The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate Saunders

The focus, or goal of the book was too vague and too changeable for me. This points to where I (and probably other adult readers) had some trouble with the book. We don’t have any detail about the supposed terrorist organization MI6 is fighting they’re entirely just a shadowy, vaguely evil entity. The MI6 somehow makes Oz and Lily’s parents utterly unconcerned about whatever it is their children are up to (with a combination of cover stories and magic), neatly getting parental supervision out of the way.

Any difficulties are quickly smoothed over and details are avoided whenever possible. The entire book is pretty wild, over-the-top and ridiculous, mostly in a good way. I don’t think it would have wide appeal for adults, but I can easily imagine middle grade readers loving it. This really is a cotton candy book, fun and entertaining with no real substance or depth. Demerara also happens to be a secret agent for the MI6, the British secret service, and needs Oz, Lily and their neighbor Caydon to use their latent magical ability to help on a secret mission. One of the brothers, by virtue of an immortality chocolate, is still alive and intent on stealing secrets his brothers left behind, to sell to a terrorist group.

Demerara tells them about the history of the chocolate factory, founded by three brothers who combined chocolate and magic. When Oz and Lily, eleven-year-old twins, and their family move into an abandoned chocolate factory, Lily is delighted to meet Demerara, a magical cat. The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate Saunders is a middle grade novel about magical chocolate-but it reminded me more of cotton candy, light and fluffy and insubstantial,