Recently I’ve been thinking about picking up some middle grade books. I love reading them, but haven’t made much time for them recently. So when I saw the sign ups for the tour for Dread Wood hosted by The Write Reads I knew I needed to sign up. Even though horror isn’t my go to genre I was interesting. Today is my stop on the tour, so keep on reading to find out more about this book and what I thought!

Genre: MG Horror
Length: 304 Pages
Publishing: 31th March 2022
Amazon
Goodreads

Turn the lights on. Lock the door. Things are about to get SERIOUSLY SCARY!

The brand new must-read middle-grade novel from the author of super-spooky Crater Lake. Perfect for 9+ fans of R.L.Stine’s Goosebumps

It’s basically the worst school detention ever. When classmates (but not mate-mates) Hallie, Angelo, Gustav and Naira are forced to come to school on a SATURDAY, they think things can’t get much worse. But they’re wrong. Things are about to get seriously scary.

What has dragged their teacher underground? Why do the creepy caretakers keeping humming the tune to Itsy Bitsy Spider? And what horrors lurk in the shadows, getting stronger and meaner every minute…? Cut off from help and in danger each time they touch the ground, the gang’s only hope is to work together. But it’s no coincidence that they’re all there on detention. Someone has been watching and plotting and is out for revenge…

Review

If you ever had detention as a kid I highly doubt you would ever think your day would be spent trying to stay safe from humongous spiders. Let’s just say I’m not a fan of those creepy crawly creatures and kept getting the feeling they were crawling on me while reading, haha. The author really made me feel like I was right along with our characters.

The cast of characters is what really made this book amazing for me. We don’t know much about them at the beginning. Only that they all did something to give them detention on a Saturday morning. Angelo, Hallie, Gustav, and Naira aren’t friends, but must spend the day together. We read from Angelo’s POV and learn a bit about him from the start, but slowly see more of the characters. I loved seeing them get to know each other and start to bond while trying to save themselves and get out of detention alive. I really believe a friendship developed here and that’s one of my favorite things about middle grade books. Also, I loved that they all really thought about what they did and in the end tried to make it right.

That being said I definitely got a mad scientist vibe from Mr. & Mrs. Latchett. They really gave me some creepy vibes and the author really portrayed them well. And even though most of this story is wrapped up I love that it leaves us with the feeling that there could eventually be more. All in all, I really enjoyed Dread Wood and read it in one sitting. Horror isn’t my go to genre, but if I got more stories like this I would definitely read this genre more.

About the Author

Jennifer Killick is the author of Crater Lake, the Alex Sparrow series, and middle-grade sci-fi adventure Mo, Lottie and the Junkers. She regularly visits schools and festivals, and her books have three times been selected for The Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge. She lives in Uxbridge, in a house full of children, animals and Lego. When she isn’t busy mothering or step-mothering (which isn’t often) she loves to read, write and run, as fast as she can.

Twitter: @JenniferKillick

 

Dread Wood was definitely a spooky middle grade read that I’d definitely recommend around Halloween! It would really fit that time of year. I didn’t realize that this author already had written some other books. I’ll definitely have to look them up.