Well Read Book Review: Get Ready For Spooky Season With Fall Stories

Welcome back to the Well Read Book Review. October is filled with Halloween preparations, so get ready for some spooky stories. Get ready for one creepy horror story, a cozy pumpkin patch romance and a book of teenage shenanigans with creepy small town stories and a strange mystery.

#1 – “Pumpkinheads” – Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks

Deja and Josie are seasonal friends, only talking while working at the pumpkin patch every autumn. It is their last year at the pumpkin patch before college, and Deja is set on getting Josie to ask out his three year crush. The two friends go on an adventure, trying all kinds of treats in the pumpkin patch and making their way through attraction shortcuts, only for the two to have an unexpected ending. Josie finally meets his crush and realizes who he really wanted to spend his last night with, Deja.

4.01 Average Stars on Goodreads – “Pumpkinheads” is a sweet, cozy fall book. I loved the art style of this graphic novel and the storyline. I enjoyed how it reversed the stereotypical roles of a boy-girl relationship. In a lot of stories the main character is a shy girl with a confident boy, but in this story the roles are completely switched. Josie is a shy boy, being too nervous to ask out his crush, while Deju is a confident girl, who’s dated multiple people in the pumpkin patch. Overall, I really liked this story, but it wasn’t the type of book I would normally enjoy reading. Four stars.

Tags – Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Halloween, Comics

Can be found in the school library

#2 – “What the Woods Took” – Courtney Gould

“What the Woods Took” is not quite a Halloween book but a horror book nonetheless. Devin Green wakes up in the middle of the night with two men standing over her. This is a planned abduction by her foster parents. Devin is taken deep in the Idaho woods where she’s dropped off with four other teens and two counselors. Devin later discovers that this is an experimental therapy program, and the teens will be stuck here for the next 50 days. A few days in, the counselors go missing. Stranded, the teens have to learn to fend for themselves, all while following the path set by maps they uncover. They end up finding deep secrets about the woods that should’ve never been unleashed. 

3.85 Average Stars on Goodreads – This book will made you religiously look over your shoulder and check under the bed before going to sleep. While reading this, the author made everything seem so real, and this story hooked me from the start. Leave the lights on while reading because “What the Woods Took” is an amazing, creepy story. Five stars.

Tags – Horror, Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery, LGBT, Paranormal

Can be found in the library

#3 – “The Missing Season” – Gillian French

Clara is used to being the new girl, but this time everything seems just a bit different. She feels she’s been to the Town of Pender before. The Town of Pender is odd. All the kids know the story of the Mumblr – the monster that lurks in October and takes bad kids. When Clara learns the story, she doesn’t believe, but as October creeps closer, and things get tense with the disappearance of a Pender teen, she can’t shake the feeling that something might be watching her in the dark.

3.25 Average Stars on Goodreads – The book hooked me in the second chapter, and it slowly got more and more interesting. Throughout the book, the author make it feel like Clara has become friends with people in the wrong kind of crowd. Although, as the story goes on the reader realizes that this is just how the Town of Pender works. Most of the book was great, but I think the ending could’ve been better. Four stars.

Tags – Mystery, Young Adult, Thriller, Fiction, Halloween, Paranormal, Suspense

Can be found in the school library