Enjoyed this one. The plot wasn’t that deep so it is a bit easy to figure out what’s going on very early, but that didn’t make the book any less enjoyable. Vish was an interesting main character and I enjoyed his internal dialogue.

Pretty chill spooky season read.

1/5 Stars

TL;DR - A painfully slow, over-bloated, lukewarm (at best) book that delivered the absolute minimum (if that) on the things it promised. Went from intriguing to boring to eye-rolling really quick, and ultimately ended in a bland, forgettable way. I straight up did not have a good time.

Big thanks to ECW Press and NetGalley for providing the ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review!

***Trigger warnings for mentions of prescription drug addiction and vomiting.***

‘The Grimmer’ by Naben Ruthnum is the story of Vish Maurya, a fifteen year old Indian kid coming back to his hometown after two years in a far-off boarding school. On a routine trip to the local used bookstore, he gets pulled into a world of magic and monsters and an evil plot only he can stop. Oh, and it’s the 90s, something you can barely tell but also the author will never let you forget.

Hey, wow, I hated this. I was anticipating a 4-star read at least, and boy howdy, I didn’t get anything but a headache. I was promised that “this gripping ride through the supernatural is loaded with vivid characters, frightening imagery, and astonishing twists, while tackling complex issues such as grief, racism, and addiction” and I got exactly none of that. What a huge letdown.

(In the first draft of this review, I said I would be genuinely angry if I wasn’t so tired and glad to be done with this book, but you know what, I am angry. I wasted five hours on this nonsense that I'm never going to get back.)

Okay, where to start.

I’m definitely not the intended audience for this - I’m a woman in my late 20s. As another review said, I’m not a teenager and haven’t been for some time. I’m too old to remember with much clarity the nuances being a teen entails, and too young to know about being a teen in 1996. If you’re a teenage boy now or were during the 90s, this might hit better than it did for me. Also, on that note, I have to say, it’s a really weird choice on the author’s part to write a YA set in the 90s and then provide no context for any of the references for anyone who wasn’t a teen or older back then.

Speaking of references, first and foremost, I really need to explain the single most annoying thing about this book (except that the blurb lied to my face, more on that later): everything that’s mentioned, from clothes to cars to books to — yeah, it’s literally just everything — has a brand or otherwise significant name attached to it. In my notes, I have “I GENUINELY DON’T GIVE A SINGLE SHIT ABOUT THE BRAND OF PANTS PEOPLE ARE WEARING” and that pretty much sums up how frustrated I was that everyone wears a specific brand of clothing and a specific brand of shoes and drives a specific make and model of car and this is Vish’s opinion on this song from this album from this band and by the way this movie just came out and then this song comes on the radio and this is the band on his t-shirt and his watch is—

[muffled screaming]

(I should have put the book down when the weird eldritch abomination spider-creature was, completely unironically as far as I can tell, named “Zerg”. I should’ve run, why didn’t I run?!)

It genuinely feels like the author is trying to use clothing brands and music/book tastes and what he perceives them to represent to try to tell us things about the characters and their personalities instead of just, telling us about the characters and their personalities. It also seems like most of this is thrown in superficially to browbeat into us that, yeah, this is the 90s, with no other purpose, other than maybe the author going, “I’m so cool because I know all of these things! Look how cool I am! Look!”.

And so many banal, mundane, completely useless things are included or over-explained for no conceivable reason. Chekhov’s gun? Never met him. No plot relevance, no insight or context about plot or characters, no foreshadowing. Probably 50 pages, liberally, could be shaved off this book that’s just…useless filler. The plot moves at a glacial pace because of the extraneous everything - this book is 300 pages but I felt like I was reading for a week straight with no sleep.

To whoever wrote the blurb, you’re really good at your job, but you’re also a filthy stinking liar, which I guess in marketing is the same thing. The blurb calls this a “spine-tingling supernatural horror-thriller” and every single one of those words is the exact opposite of the truth. There are no thrills, there are no chills, there's barely any horror. It’s boring, it’s bland, it’s scarcely even supernatural. Magic in this book is just math and physics and biology, which is cool in theory, but it’s simultaneously over-explained and yet not explained in a way that makes any damn sense. I’m still not sure how most of the magic stuff worked other than…it worked. Super disappointing execution of what could have been really cool, and definitely did not live up to the blurb's promises.

