Long Lost Reviews is a monthly meme created by Ally over at Ally’s Appraisals which is posted on the second Thursday of every month. The aim is to start tackling your review backlog. Whether it’s an in-depth analysis of how it affected your life, one sentence stating that you only remember the ending, or that you have no recollection of reading the book at all.
Published: 1 October 2021 (print)/19 October 2021 (audio) 
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia /Macmillan Australia Audio
Pages: 304/ 1 hr and 40 mins
Narrator: Stig Wemyss
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Junior Fiction
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars
Andy and Terry’s treehouse now has 13 new storeys, including a word-o-matic (it knows every word in the whole world!); a recycling depot; a wrecking ball; a deep, dark cave with a real live, fire-breathing dragon; a too-hard basket; a SUPER BIG STUFF storey; a baked-bean geyser (it erupts on the hour, every hour); a Ye Olde Worlde Historical Village; a fish milkshake level (the penguins love them!); a complaining room; a spooky graveyard (where it’s always midnight, even in the middle of the day); a toffee apple orchard guarded by a kind scarecrow; and a camping ground where you can have a nice, relaxing camping holiday – unless you get caught by hobyahs, put in a bag and poked with a stick, that is … Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!
As I was organising my review of the 169 Storey Treehouse I realised I skipped reviewing a few of the Treehouse books. I am here to start rectifying that today, I found the lovely notes I wrote when I read it in 2022 so I can at least remember what it was about.
This is Treehouse book number eleven. It doesn’t feel like there have been eleven, each one is fresh and engaging despite being formulaic. They are fun, wacky, humourous, and have unique antics that always seem to make sense in the story even if they make no sense.
Unlike some previous books, there is an actual storyline this time around instead of the plot consisting of jumping through random rooms and floors in the treehouse. There are references to old books and previous levels which doesn’t always happen, and given there are 143 levels it makes sense you could easily reuse a room.
Wemyss does an amazing job once more with the audiobook. It’s always a delight listening to him not only do the narration but also the side dialogue as he describes the illustrations and quirky remarks you miss out on with the audio format. The chatter of the little creatures running around the place are fun to listen to and it fits in well with the overall tone of the story.
I still enjoy the recap at the end of the book as they write down their adventure for their book. I know in the past I disliked the formula sometimes but I like the reliability of it, especially given the middle bits are always so different. I think when the story in the middle is done well, and there is a structure of sorts and isn’t wacky event after wacky event, it’s a better book.
Griffiths makes each book fresh and new and by now we are well aware of Terry and Andy’s dynamic so you know how each character behaves and how they influence a story. It is still easy enough to jump into this series wherever you first find it because they are easily a standalone despite the references to their past works. Story wise it makes no difference which adds to the timeless charm of the series.
You can purchase The 143-Storey Treehouse via the following
Angus and Robinson | Blackwell’s
Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible
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