GINGER NUTS OF HORROR'S AUGUST YOUNG ADULT AND MIDDLE GRADE ROUNDUP

August Young Adult and Middle Grade Roundup
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Our latest Young Adult and Middle Grade for August 2022 features nine new or relatively recently published titles. This time out we feature Lindsay Currie for the second month on the bounce with What Lives in the Woods, a terrific Middle Grade slow-burner, and you never know Lindsay may well return next month with another book. Finbar Hawkins also impressed me greatly with his second novel Stone (we also reviewed his great debut Witch) in an earthy tale of grief and magic which bridges Middle Grade and YA. It was also great to read a novel with a boy as a main character as they truly are becoming endangered species and this is the only one of these nine books reviewed to have a male narrative, which is a fairly shocking statistic but a definite trend in newly published YA fiction, which we have highlighted in previous roundups. 

Tag You’re Dead is the third enjoyable page-turning thriller on the bounce from Kathryn Foxfield and Rebecca Barrow’s Bad Things Happen Here is in the same ballpark. I love discovering new authors and devoured Go Hunt Me by Kelly Devos, an outstanding horror thriller with lots of cool nods to horror films. Kelly has another couple of books I am definitely going to read and so she is sure to reappear in future roundups. 

I have read most of Melinda Salisbury’s novels and her latest Her Dark Wings is a strange spin on the Persephone myth set on a remote island, with its own weird traditions and beliefs, close to the Underworld. The last two books have been out for a while and I was delighted to catch up with Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert, we reviewed her debut The Hazel Wood a few years ago and was another impressive dark fantasy about modern day witches, grudges and cross-generational curses. Only a Monster was the impressive dark time travel urban fantasy debut from Vanessa Len when a teenage girl realises her family are monsters and that the ‘hero’ of the hero is out to get her, but by sucking the life force of others is able to jump through time and hide. Bring on the sequel! 

We will be back with another roundup in September. Meantime, if you have anything you think we might like get in touch. The books are presented in alphabetical order. 
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Melissa Albert – Our Crooked Hearts

We reviewed Melissa Albert’s debut dark fantasy novel The Hazel Wood back in 2018, which she followed with a sequel and a collection of short stories, Our Crooked Hearts is a standalone novel. There are some similarities between the two works in that both have connections to dark supernatural worlds and deal with mother, daughter and complex family relationships which are dominated more with what is not said, rather than what is. Our Crooked Hearts was an intriguing dark fantasy drama which branched into witchcraft, curses and the occult and was a slow burner which will be enjoyed by older teens as it had an unhurried pace and kept the supernatural storyline on the backburner as the plot was slowly unpeeled over two mother/daughter plotlines told twenty years apart. This was one of those dramas which was full of secrets, lies, very bad choices, undiscovered magic and inherited family power. Much of the supernatural stuff was very subtlety handled and if you are after a loud witchy book with explosions and magic wand cliches then look elsewhere. 

The story opens with seventeen-year-old Ivy contemplating dumping her boyfriend whilst driving home from a party when they nearly run over a nude young woman. This is the beginning of a series of odd occurrences including a dead rabbit in the driveway and her finding weird stuff in the house which points to her mother and triggers complex family memories. Dana (the mother) had Ivy when she was only twenty years old and the second story flicks back to Chicago (1990s) before she was born and slowly the two twenty year apart stories begin to connect together via the nude girl, with the sins of the mother coming home to roost. Of course, it is clear to the reader that the apple does not fall far from the tree and Ivy and Dana are remarkably similar. There was a lot going on amongst the family drama, including clever characterisation, subtle twists, well developed supernatural ideas and a convincing teen love story. For thoughtful teen readers everywhere. 
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​AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Rebecca Barrow – Bad Things Happen Here
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Rebecca Barrow’s dark thriller/drama Bad Things Happen Here dropped over the summer with a fair bit of hype, with Amazon labelling it “this summer’s hottest thriller.” Although it was a perfectly decent read ultimately it failed to match its publicity and was populated by spoilt rich characters which failed to add any spark to the island setting of Parris. The novel is seen from the point of view of Luca Laine Thomas, who has struggled to get over the death of her best friend Polly Stern several years earlier. Luca believes there is a curse on the island and that there have been too many unsolved deaths of teenage girls, including Polly. If I’m frank, this part of the story was weak and presented rather half-heartedly and somewhat forced, as if the author felt obliged to throw in a potential supernatural story thread, which in the end was a dead end. If you read this expecting a spicy supernatural thriller you will be sorely disappointed as nobody really believes in the curse except young kids and Luca. 

