This was such a fantastic read! I've read a few things from Kristen Simmons, but I think this is her first foray into horror, and I had a great time with this story! It reminded me of Jumanji, with the game element that's trying to kill you, and combined with the Japanese underworld worked really well!

It was pretty spooky right off the bat, with weird things happening to these kids, drawing them back together, introducing them to us, and setting up for them to go do this. And that creepiness continued as they started to play the game, there were all sorts of gruesome things that they had to outsmart, outwit, and sacrifice to.

It was interesting to watch this group of people who had once been very close, have to deal with one other in these circumstances now that they don't get along, mainly from the fallout of when they last played the game. But I was rooting for them to work things out, and win the game!

The way things ended, oh, man! That was a bittersweet and haunting ending, what it cost them! And that bit with Ian, yeah, the story doesn't feel finished, so I'm really hoping that this becomes a series so things will be resolved, one way or another!

Loved reading this book, and I hope we get more, there's still things I want dealt with!

I don't think YA is for me, even a gory thriller... I am DNFing it at this time. Thank you for my copy!

For a novel compared to a Japanese Jumanji, I expected more. I enjoyed the prose style but not so much the in-your-face "terrors" and obvious plot structure.

I really enjoyed this book! The author does such a great job moving the story along without giving away major twists that where revealed at the end. I definitely can't wait for the sequel to come out to see how it ties up some of the loose ends that happened at the end of the book. This is a fast-paced book and you definitely don't get bored reading it. However, I do with the author did spend more time in each character's POV, instead of changing ever chapter, so the readers could build more of a connection with characters.

This was YA horror with dark fantasy vibes that was a good creepy story. I still had several questions and I don’t know that everything was explained fully. I was not committed to characters but that was not a deal breaker for me. Overall, a decent horror that left me thinking and sufficiently creeped out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

This was a fun YA Horror!
I enjoyed the challenges the main characters have to take on, amd their developing friendships.

The ending was both satisfying and surprising!

Thank you, Netgalley for the copy!

When they were kids, five friends started a mysterious game called Meido. Only four of them survived. Now in high school, the remaining four are summoned by the ghost of their dead friend to complete the game by dawn or be trapped inside its uncanny Japanese underworlds forever. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Tor Teen. Trigger warnings: character death, body horror, gore, captivity, violence, fires, drowning, spiders, neglect.

This is such a great title, isn’t it? I would have picked it up based on that alone, but the premise of a horror game really grabbed me. I forget sometimes how hit and miss that trope can be, and it’s not my favorite here. The readers don’t know the rules because the characters don’t know the rules, so there’s never any sense about what’s working or not working in the “game” or when/why they’re going to be punished for breaking the rules. Everything is sort of hastily (and sometimes wrongly) explained after the fact. The game structure ultimately ends up being a bit flimsy, and I feel a little bait and switched into reading what’s more like a standard other-world dark fantasy novel.

And we know I struggle with fantasy. It was extra hard for me here because each time the characters “level up,” I had to reinvest myself in an entirely new setting with new monsters and NPCs. The chapters are plenty long enough to do this, and Simmons excels at world-building and descriptions, but it didn’t stop me from feeling bogged down in all the changes and details. I suspect this has far more to do with me not really being a fantasy person (not even horror fantasy, unfortunately) than anything the novel does wrong. The Japanese folklore elements are really interesting and creatively done, and that was probably my favorite aspect of the book.

The characters are enjoyable and distinct enough, if not terribly memorable. The book relies a lot on their past friendships to ground the group, but given that we’re not present for that and they all hate each other now, it’s not as effective as it could be. Then there’s also the fact that the game makes them randomly start forgetting things, so they suddenly start acting like friends again. There’s not a lot of consistent development among the five of them, aside from a couple shaky romantic subplots. I did like the build-up to one character reveal far more than I liked another. It works well the first time, and the second time I was just bothered that everything kept changing. Pick a plot point/setting/backstory and stick with it, please. I suspect most of this would come clear on a second read, but I’m not invested enough for that, nor to continue with the series.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

This book was a did not finish for me. The horror and magic and Japanese elements were just not engaging g for me.

This has such a promising premise. As a huge Jumanji and horror fan, I was ready for this one, but it fell flat. It was a chore to get through in a lot of ways. Five too many ideas in a single book.

This book has an amazing premise but the execution was extremely poor. I was unable to finish this book. The characters were SO unlikeable. The story itself was really boring! Which was very disappointing given the premise.

I also have no clue how this book was classified as a horror novel. There was legit nothing scary about it.

The writing style was also clumsy and poor. This also contributed to my overall dislike of the move.

