After a weirdly false start, robotics genius Lacey Chu finds herself enrolled in the prestigious Profectus Academy and a step closer to working alongside her idol Monica Chan in the hallowed cutting-edge world of Moncha Corp, the largest tech firm in North America. Moncha Corp is famous for the revolutionary “baku” – a customisable robot companion that’s a bit like a smartphone version of one of Philip Pullman’s daemons – and just when Lacey begins to despair of ever finding the baku who’s right for her (because everyone at Profectus must have their own baku) she finds a smashed-up baku lying at the bottom of a railway embankment seemingly beyond repair. Luckily, Lacey manages to fix it just in time for the first day of school, not realising how much trouble the cat-like Jinx will get her into. Because Jinx is far more than a baku. His abilities surpass anything written into a baku’s normal code and he and Lacey quickly manage to establish an unheard-of telepathic communication with each other. In fact, Lacey begins to suspect that Jinx might be more real than robot.
Can Lacey discover Jinx’s secret and uncover the sinister truth behind the Profectus Academy? It’s unlikely, especially because Jinx is due to take part in the nightmarish Baku Battles, and a losing baku rarely leaves the arena intact. Besides, even if Jinx does win, there’s a reason that Lacey found him smashed up at the bottom of that railway embankment…
Jinxed is a fun read but it’s got one massive albatross-sized baku hanging around its neck: it hasn’t got an original circuit board in its sleek well-wired little body. It’s a bit Harry Potter (the Profectus Academy not only sounds like the sci-fi equivalent of Hogwarts but there’s more than a touch of Quidditch-meets-Robot Wars about the all-important Baku Battles), it’s a bit The Golden Compass, it’s a smidgeon of U-cert Hunger Games and there’s even a frisson of Pokemon thrown in for good measure. On top of that, Lacey just seems so instantly genius at the companioneering thing (‘companioneers’ are the AI elite who know how to fix even the most damaged bakus) that it’s hard to understand why she isn’t immediately taken out of Profectus and fast-tracked up to Moncha Corp before she’s even completed day one at the Academy. Worse still, she’s a frustratingly passive leading lady – if it wasn’t for Jinx, it’s hard to imagine that Lacey would have the agency to solve the mystery of Profectus for herself. And the cliffhanger ending is just annoying, the kind of ‘tune in next week’ thing you’d expect from an old-fashioned Saturday matinee serial. Jinxed might keep undemanding readers entertained but Amy McCulloch should probably go baku the drawing board before she writes the sequel…
JINXED / AUTHOR: AMY MCCULLOCH / PUBLISHER: SIMON & SCHUSTER CHILDREN’S UK / RELEASE DATE: AUG 8TH
