By Max Boucherat (pub. HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2024)
I am sure, I am certain, I am one million per cent certain: the last time I played, that door wasn’t there. I would have noticed it. ANY player would notice if their bedroom door randomly appeared in Voxminer.
And it IS my bedroom door.
Not RoaryCat11’s bedroom door from her castle in Kittentopia, but a perfect copy of my actual door in actual real life.
When the babysitter cancels due to illness, it means that Lori Mills (almost 12 years old, and therefore almost a teenager) is left home alone for the evening – with a list of house rules that she immediately works on breaking. Heating up? Check! Blanket fort in the living room? Check! Snacks from the cupboard? Check!
But when something odd happens in Voxminer (the greatest game in the world) and her best friend Shoelace can’t reply to her messages, Lori becomes aware of just how alone she is. Even worse is when she starts to hear something whispering her name, and she realises she might not be alone after all. Voxminer’s Shade Girl is just a myth though…right?
As the virtual world starts to seep into the real one, Lori finds that surviving in the game isn’t going to be enough…
I’m going to start this review by saying that I’m also a gamer, so The Last Life of Lori Mills is right up my street. It took a little for me to get into it (there’s some Voxminer terminology that takes some getting used to), but once I did, I was completely hooked!
Lori is desperate to have the run of the house, and one of the reasons is so that she can play as much Voxminer as she wants. It’s a sandbox crafting game, in which you gather resources, build, and capture ‘Voxfriends’; creatures that travel with you and have special abilities.
Lori and her best friend Charlie (only Lori can call her ‘Shoelace’!) have built an entire world in their game, but when Lori logs on by herself that night, something’s wrong – there are things where they shouldn’t be. And when Lori panics and tries to unplug the TV and console, they won’t turn off.
So begins her nightmare, which starts in the game world before tumbling into Lori’s real house, and ending…well, I won’t say here! The story leans heavily into the idea of spooky game lore and creepypastas (original horror legends that have gone viral online), but not in a way that makes it inaccessible for those unfamiliar – just in a way that adds an extra layer for those in the know.
I was a little unsure about Lori at first…some of her interests or phrases felt a bit clichéd, but then I thought back to myself and the other girls I knew at age 11, and actually it feels about right! And honestly, I’d like to read the Mermaid Detective comics now, let alone as a kid.
I love the realism in her actions; the way she tries to turn off the TV and console (which is something I would be yelling for any protagonist to do) when things first go wrong, and the way she is creeped out by the dark, empty house…I think we’ve all had times alone at night where we’ve felt like something is watching us, even as adults!
Voxminer feels familiar as a game idea, having a strong Minecraft x Palworld vibe to it (it would be tempting to say Pokémon, but the Voxfriends actually have abilities and uses outside battling). As the book goes on however, we start to get a very different vibe, one that channels media like the Backrooms and Slender Man. It’s all steeped in lore and myth, and you can tell that Boucherat is a video game fan.
The creeping dread of what’s happening in the game and the house are thoroughly gripping, and Lori’s reactions feel appropriate; from denial and escape, to a grudging acceptance and growing bravery. It would be easy to have a headstrong character who simply powers forward, but Lori’s doubts and fears are what make her relatable.
The text layout alters from time to time depending on what is happening in the story – for example taking a sideways slant as Lori runs downstairs. This gives certain sections a feeling of activity or stillness and, added to the illustrated videogame “hearts” steadily going down (along with the chapter numbers), a feeling of tension.
Thomas Humeau’s front cover is an eye-catching blast of colour, with pixelation breaking through to real life. And although the book isn’t illustrated as such, we do get to see what the various Voxfriends look like – their Voxfriendopedia entries are an excellent touch. We also get a house map at the front of the book, which is useful for keeping track once things start going wrong!
It’s hard to know how I felt about the ending – it’s good, but there’s a bittersweet aspect to it. I won’t say any more than that, just that I’m looking forward to seeing what Lori and Shoelace get up to in the sequel!
I know I’ve talked a lot about the “gaming” aspects of the book, but this really is a story suitable for gamers and non-gamers alike. It is quite spooky however, which is worth keeping in mind for younger or more sensitive readers.
Overall, this is a story about friendship and bravery, wrapped up in a mystery that is both unsettling in its familiarity of fear in the dark of night, and original in its execution, by utilising a video game set up and tropes that will be familiar to a lot of readers. It’s not the first book to use “game/TV seeps into real life”, but its approach feels unique and modern, and will no doubt go down well with newer generations of readers.
…a brief warning to millennial or older parents who may be reading along though: when Lori calls certain things old or ancient, you may end up feeling somewhat old or ancient yourself!
If you want to jump into the world of Voxminer, you can grab a copy of The Last Life of Lori Mills at the link below.
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If you’re looking for more books to read in the dark, you can check out some of our other spooky reviews here.