This is a book that definitely had to grow on me as I read it, but by the end I’d say it did a successful job. Describing it as Japanese-inspired Jumanji is pretty accurate, but the backstory and mythology felt pretty unique from other stories I’ve read, which I enjoyed. Definitely a lot creepier and more gruesome. Initially I found the story just okay and a little too confusing. The purpose and how the game worked was confusing, and it starts to make a little more sense as more is revealed, but it’s still something you can find yourself getting a little lost trying to make sense of. And even after finishing it, I do think this would work even better as a movie than a book, because there’s so much going on visually that’s unique and new, that for me it’s just harder to picture reading the words. Then again, some of the images described are so creepy and gruesome I don’t know if I want an accurate picture. It’s definitely not a pretty, lighthearted story, but if you're looking for something unique with that creepy factor in it, this is a good one.

Hauntingly eerie with lots of twists and turns--great narration and plotline! Kept me interested the whole way through!

I received a free advance digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Working on getting through the rest of the advanced books I received in 2023.
When I started this book it felt like something I wasn’t going to be able to finish. As I kept reading the storyline and characters drew me in and I found it hard to put down. The games were intriguing and scary at the same time. Also loved the twists in the story, some I saw coming but there weee a few that surprised me. I thought the author did a really good job of including diversity within the characters of the book. Looking forward to the sequel coming out this year!

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Teen for the digital galley of this book.

Five years ago, Owen, Madeline, Emerson, and Dax’s friendship ended when they started a game that their other friend, Ian didn’t survive. Now, Ian’s ghost is back, summoning them back to the house where it all began. This time, they’ll have to finish the game, and they may not survive this time.

This book is wild! It’s posed as a Japanese-inspired Jumanji, and I can totally see that. I was hooked from when ghost Ian started showing up in each of the character’s lives, and it didn’t let go until the end. I got a little lost here and there, just because so much happened and the twists and turns, but overall, it was an exciting story, and I just sort of hung on for the ride. I liked the pov shifts from chapter to chapter. There were four main characters, plush what happened with Ian and another character or two, so it took me a minute to keep them all straight, but I think the characterizations were strong as it got going. Definitely recommend if you’re into YA Horror with lots of adventure.

This was a great spooky book for October. I loved how the author wrote this book. The pros was so beautifully written. I needed to keep reading it.

I enjoyed this book, though it took me a while to get into. I liked the concept of the story and felt that it was well executed. I recommend!

This was my first book by Kristen Simmons and I was not disappointed. I saw someone said it was like Jumanji with Japanese folklore attached and I just could not get that out of my head. Because wtf? A book that has Jumanji in it? I was thinking the like elephants and stuff, but no, it was more like the game. (And please don’t judge me lmao I know that’s crazy)

Ok so first things first, I knew this book was going to be weird. That’s why I waited so long to read it. I wanted to read it closer to Halloween, but I just couldn’t stop myself from reading. And listen, I wasn’t as scared as I thought I’d be, but it did make me put it down for a little bit. I think to truly scare me I needed some more of an explanation on what they looked like. Like it was mostly a gloss over, but I think I needed some like explanation of the monsters. Not only of what they looked like, but also exactly what a Kuchisake-onna is and what is the significance in the Japanese culture. I mean obviously I looked it up after I finished it, but I wish I could have learned it from the book.

The plot of this was crazy. All the little trials they went thorough was so out there! And that ending made me almost throw my phone. Idk what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. And I’m usually good with picking up on twists like that. That just told me how much I was into that book. I also just wanted to scare myself so I was hanging on to everything that was said in this books. I wanted to be fully immersed. Especially since I was listening to the audio. But Idk whatever the reason I just wasn’t really paying attention. And I think that was better for me. It made it a surprise for me and of course I enjoyed this more because of it.

The characters were all off the wall tho. At the end when the big secret is told and that one person goes to visit that certain someone, does that mean that there’s going to be another book? Like I wasn’t sure if that meant she was going to try and make something happen afterward? If so, I’m here for it. Idk what else there would be to say, maybe the journey of what she finds out, but I’m here to see what it is.

This book was so much fun. I don’t want to talk too much about it because I don’t want to spoil anything. I’ll just say it was creepy, weird, and it will throw you for a loop. Everything that you could want in a monster or demon filled horror book. Definitely a great book to put me in the Halloween spirit!

Requested the book because the cover reminded me of the Monster House film, and it was just as terrifying. Despite being scared out of my wits while reading the whole thing, I could not put it down until the very last page. For all horror fans, I highly recommend this book.

I was not able to get to this book but hope to pick it up and read it soon. The description seems like something I would definitely enjoy. Everyone that has read this book also seems to be enjoying it so I look forward to it.

The comparison of this book to Jumanji is not unfounded, however the narrative felt laborious to finish rather than enjoyable.