On the subject of lies, I don’t know where the blurb gets off saying this book is about “vivid characters”. Vish is boring and shallow - except he’s also oh-so-edgy because he READS and listens to METAL and he’s just so DIFFERENT. I didn’t know “not like other guys” was a thing, but here he is and here I am. You really do learn new things every day (but I wish I hadn’t learned this).

Gisela is your part-and-parcel manic pixie (but goth!), smoking hot, not-like-other-girls, 16 but actually 700, dream girl? And she’s also…oh yeah, a cheap, blurry photocopy of Yennefer of Vengerberg (from The Witcher) in a black goth trench coat. I wish I was kidding, but her backstory is that she’s a young, unwanted girl who has an aptitude for magic that gets bought by a powerful witch and trained to do awesome magic stuff. Neat, totally original, sure thing buddy. She’s also pretty stupid for all that time and supposed training, considering she’s a 700 year old “super good witch”, and yet the antagonist gets away with a lot of things she should have been able to anticipate, if not outright prevent and counter.

All I have in my notes about the antagonist is, “boring villain do boring villain things, say boring villain words”, and yeah, that’s exactly how impactful and developed the dude was.

The inclusion of and commentary on racism is pretty non-existent for a book that says it “tackles it”. Vish and his parents are supposed to be one of the only brown families in a town that, according to 1996 census data, has 89,000 people in it (and yet somehow everyone knows everyone and all of their business, but I digress), which I find to be a huge stretch having grown up in a town under 10,000 people in the whitest whitebread part of the Midwest, but the most we hear about racism is some fleeting references to him getting bullied in school and the fact that he’s assumed to be related to one of the “only other” brown folks in town. Addiction is, again, barely a factor, and it’s not really “tackled” other than Vish and his mom are mad or sad about his dad’s past addiction a handful of times, and his dad is sorry about it. Grief is, again-again, only mentioned in passing and not in a way that made me feel for the grieving person. This whole book is actually extremely lukewarm emotionally overall, and I had no reason to care about any of the characters, unless you count hating being stuck in a book with them.

The final battle is barely a few pages, the villain gets taken care of in an instant, and overall, the climax is just…anticlimactic. Even the “twist” fell flat, to the point where I just rolled my eyes and moved on. There’s also some last-minute things introduced and left unresolved in the last few pages that potentially open the door to a sequel, and sweet holy gods I hope there isn’t one. Generously put, no thank you.

Final Thoughts:

Man, this could have been so good, but it was so, so bad. If you’re looking for 90s nostalgia, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for a book that “[tackles] complex issues such as grief, racism, and addiction”, this isn’t it. If you need a book that makes little sense and has little substance besides being stuffed to bursting with irrelevant brand names and other culture references, and you’re cool with a little bit of your brain melting out of your ears while you’re reading, oh man, this is for sure the book for you.

I will be summarily deleting this ARC from my Kindle and hope never to think about it again.

Vish has recently returned from boarding school where his parents sent him so his dad could work on his addiction and now that his dad is clean and back to work they’ve allowed Vish to stay home to start high school but first he has to make it through the summer. It’s 1996 and he has been home for two months and has yet to contact his best friends Matt and Danny he knows they were the one who told the teacher about his dad‘s problems and now the whole town is in on it. Even when Danny comes to Vish’s window to beg his forgiveness, Vish is not interested, but That same day when he goes to the Gray cat bookstore and the owner asked him to watch the store for thieves while he goes upstairs Vish is mistaken for one of the owners family members by a man who looks as if he is see-through and win another customer named Gisele spits on him and Vish can see the store through the hole in his face he doesn’t know what to think. When the owner and Gisele try to explain to him what is happening it makes his head spin and when they tell him they need his help he is reluctant to say the very least. The whole two years he was away at school he didn’t make friends and only wanted to be by his self and read books and on his first trip into town he not only has friends but needs their help in stopping a magical monster from ending life as he knows it to make matters worse Gisele says the List of names that Mr. furnace wants is lost and cannot be found they have two weeks to find it or ELSE!!! If Vish thought he would be spending the summer reading books and playing games he would’ve been wrong but had he thought he would be spending the summer with his new friends and his old ones fighting magic and the paranormal to save Toronto and the rest of the world he would’ve been right. Although this sounds like a fun children’s book it deals with some heart issues like drug and alcohol abuse death, racism, loss and mental issues as well if you can’t stomach all that then you are in for a treat I really and thoroughly enjoyed this book I like that Giselle seemed like a hard case those such a nice person or whatever she was after all this book has a lot of surprises in it in there all great I really enjoyed this book and love books with magical realism and The Grimmer definitely has that this was an awesome fun read and one I highly recommend. I want to think ECW press and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

