The Nardi Puzzle by Gabriella Page

Title: The Nardi Puzzle

Author: Gabriella Page

Genre: Science Fiction

Publisher: Wombat Books

Published: 1^st August 2026

Format: Paperback

Pages: 242

Price: $18.99

Synopsis: Thirteen players. Thirteen hours. One extraordinary prize.

When 12-year-old Sebastian Walker is invited to legendary game-maker Elisabetta Nardi’s mansion in Sardinia, he thinks he can finally leave his troubles behind. Instead, he’s thrust into a real-world escape game with the other twelve guests, and the prize could change his life.

If Sebastian wants to solve the clues hidden around the mysterious East Wing and find the secret exit, he must team up with the bubbly Lali and brilliant Vita. Even as a team, though, it won’t be easy … and elimination is always just around the corner.

~*~

Sebastian Walker lives in Perth with his mum and four brothers. His older two are always bullying him, and his mum always seems to be taking their side in things. He’s never given a chance to explain things, and his only solace is the Nardi Corps games he plays with his younger brother, Ollie.

One day though, he receives a mysterious invitation to Elisabetta Nardi’s mansion in Sardinia, and the whole thing seems a bit farfetched. Why would a famous game creator want him to go all the way to Italy just to play a game? When he eventually lands (after a few strings have been pulled by his dad), he’s thrust into the mansion with twelve other kids from all over the world.

They all speak different languages, are different races and have different backgrounds, but they have one thing in common: they all play Nardi Corps games. And now, they have a chance to play one of these games for real. Enter the escape room game in the East Wing of the mansion. They have thirteen hours to solve the puzzle, and can work in teams or alone.

Sebastian teams up with Lali from India and Vita from Italy, so surely solving things will be easier and help them move through the escape room? Perhaps not, because there are always obstacles cropping up, the other players are trying to push their way in whilst Sebastian and his team are busy, and they’re always trying to get past Iris, who is determined to beat everyone and thinks she is better than everyone else.

The time also keeps getting cut, which adds to the tension and frenzies that the teams out themselves through to solve the puzzle game they have been set. Sebastian, Lali and Vita are a bit like the underdogs. They’re the ones who aren’t perfect. Whose lives aren’t perfect. And we learn what drives them as the novel goes on, which shapes how they operate as a team and as individuals. They don’t judge each other, whilst the others judge them and look down on them without even knowing them. It ensures that there are personal tensions as well within the diverse cast, illustrating that everyone can prejudge someone without really knowing them.

One of the things I liked was how Vita, Lali and Sebastian’s dad were the ones who had faith in him, and didn’t judge him. It was a nice contrast to the rest of his family, because playing the game allowed him to grow and become braver, become who he really was. It was an interesting way to tell a story with a puzzle or game as the central plot, and where the teams were competing against each other for a specific prize. A prize that could change their lives forever.

It had a great plot and concept, and there were a few things I felt could have been touched on a bit more to give depth to the story and characters, yet everything that made the story work happened to be there. It ensured that the reader gets a good understanding of the game and characters, whilst having fun. It’s the kind of book that kids who enjoy puzzles and games will enjoy, and yet another great way of eliminating technology from the story.

A lot of contemporary books are finding ways to do this, to ensure that the characters can’t just fall back on technology to solve their problems, and it’s really interesting to see how this is done. In this one, the kids learn to use the resources they have at hand and their own minds to solve things on their own. Which is half the fun of the story!

I also liked the diversity in this book, because it showed the real world and that every child could be part of something like this. Sebastian teaming up with Lali and Vita was awesome and a great example of working with people unlike you in many ways, and it is what shapes the way their group is able to work together.

All in all, this was an interesting book that I do hope readers will enjoy.