Author: Shea Ernshaw
Series: Standalone
Genre: Paranormal/Romance/YA
Publisher: Disney Press
Publication Date: July 5th, 2022
Edition: Kindle Edition
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Book Depository | Bookshop | Powell's | Thriftbooks
Synopsis:
Jack and Sally are "truly meant to be" ... or are they?
Sally Skellington is the official, newly-minted Pumpkin Queen after a whirlwind courtship with her true love, Jack, who Sally adores with every inch of her fabric seams -- if only she could say the same for her new role as Queen of Halloween Town. Cast into the spotlight and tasked with all sorts of queenly duties, Sally can't help but wonder if all she's done is trade her captivity under Dr. FInkelstein for a different -- albeit gilded -- cage. But when Sally and Zero accidentally uncover a long-hidden doorway to an ancient realm called Dream Town in the forest Hinterlands, she'll unknowingly set into motion a chain of sinister events that put her future as Pumpkin Queen, and the future of Halloween Town itself, into jeopardy. Can Sally discover what it means to be true to herself and save the town she's learned to call home, or will her future turn into her worst... well, nightmare.
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Not gonna lie, I was kind of let down by this book. Sally didn't really feel like Sally. She wasn't the courageous headstrong character she was in Nightmare Before Christmas. She was shy and meek. Sure she still ended up saving the day, but it took a lot of pushing and her almost giving up multiple times and a little pushing from outside sources for her to get there. It just didn't feel like the same Sally.
The world itself was kind of the saving grace for me. Seeing the other worlds in the holiday forest was really cool. I think this book would make an awesome graphic novel.
The plot itself, I really liked it. Though I think it could have been better if Sally was more like Sally from the movie. Which she should be since this is supposed to be a sequel to the movie. Sally would have had more agency with trying to wake everybody up. She wouldn't have sat there for 10 minuets drinking tea before doing something about it.
There are some other things that I really didn't care for in this book, but they are spoilers so I don't know how to address them. Another down side is this book is marketed as Young Adult, but it mostly reads closer to Middle-Grade. Which is fine I enjoy Middle-Grade, but when I'm expecting Young Adult and get something that reads a lot younger it feels like a let down.
One thing aside, I don't know if there was something wrong with the edition I got from the library. Every source shows this book being 320 pages, but the ebook I borrowed only had 192. Not sure what that was about. It was, as far as I can tell, the full book. I'd need to hold a physical copy to know for sure what was going on.
I don't know who I would recommend this book to, if you really love Nightmare Before Christmas, you might like this book. But it's hard to say really. It was a short quick read, so in that regard it's good for the Halloween season.
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