Hanging with Vampires by Insha Fitzpatrick

Pub Date: March 28, 2023Publisher: Quirk BooksAuthor: WebsiteInfo: Goodreads

Are vampires real? Who was Vlad the Impaler? Do vampire bats ever feed on humans? Find out in Hanging with Vampires, a field guide for the curious and the adventurous. Crack open the lid on this guide and you’ll get:Bloodcurdling vampire mythology! What exactly is a vampire, anyway?Spine-chilling history and science! Uncover how the vampire legend got its start in the medieval ages.A who’s who of vampires! Get to know classic, iconic, and terrifying vampires in pop culture, from Dracula to Adventure Time.Hanging with Vampires is the first book in the Totally Factual Field Guide to the Supernatural series, a hilarious and haunting exploration of how myths and legends shape our lives. Sink your fangs into vampire lore and literature with enchanting illustrations and fun activities, like making garlic bread. It’s a spooky world out there–grab your guide, and let’s go! (goodreads.com)

Oh, my heart! This book is divine. I can't say enough good things about it.The art is superb. A hint spooky, a hint goofy, and completely darling. It balanced the topic at hand nicely.And the content is completely on the nose. A super high level look at the concept of vampires throughout history, with some scientific explanations thrown in, is a great introduction to the supernatural for anyone who's interested.My favorite part was when it got to vampires in film, and it got into Twilight. I was choking down the full page write up on what the movie was about, until I turned that page and read the full page caveat about how it's a problematic movie and why critics of it will say it is. I LOVED IT. And then the whole following section about the growing diversity around vampires and how not diverse the myth was until very recently. It's pretty much impossible not to talk about vampires in cinema without talking about Twilight, and I think Fitzpatrick addressed all that wonderfully.HANGING WITH VAMPIRES approaches topics like intersectionality, the value of representation in literature and film, and the deeper dives behind the cultural meaning of the vampire throughout history in a way that's understandable and relatable and puts things into context. It provides just enough nuance that, if a reader wanted to look deeper into a particular topic, the author has given that reader just enough of a hint as to where to go from there. Loved it.Unfortunately, that means it will likely get banned because Fitzpatrick deigned to bring a "woke" attitude to a classic creature. We don't want to indoctrinate our children, you hear? 🙄 <-- That's an eye-roll emoji in case you can't see it.This book is a great starting place for those new to the lore, young or old. The tone of the book is fun and upbeat, but it doesn't shy away from more difficult topics and some of the deeply rooted issues surrounding vampire lore. If you know of anyone who's toeing the line of the supernatural, HANGING WITH VAMPIRES is for them, regardless of age. Plus Fitzpatrick talks about two of my favorite movies: The Lost Boys and Vampires vs the Bronx. So of course it's fantastic. 😁5I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Stars Did Wander Darkling by Colin Meloy

Published: September 13, 2022Publisher: Balzer & BrayAuthor: WebsiteInfo: Goodreads

Maybe Archie Coomes has been watching too many horror movies.All of a sudden, the most ordinary things have taken on a sinister edge: a penny on a doormat. A man in a brown suit under a streetlamp. The persistent sound of an ax chopping in the middle of the night.He keeps telling himself that this is Seaham, a sleepy seaside town where nothing ever happens. Or at least nothing did, until his dad’s construction company opened up the cliff beneath the old—some say cursed—Langdon place.Soon, though, he and his friends can’t deny it: more and more of the adults in town are acting strangely. An ancient, long-buried evil has been unleashed upon the community, and it’s up to the kids to stop it before it’s too late. . . . (goodreads.com)

What a great book. There's so much going for THE STARS DID WANDER DARKLING that I don't even know where to start.This book is a mishmash of hat tips to a variety of different 80s things, like The Goonies, The Lost Boys, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (or a couple of different yet similar type stories), 'Salem's Lot (although that's technically 70s). I could see all these little pieces in this book and I practically squealed every time I saw them. Add in the gothic atmosphere and the gritty undercurrent of a story and it's a fantastic package.It's pegged as middle grade, but it can easily transcend into YA, especially since we're dealing with characters in the summer between 8th and 9th grade. I've read a lot of middle grade in the last month and this book, by far, has the most depth to it. It's unapologetic in its writing, and even though I found myself thinking that the language may be too above middle grade, I kept reminding myself that I shouldn't care. It's a wonderful story, and I was reading waaaaaaaaaay up at that age, anyway. I'm sure many others are, and if they don't get what they're reading, they'll either stop or figure it out. It's not hard.I loved the preface that Meloy wrote about writing the book his younger self wanted to find that was for him, not an adult book. And I think he nailed it. It's a mature story that isn't kiddie and doesn't play down to the younger readers of the category. It's dark, it puts the kids in dark places, and it drags them through some rough stuff. The ending had me a bit gutted and slightly terrified, yet it was a perfect ending. Things were all wrapped up. Mostly. And it's that mostly that's still sticking with me.The only complaints I have are that I wanted a hint more 80s nostalgia in there. Not much. I appreciate that it didn't shove the 80s in my face and the story treated the time like it should: as if it were natural to the characters. It was seamless. A little too seamless, as I kept losing that the story was set in the 80s and not present day. I guess the reminder should have been the ever-present betamax store, but even that was really seamless. I like this way more than the 80s nostalgia stuffed down my throat, where the book is obviously for the parents reading the story, not the kids. This book is for the kids, and I love it.Also, the title's a bit odd. I get it. It all comes full circle at the end, and I wouldn't want something more kiddie like "Invasion of the Adult Snatchers" or something kitschy like that. Even here, on the other side of the book, it's a bit odd. It could be that I don't have a full appreciation of poetry, which is where the title comes from. It's a minor thing, anyway.So yeah. Two very minor complaints, but overall I thought this was a fantastic story. Great characters, a totally moody world that fit the narrative, and a simmering refrain of creepiness that bound the story together. I can't recommend this enough.5I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Krazyland by Mar Romasco-Moore

