Review: Return to Ribblestrop

Return to Ribblestrop continues the confusion, weirdness, friendship, suspense and chaos that Andy Mulligan started in Ribblestrop. The series is about a strange boarding school– quite an understatement, really– established by a quixotic Dr. Giles Norcross-Webb with even stranger students in impossible situations. In Return, Mulligan adds several big cats and reptiles to the school.

Honestly, I do not know where to start with the summary (or the review even!) of the novel. With the amount of characters and each his (or her) own sub-plot, it is a dizzying tale. Try keeping mental images of the students: Sanchez, Millie (the first and only girl student of Ribblestrop High), Sam, Ruskin, Miles, Henry, a dozen or so orphans (sorry, I lost count); and several grownups, while following the plot twist and turn into oblivion and finally resolution. Plus the geography of the Ribblestrop – the towers, the tunnels, the lake and the hills – adds to the confusion. But, I believe the complicatedness and Mulligan’s masterful presentation of it are the major factors that make the book unique and enthralling.