Saturday, October 2, 2021

Nightbooks by J.A. White (Middle Grade Fantasy Horror Book Review)


Nightbooks
by J.A. White
Published by Katherine Teagan
on July 24, 2018
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Horror
Length: 320 pages
Ages: 8 - 12 years

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Synopsis:
A boy is imprisoned by a witch and must tell her a new scary story each night to stay alive. This thrilling contemporary fantasy from J.A. White, the acclaimed author of the Thickety series, brings to life the magic and craft of storytelling. 

My Thoughts:

Young Alex Mosher is obsessed with everything spooky and scary. He loves scary movies and even writes his own scary stories that he calls his Nightbooks, but this has made him the 'weird kid' and in an attempt to feel normal he decides to head to his apartment buildings' basement to burn his Nightbooks. Along the way, he is waylaid by the sounds of his favorite movie, Night of the Living Dead, and enters an apartment that traps him within! It's owned by a witch and she will only let him live if he reads her a scary story every night!

Nightbooks is fairytale retellings gone spooky!
This fun middle grade has both hints of fantasy and horror and is perfect for budding young writers!

If you would rather read fairytales than ghost stories during Autumn but still want a little scare, this is the perfect choice!
It reminds me of both Hansel & Gretal and One Thousand and One Nights thanks to the witch that lures in children and a character who must tell stories in order to survive.  

I started reading the physical book (which I bought way back in an Owlcrate subscription) but my daughter was so intrigued and wanted to hear it too so we switched to audio to finish the story and then we watched the Netflix adaptation together.  There were a few small changes from book to movie but I suspect it was for the soundtrack and pop culture value but otherwise was quite enjoyable! 


Follow

No comments:

Post a Comment