"The Grimmer" by Naben Ruthnum is an eerie, YA novel with the perfect amount of gore and humour. With October right around the corner and spooky season about to begin, this is a great book to pick up to chase after the thrill of being unsettled by grotesque creatures while being led down a maze of unpredictable twists and turns.

When Vish returns to his hometown after his family sent him away for a year, he is struggling to deal with worries about his future and the issues in his home life that have yet to be resolved. To make matters worse, everyone in his hometown seems to know about the issues plaguing his family. As a means of escape, Vish opts to work at the local bookstore, which turns out to have far more in store for him than just shelving books and making small talk with customers. Vish unsuspectedly finds himself in a fight of good against evil where witches, ghosts, and ghastly creatures all exist. It is up to him, the bookstore owner and his witchy assistant Gisela, to prevent an interdimensional invasion from destroying their town and everyone in it.

"The Grimmer" is a super cool book that, on the surface, is a supernatural horror story with the typical blood, guts, and gore. Yet, underneath all that, Ruthnum touches on very real issues through his characters that readers will be able to relate to and may have even experienced themselves. This story shows even teenagers can experience a lot of inner turmoil and aren't too young to undergo trauma. There are other neat themes in this story such as music, which brings a lot of characters together and creates bonds. The interweaving of real-life problems with an enjoyable, spooky story.

While I did enjoy the story, I found that there were moments where I lost interest. In some places, the story moved a little too slow for my liking which made it hard to keep plowing through. Sometimes, I found I didn't care too much for certain scenes as I wasn't interested in some of the conversations (like the one Vish had with the bookstore owner in the beginning). It could be that it's not a book intended for my age group or that I chose a book intended for a younger audience, but I found I wasn't as hooked on the story as I expected. Still, I do appreciate what the author did with this story and, overall, did enjoy the characters and plot and thought it was a pretty good novel.

Those who love a good horror novel with creepy creatures and tons of plot twists are really going to enjoy "The Grimmer" by Naben Ruthnum. Look for this book on its expected publication date of September 26, 2023.

A big thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for providing me with a free e-arc of this story and the opportunity to share my honest opinion in this review.

The Grimmer by Naben Ruthnum was a fantastic story. I had a great time reading it, very good writing,

I think this is a good beginner book for people trying to get into YA horror. There's nothing that really sticks out to me from this book and it could have used a little more of the actual scary aspects of horror. I love the small town vibes, but the family dynamic was not my favorite as well as the main character having such a big issue with his friends. The ending was a bit rushed, but I appreciate what the author tried to do with this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for giving me the digital ARC to review!

I don't usually read horror genre anymore, (well, this felt like a thriller not really a horror) but the plot & cover pulled me right in. Not to mention the Stranger Things association! I knew I wanted to read it as soon as possible. However, that changed as I got more into the story. We (kind of) got the vibe, but at the same time, not really?

What I enjoyed: The characters! I liked how the author managed to touch the topic of racism, grief & addiction. I felt sorry for Vish, and all the things he went/was going through. He had a lot on his shoulders. Next was the setting of the story, a small creepy town. Everybody knows everybody. At times it felt as if I would be there, watching them.

What I did not like: The fast pacing and the ending. It felt rushed near the end. Wish the book had another 20 or 30 pages to resolve it slower.

Overall, it was okay.