Early in the novel Luca’s older sister Whitney dies (that pesky curse again!) and Luca begins her own investigation into whether this is connected to the earlier deaths. Meanwhile, Naomi moves into the house which was once owned by Polly’s family and the two girls become friends. Along the way there is a prominent LGBTQIA+ storyline and the fact that Luca is mixed-race also has a part to play. Ultimately the story is about broken friendships, secrets, betrayals and half-truths which blend into a murder mystery, but by the time events moved to the end I was not that involved in the big reveal in discovering who killed Whitney. However, I’m sure genuine teen readers will have a lot of fun with this book with the boozy parties and sexual tension. It was also nice to read a modern novel which did not have the characters having their noses in social media 24/7.
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AGE RANGE 13/14+ ​

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Lindsay Currie – What Lives in the Woods
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In our last roundup we were delighted to feature Lindsay Currie for the first time with the wonderful Scritch Scratch (2021) and as I am catching up on this great author’s other books this time out we have the very cool What Lives in the Woods. This novel has all the same hallmarks which made the other book terrific, in particular excepting convincing young characters, sibling rivalry and the very first taste of young romance, all of which was convincingly portrayed. This novel is also aimed at the 10-13 age group and does not get too scary but is very well plotted and does not rush into jump scares, taking its time to build atmosphere and mystery. The latter is especially important as the main character twelve-year-old Ginny Anderson dreams of being a mystery writer and when she is forced to skip a summer writing workshop and instead move to a different part of Lake Michigan for a month (her father restores old houses) she is initially extremely disappointed. 

The decrepit and creepy Woodmoor Manor (all twenty-six rooms of it) was a fine creation and kids who want a spooky setting, need look no further, however, what if the problem lies outside in the encroaching dense woods? Throw into the mix an overactive imagination (big Agatha Christie fan!) and locals who also shy away from talking about the mansion house and talk of mutated creatures with glowing eyes and talk of campers disappearing. I loved the way the tension was built up so slowly, from Ginny hearing her name whispered, a constant ticking sound to a mannequin which seems to move around the house on its own. Along the way she teams up with her older brother Leo and new best friend and as they investigate other unexplainable events occur including a typewriter that transcribes messages from an unseen force and shadow people. I especially enjoyed how Ginny’s desire to be the next great mystery novelist is woven seamlessly and intricately into the multi-layered plot. Another winner from Lindsay Currie and I predict she will return with another beauty in our next roundup!

AGE RANGE 10-13

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Kelly Devos – Go Hunt Me
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I was hugely impressed by Go Hunt Me which is the fifth YA novel from Kelly Devos. If this story is anything to go by Kelly has a great future in the genre and I hope she continues to write in the horror genre. There are many self-referential horror novels (referencing films) on the market, but what I really liked about Go Hunt Me was the fact that it avoided many of the same old classic films which are trotted out, instead the main character was a massive fan of The Babadook and the book partially uses the ‘Go Fund Me’ model which Jennifer Kent used to fund her modern classic film. However, the weakness of this is that fact I am unsure whether genuine teen readers will know what The Babadook is unless they are genuine horror fans? Having said that Go Hunt Me is definitely aimed at those types of teens and there is a huge amount to enjoy. And like many great horror films make sure you follow events closely and prepare yourself for a whacky twist ending.

Early in the film Alex Rush receives a rejection from the film school she has set her heart on attending, however her boyfriend Jax is accepted. Both are huge horror fans and submitted the same joint film, but Alex finds out later that Jax edited his in a slightly separate way but didn’t tell her. However, things begin to look up when a famous actor helps Alex set up a Go Fund Me page which if successful she hopes to shoot a new film to submit to the university. Soon the cash is flowing in and the actor invites them to shoot the new film in a remote Romanian castle which has connections to the myth behind the Dracula story. Alex narrates the story, but soon her boyfriend and five other friends are heading to Romania with the actor as the chaperone. However, once in Romania the actor dumps them and they are on their own at the isolated castle where things start to go horribly wrong. The teens are caught between a rock and a hard place and decide not to call their parents (no wi-fi anyway!) and before long the first of the group disappears. Go Hunt Me was a lot of fun with believably dumb teenage characters, sly film references, slick action sequences and a great balance between thriller and horror which does not stop. The build up which lured the group to Romania and the infighting over the Go Fund Me disappearing cash was also very believable. A terrific book!

