Given my students love of all things scary, I thought this one would be great. And it would, for older readers. Unfortunately, I don't think it really fits my elementary school students.

Prosper and his twin sister, Prudence, have always been treated different. It is obvious they care for each other, but Prudence has always been favored while Prosper has been treated like an outcast. When he is twelve, he finds out that he has a demon living inside.

It turns out that his family has been trying to rid him of the demon, BUT in order to do that, the host may have to die. Prosper's demon, Alastor, has been planning his revenge on the Redding family and is planning to lead Prosper into helping this happen- without Prosper's knowledge.

I liked this story and have already suggested it to some of my students. Those who have read it told me they loved the story and characters.

I was given the opportunity to read this book by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I tried about five times to read this. I could never get into it. It became a DNF. It's just not for me. The writing was good and the characters fine. It just wasn't for me.

This was good story. Not great, but good. I struggled a bit and I know this is a classic case of, “it’s not you, it’s me,” since everyone I know that read it, loved it.

This book was so unexpectedly beautiful. This is the best middle grade I’ve read since Harry Potter. Plus, this is beyond perfect for the Autumn and Halloween season. The prose is so lyrical, the characters are so heartwarming, and the messages are so important. I recommend The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding with my whole heart.

I tried to get into this book two or three separate times before deciding to mark this as a DNF (did not finish) for me. Something about the writing wasn’t pulling me in, similar to the problem I had with another one of the same author’s books. The characters and premise were interesting, but I couldn’t get into the rhythm of the writing.

Unfortunately my Amazon account got hacked numerous times and I closed my account. When closing the account, I lost all of my electronic kindle ARCs from netgalley under that email including this title which I am unable to review

This was a delightful read and a fun series-starter! This would be a great recommendation for the pre-Bartimaeus crowd!

First and foremost, this book made me wish it was currently October. I was in desperate need of Halloween, jack-o-lanterns, black cats, and haunted houses in the entirety of reading this book. Alex Bracken has been one of my favorite authors in the past few years and this book does not fall short of any expectations I hold; she exceeds all of them. The Darkest Minds series holds such a special place in my heart and I thought nothing could ever come close to that. Then, I read the Passenger series and had the same thought. And most recently, The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding came along.

Prosper Redding is your average twelve-year old boy (he’s sassy and often confused), but he has an ancient demon trapped inside of him that constantly threatens to ruin his whole family and their empire. Not to mention, the Reddings are hated by what seems to be the whole general population. You know, average twelve-year-old things. It’s been eight, nearly nine, years since I was twelve and I can honestly say that Bracken captured a twelve-year-old perfectly. From the sinking feeling in your stomach on the first day of school to the terrifying adventure of meeting new people, it’s all there.

The world building is on another level. Like The Darkest Minds and Passenger, Bracken writes a new world and describes it in the best way possible. It’s so easy to see the scenes play out and every little detail in the setting because she paints it so well. She is beyond descriptive and it made me get lost in Redhood and Salem.

Despite being a middle-grade novel, and me being twenty, I adored this story. Bracken always has the most thought-out plots and she doesn’t disappoint. Her characters are absolutely incredible and so realistic. From the moment Nell was introduced, I completely fell in love with her sarcastic comebacks, her passion for witchcraft, and her selflessness. Nell is fierce and a force to be reckoned with. She’s also never afraid to ask questions and that’s a lesson we can all afford to learn. Alex Bracken even finds room in this novel to discuss the unequal treatment of women and men in theatrical productions and if that isn’t astounding, I’m not sure what is.

I want to keep this a spoiler-free review. I do. And I will. But this whole book, especially the ending, is truly told in Alex Bracken style.

You’re going to want to pick this book up, and if you don’t, you’ll kick yourself for missing out. And you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy it; you just have to love a great book, spectacular characters, and a fantastic author who knows how to write a stunning story.

And a huge thank you to NetGalley for supplying me with an early copy to read and review!

Want to talk about this book or see me review your favorite? Just let me know!

