A great fantasy adventure with a twist of ghost story thrown in! Children are being kidnapped from a futuristic London: a London with an energy crisis, suffering from severe smog, and recovering from a war which seems to have destroyed the south side of the river and cut the country off from Europe. Luke is one of the kidnapped children shovelling coal deep underground beneath the ruins of a power station. He’s hoping to earn his ticket out with his friend Ravi, but when new girl Jess arrives, Luke can’t stand by and watch her struggle and be punished by the evil Tabatha Margate. Whilst serving their joint punishment, Luke realises he can see things others can’t in the form of ghosts, in particular Alma. And so begins his quest to discover the truth about the kidnappings and what exactly the dastardly Tabatha is plotting. I thought this was a super story, full of themes of friendship, family, courage and being different. The world building is wonderful and I could easily imagine the settings. I really liked the characters and thought they were a great mix of personalities, heroes and baddies. I can imagine lots of young readers wishing for their own cloud to ride on!

Ghosts and half ghosts, kidnapped children and an extremely super creepy villainess. Gripping and fast paced, a little darker than I was expecting at times but still really easy to read. I don't know if there's going to be more but it definitely seemed like the book was left a bit open-ended so I really hope so. I enjoyed reading this so much, I can't wait for more books from this author.

Thank you to the publishers for this early review copy. Firstly, I love the cover and this instantly pulled me into the book. This is a very good debut which I will be happy to recommend on to others. Good characters, great tension and plot. I am very much hoping this might turn into a series?

A fab little adventure set in a dystopian London landscape; a dark world hidden within Battersea Power Station, where kidnapped children are forced into hard labour in order to survive. Luke and Ravi are friends. They long for the day they get their amber tickets and do not have to shovel coal dust into the hot furnaces, every single day. They meet Jess, an optimist and a Plumber who can help them escape. Then, Luke saves a ghost called Alma who shows Luke what it means to be a ghostcloud. They must defy odds of surviving in the power station and escape from the clutches of the cold-hearted Tabitha who wants to destroy any hope they may have of finding home again. It isnt going to be an easy mission, but they have each other and hopefully, the Ghost Council will help. I really liked the concept used here; a dystopian London where children are slaves who maintain the city’s power supply. There is a good amount of detail provided to give the reader a sense of what the inside of the power station is like, how oppressive and dirty it is and how all the characters work together inside. I found Jess was particularly a strong character type and I also had a strong image of Alma and Tabitha. Luke is a likeable boy and i loved the whole ‘ghostcloud’ thing going on, especially the character of the clouds and how Luke could ‘feel’ things through water. There is a real feel of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, about this book

I rather enjoyed this story. It was very gripping and hard to put down at times. Definitely one of the more original books i've read recently, though not entirely unpredictable. Great book for kids around 10 i would say. It's got it's dark and creepy moments, but nothing too scary that it would freak them out. Just enough of a dark side that it would keep them intrigued but not too scared. Seems like there could be a sequel from this, given how it ended, but it also feels like it could probably be a standalone book too. overall, really enjoyable and worth a read!