The Takeover: Volume 2 (Ministry of Mischief)

By Author / Illustrator

Alex Foulkes

Genre

Funny Stories

Age range(s)

Publisher

Simon & Schuster

ISBN

9781398524408

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

25-09-2025

Synopsis

Step into a land where being bad is one BIG adventure. The second title in the Ministry of Mischief series filled with naughty magical creatures and unexpected friendships from Alex Foulkes, the bestselling author of Rules for Vampires, illustrated by Nikolas Ilic. Perfect for Halloween!

Joey and Harry are back in another epic adventure with the imps from the Ministry of Mischief! This time, though, the imps are trapped in the Human realm and only Joey can help them return!

Back through the magical portal door, Impworld has changed in the fortnight the gang has been away. The imps have stopped bringing their usual misfortune to humans and instead are spreading good luck. And all because the Sprite Queen and her sprites have overthrown the imp king! Will Joey, Harry and the imps be able to get him to take back control? After all, can we really be lucky if all we have is good fortune?

Also in the series: Ministry of Mischief: Volume 1

Praise for Rules for Vampires by Alex Foulkes: 'Fans of fast-paced, well-written gothic romps will devour Rules for Vampires' Phil Earle, bestselling author of When the Sky Falls. 'Deliciously dark, fangtastically feisty and gloriously gothic!' Laura Ellen Anderson, author of Amelia Fang. 'Brilliant! It's a deadly funny, twisty, gothic romp with the loveliest vampire. Sara Ogilvie's illustrations are the perfect match' Jenny McLachlan, bestselling author of Land of Roar. 'Wonderfully atmospheric, humorous and touching' Radiya Hafiza, author of Rumaysa.

Reviews

Margaret

This is the second in the wonderfully funny and anarchic Ministry of Mischief series featuring Joey and Harry, but importantly, it is about their relationship with the group of Imps from Impworld, who we met in the previous book.

The portals to Impworld have all disappeared and the imps are stuck in the human world, but then a sprite appears, having found a new way to access our world. At last, the children can return the imps to their home, but they find that things have changed in the few weeks that they have been away. The Imp King has been deposed and goodness, in the person of the sprite queen, has taken over. However, is this really to the benefit of those in Impworld, or do the children and their allies have a fight on their hands? There is only one way to find out!

What an absolute delight these books are. The way that the author plays with words will have the readers groaning with laughter and the interaction between the humans and the magical creatures will make you glad that this is just in our imagination. The illustrations throughout the book give a really fantastic interpretation of the characters and, despite their monster-like images, we still see them as being sympathetic.

I was delighted with the less than subtle hint that we can look forward to further adventures in Impworld and I am really looking forward to seeing what this group of unlikely heroes get up to in the future.

352 pages / Ages 8+ / Reviewed by Margaret Pemberton, librarian