A teen dealing with his father's recent drug addiction and being sent away to boarding school has returned home to his family's new normal and gets a job at a bookstore but then finds himself fighting against strange monsters, the occult world, witches, undead creatures, and even learning to use magic through math, nobody said getting a job at a bookstore would be easy. Vish is dealing with his dad's return from treatment for addiction and him being sent away to boarding school, he's become reclusive and antisocial, finding happiness in the only two things he enjoys: metal music and books. He's gets a job at a bookstore run by a mysterious guy when he accidentally gets mistaken for him and bis attacked by a decaying man... and soon finds himself embroiled in the world of magic. This one was advertised as a small town mystery with supernatural horror-thriller elements meets Stranger Things, and for a high school young adult book, I guess I was expecting more. It definitely felt like t could be read by a middle grade reader and it didn't have that much horror that I was expecting. Overall, it just didn't live up to my expectations and I found myself really bored with the story and not connecting with it at all, I really hoped it would be a fun time but it just felt lackluster in general to me. I am a huge horror fan and this one just missed the mark. However, I think if its a starter horror book for a middle-grade reader, maybe they'll have a better time with it than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and ECW Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Vish has just returned to his small hometown after living at a boarding school for the past two years. Deciding to lay low for the summer after the fallout that happened when he left town, Vish ignores his former friends. Who had a hand in the rumors surrounding his family..
During his first trip back downtown he has a very strange encounter with a misshapen man, a goth girl at Greycat Books, the town's local bookshop. Not only is he witness to supernatural events that will completely change his worldview, he also becomes entangled in this new multidimensional world whether he wants to or not. The fate of this small town rests on a boy who not only has to defend himself from unknown supernatural entities, but also overcome the trauma that haunts his family.
The Grimmer is an original horror/thriller, and as the description says, it definitely has Stranger Things vibes. I very much enjoyed how natural Naben Ruthnum writes, with characters reacting in a real world manner. It’s not your typical trope of a young person who learns everything overnight and becomes a master.
Great book! I hope this will turn out to be a series!

Thank you to Net Galley and ECW Press for this opportunity to read rage and review this arc which is available September 26,2023!

Cosmic Horror but for teens. It tackles grief, addiction, racism with creepy twists. I enjoyed it for what it was. A quick read that couldn’t grab my attention for long but I still had fun reading it. I will say it reminded me of a much tamer less racist Lovecraft.

Naben Ruthnum's "The Grimmer" is a chilling and captivating supernatural thriller that seamlessly blends the eerie mysteries of small-town life with a modern twist of horror. Set against the backdrop of a town rife with secrets, the story follows Vish, a high schooler grappling with his family's struggles, societal prejudices, and the unexpected horrors that lurk beneath the surface. Ruthnum masterfully weaves together elements of the occult, mathematical magic, and interdimensional invasion, creating a world where the lines between reality and the supernatural blur in unsettling ways.

Vish's journey into the realm of the mysterious bookseller and his enigmatic employee, Gisela, takes readers on a spine-tingling adventure filled with suspense, scares, and vividly imagined creatures. The author's ability to create an atmosphere that is both haunting and engrossing is commendable, drawing readers into a world where witches reside within television sets and the undead can inflict fiery destruction.

Beyond its supernatural elements, "The Grimmer" also delves into deeper themes, tackling issues like grief, racism, and addiction. These complex issues are skillfully interwoven into the narrative, adding layers of depth to the characters and their motivations. Vish's journey becomes a mirror reflecting the challenges of real-life struggles, making the supernatural elements all the more impactful.

Ruthnum's writing is both evocative and thought-provoking, painting a vivid picture of a town shrouded in mystery and fear. As Vish navigates through a maze of secrets and dangerous encounters, readers are taken on a roller-coaster ride of twists and turns that keep the pages turning late into the night. "The Grimmer" is a gripping and suspenseful read that explores the boundaries of the unknown and the resilience of the human spirit, leaving readers both spooked and deeply moved.

"The small-town mysteries of John Bellairs are made modern with a dash of Stranger Things in this spine-tingling supernatural horror-thriller.

