I really loved alex first adventure into middle grade. I loved the world and how creepy it was. I really loved the world building and the elements of witch craft and the time and place of this novel. I thought the lead male was so well crafted and he had me on his side from page one. The story had so many twists and turns and I was shocked when it ended. It such a fun/creeepy read and can't wait to re-read/ eventually read the last book in the series next year ( )

I really loved alex first adventure into middle grade. I loved the world and how creepy it was. I really loved the world building and the elements of witch craft and the time and place of this novel. I thought the lead male was so well crafted and he had me on his side from page one. The story had so many twists and turns and I was shocked when it ended. It such a fun/creeepy read and can't wait to re-read/ eventually read the last book in the series next year ( )

This was not was not what I was expecting. First off, I thought this was YA, but Prosper is actually only 12 (almost 13). Also, the ending was just... wow. Not what was expected.

I enjoyed the characters, plot, twists, autumnal imagery, and the magical aspects. This was an engaging, quick read. I found myself saying 'no' and 'why' out loud a few times while reading.

However, I felt (throughout the novel) that this story seems more like a standalone. Nevertheless, I will likely read the next book to see what happens. ( )

Charming; a great balance between emotions and actions, well-developed character, surprising plot: magical. On the other hand, writing is okay, but sometimes feels repetitive when it comes to sentences structure. ( )

I really enjoyed reading Alexandra Bracken’s previous Young Adult novels, so I was excited when I heard about The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding. Since I don’t read a ton of Middle Grade anymore, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I decided to give it a try out of curiosity.

The novel revolves around middle school student named Prosper Redding whose usually fun Founder’s Day Festival takes an unfortunate turn when he discovers his family’s curse and realizes that he has a demon known as a malefactor inside of him. If having a malefactor inside of you wasn’t already the worst, he also has to somehow get rid of it before his 13th birthday– which is just around the corner– or else the demon will overpower him and he’ll die. Things become even messier when the demon, Alastor, realizes that someone has betrayed him and things are turning chaotic in his world, the Downside, because of the new demon on the throne. Together, Prosper and Alastor have to figure out what is going on and who they can trust before time runs out for the both of them.

Fair warning, The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding is a Middle Grade novel after all, so it does read very much like one. Sometimes middle grade novels can also have a YA type of voice, but The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding is clearly Middle Grade, and Bracken does a good job of hitting her target audience. It has a lot of juvenile humor which works very well in this category, but I do think it’s a bit overdone at times.

The beginning of the book starts off a bit slow, but it definitely picks up toward the middle, although overall, it wasn’t a super fast read. I felt like the plot wasn’t spectacularly unique, maybe because I read a lot of fantasy so reading about demons wasn’t anything new. However, the mystery surrounding the events in the Downside and the characters’ struggles kept me engaged. Things definitely became more exciting at the end when the plot twists and big reveals occurred. Some of the reveals were a bit predictable, but others were unexpected which was a nice surprise. One thing I liked in particular was the magical creatures that were included such as the hob, howler, fae, and ogres. I also thought that the modern day setting was interesting because a lot fantasy books take place in different time periods and places, so I liked how Prosper was dealing with all of this on top of facing mundane things like going to school and trying to make friends.

See the full review on The Fandom! ( )