​AGE 12/13+

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Kathryn Foxfield – Tag You’re Dead
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With Tag You’re Dead Kathryn Foxfield continues to enhance her reputation as one of the leading UK writers of pacey dark thrillers, following Good Girls Die First (2020) and It’s Behind You (2021) both of which were reviewed on Ginger Nuts of Horror. To be clear from the outset: I hate everything to do with social media influencers and wannabe celebrities and this book did nothing to change my mind, but if I drop myself into the shoes of a tech-savvy teenager then Foxfield’s third novel had a lot to offer. Considering Tag You’re Dead was set in the world of social media, where appearance means everything, the character narratives of Grayson, Charlotte and Erin were all shallow and annoying, but the main hook of the book was more than enough to keep the plot jogging along at a page-turning pace. If you’re the parent of a teen addicted to You Tube channels or TicToc videos then this book might be something more substantial to wave in front on them.

Social media superstar Anton Fraser (and what an absolute arsehole he is) is making his comeback by running a competition in which one hundred contestants play a game of tag across London. However, this game is slightly different as even though it happens in real time, the participants have virtual reality headsets in which everything is streamed and at various points in the game they might be ‘Chasers’ or ‘Runners.’ The prize is 100K and access to Anton Fraser by becoming one of his ‘Accomplices’, which is a bit like being a PA (and a prize only a moron would want to win). However, everybody has skeletons in their closets, there is the death of a previous Accomplice to deal with and the possibility somebody is trying to sabotage the game. The plot twists here and there as the various agendas are uncovered, but ultimately I failed to root for any of the contestants as they were all very one-dimensional and the game itself could have had a tad more spice. Tag You’re Dead was a fun easy read summer YA beach read with nice use of technology, but if you’re after a thriller which blends gaming and the supernatural then Ursula Poznanski’s Erebos is significantly scarier. I’ve seen Tag You’re Dead listed as ages 13+, but apart from a few f-bombs it was harmless fun.

AGE RANGE 12+

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Finbar Hawkins – Stone
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Finbar Hawkins impressed me greatly with his debut Witch, a supernatural tale set in Scotland several hundred years ago, in a period where innocent women were frequently persecuted for being witches. Although Stone has supernatural overtones it is not as pronounced as Witch and being set in modern times is a fascinating second novel which truly marks Hawkins as an author to watch. Grief lies at the heart of this very moving story and is soaked through every page as teenager Sam tries to get over the recent death of his father, who was killed by a landmine in Afghanistan. However, what lies at the heart of the story is the final online conversation with his father and words he never had the chance to take back. Some teens may well find the subject matter of death and loss to be too morbid, but is built around a convincing rural setting, friendships, young love and a strange supernatural element, which is connected to the rural landscapes and mythology of the local area.

Sam was realistically portrayed and was not the most likable of characters, being very self-absorbed and frequently finding himself in trouble and distances himself from his mother and slightly younger sister Beth who manages the loss of their father better than him. The novel opens around the time of the funeral and Sam spotting a new girl, Oona, at a party and whilst he reflects on the good times with his father the pair become close. After Sam finds a scrying stone, begins to have visions and blackouts whilst his personal life becomes complex the magical story becomes more pronounced and the stories that his father told him as a child become very real. Even though Sam brings a lot of the trouble upon himself, it was hard not to sympathise with him, but he is backup up great support characters, including his sister and best friend. The story also takes in bullying and makes the most of the local landscape and the power which comes from a chalk white horse drawn into the side of a hill. It was also nice to read a supernatural novel with a boy as a central character as they are truly an endangered species!

AGE RANGE 12+

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Vanessa Len – Only a Monster
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Vanessa Len’s debut Only a Monster arrived with a fair amount of hype and I was pleasantly surprised by how good this dark urban fantasy thriller was. Time travelling in fantasy is nothing new, but I did smile at the fact that the biggest time jump in the novel was back to London in the early 1990s when Nirvana ruled the planet and mobile phones really were still a twinkle in the eye. Only a Monster turns the old ‘hero killing the monster’ story/fable by having the leading character discovering she was a monster in the opening few pages and the boy that she was about to go on a first date with was the ‘hero’ who was about to try and wipe out her entire family, who were also monsters. The story uses the well-worn ‘hide in plain sight’ idea and that only monsters (which all belong to a collection of powerful families) have the ability to recognise each other as non-human. This clever concept lies at the heart of what was a very entertaining page-turner with Joan having to learn on her feet, very quickly, when her summer in London with her grandmother takes a significantly darker turn. Teens who like dark fantasy will lap this speed read up, and apart from a few f-bombs, most kids should be able to read it no problem. 