After his father returns from treatment for addiction, highschooler Vish - lover of metal music and literature - is uncertain what the future holds. It doesn't help that everyone seems to know about the family's troubles, and they stand out doubly as one of the only brown families in town. When Vish is mistaken for a relative of the weird local bookseller and attacked by an unsettling pale man who seems to be decaying, he is pulled into the world of the occult, where witches live in television sets, undead creatures can burn with a touch, and magic is mathematical. Vish must work with the bookstore owner and his mysterious teenage employee, Gisela, to stop an interdimensional invasion that would destroy their peaceful town.

Bringing together scares, suspense, and body horror, The Grimmer is award-winning author Naben Ruthnum's first foray into the young adult genre. This gripping ride through the supernatural is loaded with vivid characters, frightening imagery, and astonishing twists, while tackling complex issues such as grief, racism, and addiction."

Um, how is a book made modern with a dash of a show set in the eighties?

Great YA horror, reminiscent of Barker's Thief of Always or Gaiman's Graveyard Book. Good amount of optimistic adventure while still having a healthy dose of danger, gore, scariness and suspense. Minimal romantic plotline which is always a plus for me personally (too often it feels like a crutch to carry stories).

Poor Vish has had a hard time of it. He was sent to boarding school while his dad was in addiction recovery. He’s back after two years, angry and sullen, estranged from his friends and family. On a trip to his favorite bookstore, he’s confronted with magic and evil.
Time travel, possession, witches and a pending disaster. Lots of unknowns and slow reveals that wrap up nicely in the end.
I love that cats are heroes in this story! Too often they’re evil.
Would like to see more from this world.

Readers of all ages love the be scared by the world of fiction at times. Naben Ruthnum has created a book that invites readers of a wide range, and a world that includes a nice dose of thrill and suspense.

A new YA horror about a teen boy sucked into the world of the occult at a bookstore. For horror novels, I want that sinister feeling lurking from the start, and I just didn’t get that. The writing style here wasn’t really for me, but others might enjoy it more.

This book is getting super low ratings on Goodreads so I'm going to leave off reading it - however I have to leave a review and rating or my NetGalley ratio won't hit 100%, I'm sorry!

Thank you to Net Galley and ECW Press for the Kindle ARC.

I think a description can shoot a novel in the foot (metaphorically) when it promises to be like that of something popular, but it’s a very clever idea to get you to pick up that book and read it.

When you mention a novel to be a touch of Stranger Things, you immediately assume this is going to be a good one, but then what happens when that book doesn’t quite follow through? I get the comparison. It’s fantastical, with magic elements and strange creatures.

There is terror, not horror, no extreme gore, and it's creepy for sure, but I would put this book in the YA category.

It starts with a story about Vishnu (Vish) and what happens to his family when his father’s drug use is revealed. Vish goes away to school for a term resenting his family for sending him away because he feels he is old enough to deal with the issues. Vish is now home for summer break, estranged from his friends (Danny and Matt), who revealed the secret.

Vish happens upon a local bookshop called the Greycat and meets Agaysta, who drinks heavily and still grieves the loss of his wife, Isla. During Vish’s visit, he encounters the monster, Farris. A ghoul that is embodied with dead souls tethered to this world. A strange and crazy event would change everything for Vish.

After Gisela (an ally that stays close to the bookshop) battles Farris and dispatches him from harming Vish, a new world would be open to him. One that’s hard to believe and one he must understand in order not to be taken.

It’s a little disappointing toward the end and falls short, but overall it's a good premise. I think it’s an interesting story but leans more toward fantasy/thriller/sci-fi and not horror.

The idea behind the story being told was great. I love the idea of a man consuming the dead to be able to place their souls in new bodies. The execution of the story however was very lack luster. The fact that every adult in this book has some sort of serious problem is concerning. The story line moved far too quickly also. It left out too many details that would have added to the story. If the author would add those in and spread the story out over a longer time span it would have made it much more enjoyable.

I was expecting more from The Grimmer but I never felt scared or afraid by Naben Ruthnum’s writing, story or characters.

The hard part is that The Grimmer has good bones but the overall book never fits perfectly as a horror story and I hate that because I feel Ruthnum could become a good horror story.