It's The End of the World As We Know It by Saci Lloyd

Welcome to a world controlled by a megalomaniac Lolcat. A world where data pirates, zombies and infobots on surfboards roam free. A world at war over cheese ... When teenager Mikey Malone gets sucked through a wormhole into this parallel world, he discovers a power-crazed corporation is planning to use Earth as a dumping ground for an uncontrollable poisonous algae. It's a race against time for Mikey and his rebel friends to stop the ruthless tyrants from getting their way.

Named as a mix of Hitchhikers Guide and Terry Pratchett, this was very funny and an entertaining read but not one for me. Overall, it was just a little too strange for me to wrap my head around and that took something from the enjoyment of losing myself in the story.

It told of Mikey as he tries to sweet-talk a cute girl into his lair and getting sucked through a portal to an alternate universe. All very well but this was where the sci-fi ended, as the alternate universe was full of nonsense characters, hilarious mishaps and running for their lives from a giant, mind-reading cat. We got to know Kix and her tiny robot BitZer, and their struggles in this strange world as they help Mikey get home. 

I found it often difficult to read, sometimes because of the pig latin-type language that the little robots spoke in, sometimes because it was just so ridiculous that I wasn't sure what was happening! Even after I finished the book, I'm still not entirely sure what the plotline was supposed to be for this, apart from general confusion as the oddball gang try to find and fix the wormhole. Saying that, I believe this is the first in a series so not all questions were answered and set things up very nicely for the next book, especially in terms of complex story and extra complex world building.

A great book for fans of the ridiculous and the weird and wonderful type of sci-fi, but it was not for me.

Published 1st January 2015 by Hodder Children's. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.