(Originally published on July 21, 2017 at twentysevenletters.tumblr.com)

Good, spooky, middle grade. It has good writing, lovable characters, and a bad guy that is hard not to like, as it's a fox looking demon. The plot is interesting, and, like Alexandra Bracken's other works, has a good found family dynamic. I would recommend this for people looking for a good middle grade that is light hearted, introduces an easy to digest darkness, and leaves the reader wanting to know what happens next.

Harry Potter meets Lemony Snicket in tone and originality. It takes courage to write a supernatural series and bear the inevitable comparisons to J.K. Rowling (being a Potter fan, I couldn't help it), but Alexandra Bracken has come up with a compelling story and likable protagonist with scads of original magical happenings and fantastical creatures. Prosperity Redding is a kid whose family has a past and it's a heavy responsibility to shoulder once he figures out what's going on. The dialogue is crisp and clever and kept me interested and amused from the very first chapter. Twists and turns lead him through a kidnapping to a haunted house and, ultimately, to the gates of Hell. Luckily I had the sequel on hand (The Last Life of Prince Alastor) because I just had to find out what happened next.

I truly enjoyed reading this book, and I am sure that my students will too. It is nice to have a male main character for this age level. (There is also a strong female character in the story.) There are several twists in the story as well as quite a bit of humor. The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding will be highlighted soon as a Marvelous book of the Month. (Review will be updated at that time.)

Poor Prosper. He holds the key (or really a demon) to terrifying mystery, and everyone (or at least his family) seems to want to kill him for it.

This book is definitely a Halloween-time, middle-schooler read! The descriptions of the town and especially the haunted house, paint a fun and slightly terrifying backdrop for this clever novel. Alastor, the sarcastic, Shakespearean-demon is a hilarious contrast to a 12-year-old boy who has his own issues, even if those issues are just living through puberty and being a disappointment to his family!

Bracken does a good job of integrating the place and the characters of the novel so that they play off of each other. The “setting” of the story is not just a place for the events to occur, but heighten the action and the characters’ moods, even if this may not be something that middle schoolers are thinking about when they read the book (“geez, I just love how the haunted house is a metaphor for Prosper and Alastor’s relationship…yada, yada, yada”).

Basically, if you want a fun read, wait until October and then pick up this book! It is a perfect fall read and one that will really get you into the Halloween spirit!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy to read. All opinions are my own.

Listen, I just want to say that I have nothing but love for this book. I bought it on Kindle and then I bought a physical copy for my classroom library. Yes, some of my middle schoolers have found it a bit intense, and yes, this book does not have a proper resolution (there is a second book to look forward to), but it is totally worth the ride.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this fun book. It had a great amount of creepy and I enjoyed it very much. I will definitely be reading the second book.

I like the cover. Its flashy and eye catching. The fox is kind of cute. And the cover totally fits the story.
The story wasn’t bad there just wasn’t much going on. I know this was a middle grade book but the writing and the content just didn’t seem to fit together. There was a lot of fancy fluffy writing then she would turn around and go full juvenile with boogers and smelly armpits.
Prosper Redding was a fun character. He started off a bit annoying but quickly transitioned into endearing. I wanted things to work out for him.
Like I said I was rooting for Prosper but there was too much silliness to feel any real tension.

I loved the writing style and dialogue of the main character. The author did a wonderful job setting up the story and giving the readers just enough to keep them wanting more!

A dark twisty adventure with a fiend from Downstairs.
Prosper Redding is not the family's darling, but he's shocked to learn that they would kill him to break a family curse. When an estranged uncle swoops in to save the day, Prosper must try to stay safe long enough to banish the demon living inside him. But the malefactor, Alastor, has plans of his own with this body. And his own family drama. Betrayal. Revenge. Family. They are all intertwined in this tale. Hand to middle-grade readers who are searching for something scary and like their horror peppered with humor.

I was so excited to see Alexandra Bracken on a middle reader! Overall it was good, but I wasn't blown away by it.

I found this book to be rather disappointing. While I realize the target audience is middle school age, that is no excuse for choppy writing and flat characters. The basic idea was intriguing but, unfortunately, it just wasn’t very well developed.