Published: September 13, 2022Publisher: Delacorte PressAuthor: WebsiteInfo: Goodreads

Nathan used to be terrified of Krazyland when he was a young kid.Now that he's 12, the spooky-themed arcade games aren't that bad. He even enjoys stomping on plastic spiders and battling a creepy doll with big plastic eyes. But things become scarier again when kids start to go missing from the entertainment park...There's another world exists beneath Kraztown's ball pit. A world where the entertainment park's games come to life. And if he isn't careful, Nathan is going to be the next one sucked under! (goodreads.com)

KRAZYLAND was a fun, silly middle grade horror book that I quite enjoyed. I got a little turned around when the doubles came into play, but it evened out pretty quickly and I settled back into the madness.To say that, as a kid, I never imagined the ball pit being a gateway to somewhere else would be me lying. I love that it's being done here, and in a 'Are Your Afraid of the Dark' sort of way that turns reality into something warped and creepy and literally ready to eat you. I loved the spiders that tried to stop Nathan (mirrored on a game in Krazyland where you basically do Whac-A-Mole with spiders and use your feet instead of a mallet) in their little colored sneakers. Big Bertha was kind of terrifying, and I liked how Nathan pointed out how messed up it was that Bertha is treated as a villain simply because she's bigger. I support that message in there.I think this book could have been even darker, but that's my own demented horror brain going places that it probably shouldn't go for a middle grade novel. 😁 The fake people that could be pulled into the real world added a somewhat sinister edge to everything, even though they really weren't used that way. I picked up on it, anyway.The book isn't particularly earth-shattering or groundbreaking, but it doesn't need to be. It's fun and creepy and will make you look at ball pits differently. And I can say, as an insurance underwriter, an activity center like this that DOESN'T regularly clean their ball pits is horrifying enough. I was really amused by the bizarro world that Nathan ended up in (multiple times), especially with the man-eating chicken wing sharks and evil mozzarella sticks.There's not a ton of character development, at least from Nathan. Mercy has a bigger arc than he does. And I don't quite understand her "allergies." I think it would have been fine if she just had narcolepsy, but it kept going back to being allergic to the world. While I am empathize with the sentiment, here it just played out kind of odd and unnecessary. Despite that, KRAZYLAND is fun and promises a good time.4I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What We Saw by Mary Downing Hahn

Published: September 6, 2022Publisher: Clarion BooksAuthor: WebsiteInfo: Goodreads

When best friends Abbi and Skylar witness a clandestine meeting between a mysterious woman and someone in a dark van, they're thrilled. Finally, a mystery to spice up the summer!Who could these people be? Why are they meeting? Are they spies? Criminals? The two girls are determined to find out. But then a local woman goes missing and is found dead in the woods. And Abbi and Skylar realize that their detective work could hold the keys to solving her murder. Suddenly, sleuthing isn't so fun anymore.As tensions rise and their friendship frays, the girls find themselves in increasing danger, and must choose between keeping a secret or exposing a life-altering truth. (goodreads.com)

