.” There were times when some words, like an “a” or “the,” went missing. The biggest problem was when chapters 9 and 10 were smooshed together. In chapter 9, the Queen and Tom are attacked by the pirates. Then suddenly, the Queen is going over her plan to stop the eclipse and save the world. The pirates and Tom agree to help then suddenly the Queen is calling for them to be chained and put in the brig. A few pages later, it announced chapter 10. I flipped the page and it was chapter 11. I don’t know if it was a publication error or something glitched in the ebook.

One of the best parts in the book were Tom’s comical thoughts. Throughout the book, Tom comments on what is happening. Sometimes he reflects on the plot, such as realizing someone is hiding something. Other times, it is more comical. For instance, one time he’s being shot at, and he thinks, “This is not the place for someone like me.” Or at one point, it is revealed that one of the pirates, in the past, isn’t “that much into wine,” and Tom thinks something like, “How the times have changed.”

The Goodness Potion and Its Side-Effects might not be perfect, but just as it is with people, if you can look past some hiccups, the book is really enjoyable. You get a nice flow of action, lovable characters, and a nice story about deciding who you want to be. The twists and turns were surprising but also expected thanks to Dawson’s way of handing out clues; you don’t feel like the twists came out of nowhere.

The book gets a 4.2 out 5. It does have some quirks; but overall, the book is worth the time and money. You just have to take the time to get to know it.