- Illustrated Chapter Books
- Ages 9–12
- Comedy
Finn's Epic Fails: Downhill from Here
Book 2 in Finn's Epic FailsView the full series
Finn's summer holiday in Tenerife goes gloriously wrong, lost luggage, a hotel with resident rats, an army of dads in tiny mankinis and a very unwelcome new boyfriend, in the second riotous instalment of the Fail-o-metre saga.
- Best for9–12
- FormatIllustrated
- Length272 pp
- Read aloud~3 hr50 min
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The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Conversational
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Irreverent
- Warm
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
School may be out, but for Finn N.O. Hope the epic fails never take a holiday. This time his gran is treating the whole family to a week of sun in Tenerife, which should be a dream, except Finn's luck follows him abroad like a bad smell. Cue lost luggage, a hotel with an uninvited population of rats, a beach full of dads squeezing into alarmingly tiny mankinis, and, worst of all, an unexpected run-in with the Mothership and her new boyfriend. As his scheming little sister and evil older brother crank the chaos up to eleven, Finn logs every catastrophe in his definitely-not-a-diary, Fail-o-metre at the ready. With Al Murphy's riotous illustrations splashed across every page and Phil Earle's trademark short, snappy chapters, this second Finn adventure delivers all the gross-out laughs of the first while quietly exploring what it means when a family changes shape. Fast, funny and warm-hearted, it is catnip for reluctant readers.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
The second Finn comedy, best for 9-12s reading alone and ideal for reluctant readers. Broad, fast holiday humour carries a gentle undercurrent about a mum's new relationship and a family finding its new shape, so it suits children living through similar changes.
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- Best fit · 9–12
- Read aloud · 8–11
- Independent · 8–12
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
High
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Works well for
- Reading together
- Reluctant readers
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: parental separation.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Reluctant readers
- Funny chapter books
- Diary fiction fans
- Summer reads
Avoid if
- Wants gentle bedtime
- Prefers serious stories
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Parents separating or divorcing
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
A hotel full of rats, a beach full of dads in mankinis and a mum with an embarrassing new boyfriend, Finn's Tenerife trip is a comedy of everything going wrong. The gross-out gags land page after page, and the Fail-o-metre keeps score of every cringe.
- The underdog winning
- Trickery and cleverness
- Adventure and freedom
Why parents love it
The holiday setting gives the second book fresh chaos while Earle keeps the emotional thread of a changing family running honestly beneath the laughs. Short chapters, wall-to-wall illustrations and non-stop momentum make it a dependable win for readers who resist longer books.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
In the series
Finn's Epic Fails.
2 books · open the series →
About the creators
About the creators.
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