I had to look back at the other Downing Hahn books I've read to see what I thought of them because WHAT WE SAW was not clicking for me. I really liked the other Downing Hahn books, but this seemed off kilter in a few different ways.The catalyst doesn't happen until 50% of the way into the book. Initially, I thought this was going to be a big "don't do drugs" book because of something that happens before the catalyst. To where I looked up reviews and kept seeing things about the body and the mystery of who killed the teacher. I didn't realize I was going to have to get halfway through the book before I got there. That's pretty slow going for a middle grade novel. Personally, that's pretty slow for any novel, but for a middle grade, especially.Just within the last month, I've read quite a few middle grade novels that run the gamut of ages. This one, while it has protagonists that are 12, it reads like it's for eight-year-olds. I say that having just read a middle grade novel with nine-year-old protagonists that read more mature than this. So for me it felt tonally off the whole time I read reading it. Like it was writing down to its readers. It grated on me.I thought the dynamic between the friends was really good, and between them and the boys. I can appreciate that weirdness that can happen when your friend makes other friends, and you feel left out. I felt the sliminess of the boys that no one really likes in school, but everyone's kind of afraid of because they're bullies. I can even appreciate Abbi's crush on Skylar's older brother. These dynamics all felt pretty real to me.Unfortunately, Abbie as a character is kind of off-putting. I understand why she acts the way she does, but maybe it's the way it was written. She's just crying all the time. Literally all the time. It got to a point in the story where I was just like, "she's crying AGAIN?" I almost feel like the story would have been better from Skylar's point of view. She just seemed like a stronger character with more skin in the game than Abbi, who was a passenger in her own life.As I mentioned, the catalyst doesn't happen until halfway through the book. Literally. The first half of the book has so much unnecessary filler in it I almost gave up on it. Just unnecessary trips to the mall and the pool and details about what they were reading that ultimately had no bearing on the plot. There was a little bit of setup with the body situation, but it was secondary to what books Abbi and Skylar were reading off their summer reading list. The story felt very listless for half the book as a result.And the drug thing. Ugh. That whole thing felt very preachy and moralizing, and I couldn't wait for it to be over. It added a completely unnecessary layer of drama to the story that was ultimately irrelevant. I would have rather read more about the girls and how they were dealing with the death of their teacher, like the blurb said I was getting. WHAT WE SAW could have been half the length and it still would have been the same book.I'm not sure what happened with this Downing Hahn book. They can't all be winners, right? It's bound to happen. But this one really didn't land for me.2.5I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Curse on Spectacle Key by Chantel Acevedo

Published: September 6, 2022Publisher: Balzer & BrayAuthor: WebsiteInfo: Goodreads

Frank Fernandez's family never stays in one place for long. His parents renovate unusual buildings and turn them into homes, which means the family moves--a lot. This makes it hard for bookish Frank to make friends. So when his parents announce they're moving to Spectacle Key, Florida, to live in a lighthouse--this time for good!--Frank is thrilled.But Spectacle Key isn't the perfect forever home they'd imagined. The lighthouse is falling apart. There are knocks on the door--but no one is there--and mysterious sighs and sniffles from nowhere. There's even a creepy doll that seems to move on its own. Could Spectacle Key be haunted?Then one day while exploring, Frank meets a girl in old-fashioned clothes, with no memory of who she is. What she does know, though, is that the island is under a curse--and she needs Frank's help to figure out how to lift it. But what if learning the truth about Spectacle Key means losing the first real friend he's ever had? (goodreads.com)

What a sweetly creepy story! I loved THE CURSE ON SPECTACLE KEY! Even though I knew what was coming (a story about a haunted lighthouse), I was sad for Frank when they had to move from Alabama. It was apparent that he'd basically gotten his hopes up in finally staying in one place, just to have the rug ripped out from under him. That hurt. But the story he wrote for himself on Spectacle Key I think more than made up for what he lost (even though it still hurt a little).I loved the weaving of genuinely creepy elements, like the mysterious knocking on the door and the moving doll (terrifying, seriously) with something that is more wholesome in Alice, and even Snuffles. Although I have to admit that's an odd name for a ghost. Granted, when things started going sideways, it created an excellent juxtaposition of a seemingly innocuous name against some rather nasty things happening on the island. It played with my brain a little.I also loved how the concept of the curse was kind of squishy. Is the island actually cursed, or was it haunted by history doomed to repeat itself if people forgot about it? I guess that is its own kind of curse, right? The curse of oblivion, of not seeing beyond the end of your own nose, whether willfully or otherwise.Frank's drive for information was totally relatable, and I loved watching him try to solve problems and sometimes struggle through them. Plans don't always play out, and Frank learned that the hard way.And the way Acevedo captured that awkward age where a kid desperately wants to be independent, but when things get tough, they know exactly where to run. That was balanced wonderfully. And how Frank wasn't alone in the end. The parents were never far from him (kind of rare in young adult and younger books, honestly, not that it's a problem, it's just refreshing to see the parents playing an active role in the story) and played an active part in Frank's life. He had to actively sneak around them and got caught more than once. I guess what I'm saying is there was no distance between them (even though sometimes he felt his parents were a million miles away).THE CURSE ON SPECTACLE KEY is a great, engaging story that has some seriously creepy elements and balances it with a sweet, and slightly heart-wrenching story about a boy trying to keep history from being forgotten. I can't recommend it enough.5I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.