I can’t really tell you what this book was about because, to be honest, it didn’t feel like it had much of a plot at all, just vibes. Everything felt very surface-level, there were several opportunities to delve deeper into a variety of themes and topics brought up by the characters that were wasted. Nothing really felt like it was explored here, just mentioned and sort of swept under the rug so we could move on. It wasn’t a very long book, so being at the 40% mark and still not having a single viable plot point in sight for me was a bit disappointing.

Sal, as the MC, isn't engaging. He's socially disinterested, awkward with even his own family, and doesn't seem to ever really care about anything until the final few chapters, which makes him hard to connect to. I adored the cast of characters, like a lil ragtag bunch of people who find each other right when they all needed to most. In particular, Pax. Hands down, he’s now one of my all time favourite characters🥹 Elsie was popular – until recently. Now she’s on the outcast’s table too…and she doesn’t want to talk about it.

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It’s definitely got MASSIVE Heartstopper vibes so if you’re an Alice Oseman fan you will likely enjoy this. It’s cute and endearing, mushy and warm just like the comic. Pax and Sal are cute as hell together and there’s something very endearing about Pax and his quirks, I thought he was actually one of the most fleshed out and unique characters here.

Not everyone is perfect and you don't know what goes on in someone else's house. These are the main things I took from this book as well as the fact that it's okay to be who you are. People will judge, let them. The winners of the Diverse Book Awards 2023 have been announced, with one winner from each of the four categories announced: Picture book, Children... Everybody knows the haunted house in the neighbourhood. Unfortunately this means that young Sal, who prefers to stay hidden, is thrown into the spot light. He envies an ordinary life with ordinary experiences but a strange boy, Pax, winds up on his door step, and his life grows even more complicated. Their unlikely friendship grows and flourishes, but the true meaning behind the hauntings puts their unlikely friendship at risk. United by being outcasts, Sal becomes friends with others who are just as marginalised. While I thought the story had potential, my biggest issue is that ALL of the promotional material - from snippets, the blurb, even the cover - bill this as a spooky Halloween mystery.

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Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin. The story itself was not exactly spooky. Yes, there were mentions of ghosts and haunted houses and living by a graveyard, but, the story was light and sweet. Obviously with something sweet there must be something bitter. This book contains details of child neglect, bullying, substance ab*se, car accident, death of a parent Sal hates standing out. But he lives in a haunted house – and everybody knows it. His oldest friend, Dirk, tries to help… but he wants to stay popular, and Sal isn’t helping. Elsie was popular – until recently. Now she’s on the outcast’s table too… and she doesn’t want to talk about it.

I was sold a story of haunted houses and teen romance. I was promised something akin to Aiden Thomas' Cemetery Boys. What I got was a family drama that just happened to take place around Autumn, that was more reminiscent of Mason Deaver's The Ghosts We Keep, without any of the originality and heart-wrenching emotional impact. Regardless the book was a solid read. It’s a wholesome warm romance and I really was happy that it lived up to the comparison to Heartstopper, whilst entirely unique it has the same warm romance feeling.My favourite scene with these two, without giving anything away, was the eyeliner scene. I could not help but smile.