The different monster families have slightly different abilities and in the opening pages Joan helps a man who almost falls over, by touching him she flips several hours into the future. When she returns home it is revealed that her family has the ability to suck life from people (and use it like fuel) to move through time. And as there is a ‘hero’ (her almost boyfriend Nick) hunting her she has to go on the run through time, whilst trying to understand her newly discovered powers. As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. Interestingly Joan realises she is not the hero or heroine but does not see herself as evil because of her complex family history but the line between monster and hero is razor thin as she tries to save herself and her family. I’m sure there is a lot of stuff in this book which will remind you of other novels, but it was still a very clever and immersive read which kicks off a new fantasy series on a high. I will be interested to see how book two develops the series and hopefully the monster families will get darker and more developed.

AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Melinda Salisbury – Her Dark Wings
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Since her debut back in 2015 with the excellent Sin Eater’s Daughter Melinda Salisbury has written a number of terrific dark fantasy novels and more recently Hold Back the Tide (2020) which was probably her closest to a traditional horror novel. Her Dark Wings sees Salisbury return to her dark fantasy roots, with a good dose of failed romance and teen angst, with a spin on the Persephone myth. Although this book held my attention I was unconvinced whether enough went on to engage with genuine teen readers as the second half, predominately set in the Underworld was terribly slow going, and I felt like the main character needed a shake to pull her out of her self-centredness. Yeah okay, your best friend stole your boyfriend (or maybe it was the other way round). But GET OVER IT! When Her Dark Wings opens it is a year after Corey (who narrates the novel in the first person) fell out with her long-term best friend after she got together with her boyfriend Ali. The betrayal ran very deep and Corey has found the loss of her best friend to be significantly more painful than the boy. Ali was barely in the novel and it was disappointing to see the male character portrayed as one dimensional as wallpaper, but this is merely a reflection on the ongoing trend has been teen boys all but disappearing from YA fantasy and horror fiction, other than in limited support roles. 

I found the unnamed island setting of the first half of the book to be significantly more interesting that the Underworld which dominates the second. It had a Scottish island feel to it and even the shops (Spar) had British names, but there was something about the place which was obviously Pagan or had some other belief system based around the old gods of mythology. This was kept enticingly vague and it worked beautifully until Corey (not really on the rebound) kisses the wrong boy at a festival and Bree is found dead, drowned. Corey is shocked as in her weaker moments she had wished her former friend dead and is overwhelmed by her loss and lack of closure. A combination of circumstances leads Corey to the Underworld where she learns more about herself, Bree and feels power stirring within herself. Some of these were portrayed similar to dream sequences where she meets different mythological figures and in particular ‘The Furies’ (all about revenge) who she has a special connection with. Her Dark Wings was centred around the power of friendship and should attract strong readers who enjoy fantasy and mythology.

AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Kimberly Wolkens - The Art of Being Haunted
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It was hard to tell who The Art of Being Haunted was aimed at as not enough genuinely happened to engage a YA readership and although it was not a long book I found it a slog to finish. The main character (Cassie) is struggling to get over the death of her boyfriend, as she was driving the car in which he died. Her family have since relocated and she is struggling to settle at school whilst in her senior year. Her parents have sent her to a therapist and believe she should shake off the tragedy, but she finds the guilt overwhelming and struggles to cope. But soon things begin to look up when she meets Melissa, whom she shares an art class with. Melissa is a goth, has an interest in the supernatural, and particularly Cassie’s house which she believes to be haunted.
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As haunted house/supernatural stories go this was very uninspiring stuff. Cassie believes she sees the ghost of an old man and then weird stuff begins to happen in the house and even stranger she begins to draw gruesome pictures whilst asleep, as if possessed. Everything was telegraphed where the plot was heading and the book had absolutely zero scares and little atmosphere. It was so obvious the ghost was trying to tell Cassie (and Melissa) a story, to solve a mystery, you might think you were in an episode of Scooby Doo. This book was just too bland, lacked pace, thrills and had little in the way of suspense. Not one I would recommend. AGE RANGE 13/14+ 
Tony Jones

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