This book wasn't what I expected! Very interesting and unique. It had really wonderful writing, great story and I really liked Teddi as a MC!

The Precious Dreadful is the ideal combination of romance, humor and paranormal. I really enjoyed the progression of the plot in this novel.

I was unable to read this book because I did not check the available formats before I requested it and I did not have a way to read the protected PDF. I am sending this "review" in order to clear this book from my un-reviewed items.

Unfortunately, this book was not a good match for me, and I will decline to review. I hope plenty of other readers find it more compatible, and thank you for the opportunity to review!

While the writing here was okay, and the central mystery interesting enough to keep me reading, this book fell far short of my expectations. The "teen writing group" aspect that first attracted me is barely present, the paranormal elements are very slight, and Teddi's mother is weird caricature of irresponsible parenthood. It could have been a good exploration of a complex mother-daughter relationship, but all of their conversations are tediously circular and clunky.

Worst of all: the romance, which completely overtakes this book, is simply terrible. The love interest over whom Teddi spends most of the book waffling is an abusive jerk and is never adequately redeemed by the narrative, never adequately called out for his unacceptable behavior. A secondary love interest, a sort of "nice guy" character, is also actually pretty manipulative.

The mystery plot is also clunky. There is a lot of armchair psychology about repression and, like, headaches.

Not very impressed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing for the opportunity to read and review The Precious Dreadful by Steven Parlato. Teddi’s summer vacation begins with a few options. She decides to spend time with Summerteens, the local library’s summer writing workshop. Before the workshop kicks off, Teddi has had a spooky encounter, a kiss and an argument with her single, downtrodden mother. I fell in love with The Precious Dreadful, Teddi’s personality and boldness and the variety of characters it holds in its pages! The more I read, the deeper the story took me. Teddi has pretty much raised herself since her mother, Brenda, tends to be drunk and partying with her friends instead of being available and sober for her daughter. Brenda is also keeping secrets from Teddi and has tried to, in her own dysfunctional way, protect her role as a mother. As Teddi’s summer rolls on, relationships become more complicated and drama-ridden and her subconscious is forcing her to remember a traumatic and horrible part of her childhood. The Precious Dreadful bends genres: mystery, horror, supernatural, romance and young adult realistic fiction; this book also pulls at your heartstrings through intense tragedy, awareness of bad choices and the bond of friendship and kindness of others and it’s well deserving of 5 stars!

I am torn on how to rate this book. At times, I really enjoyed it and at times I found it a bit awkward/unrealistic in terms of character voice. The main character is a 15 year old girl and the voice/narration at times feels quite disconnected from that fact. While the story itself pulled me in, surprising me with its darkness, and I liked Teddi's character, the voice sometimes pulled me out of the story and maybe me a little cringy as did the problematic relationships that Teddi finds herself in throughout the story.

A highly enjoyable read! This wasn't what I expected but am glad that I received a chance to read this good story!

I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars on this. On the one hand, it felt like there were so many plot points that never really fully fleshed themselves out completely but rather just got glossed over in the end in ambiguity. I didn't really like that. Also, the entire relationship building throughout the book was not great. I'm rarely a fan of characters who fall for each other so quickly with little background or understanding of how and why other than "he's hot" (and yes, I understand that's how teenagers work, I'm with them every day. But in my books I don't like to read it! I WANT MORE DEVELOPMENT!) Also, the end of the book felt like it wrapped up too neatly and quickly. 

On the other hand, though, the narrative voice was different and I liked it. The story was definitely unique. It caught me off guard quite a few times and at one point I was so surprised and disturbed that I didn't know what to think. It kept me reading and wanting to know what came next even as I was falling asleep at night. So for that, I rounded up with my stars.

As a warning, though, this book involves some graphic descriptions and many trigger points, so I wouldn't recommend it for young readers who those with weak sensibilities.

I very much liked this story! It had an eerie atmosphere, which is a bit rare in YA. I did have a few issues with it, but I can't give this anything less than 5 stars, it had me hooked from the first chapter. I always love stories with unreliable narrators, and Teddi is just that! This book will give you the chills and feels. I highly recommend it!

I will say that this book had fantastic descriptions of moods, settings, people.  But the ending and the failure to wrap up a major plot point properly really harmed this.  The problem was that the entire book was drawing toward something major.  When it was revealed, the aftermath of it was glossed over to such a fine point that I had to re-read to make sure I hadn't missed something.  Don't spend that long on a major mystery only to skate over it after it's revealed.  This also definitely had some mature YA topics that I'm not sure were properly handled.  That being said, however, the writing was well done and I'll be curious to read more from this author.

The Precious Dreadful comes out TODAY on February 13, 2018, and you can purchase HERE.

Summer's my favorite. Partly because I have a late July birthday, but I also the heaviness, that sense you could bit the air. The dusk-whirr of insects. Sparklers. And I'm not the type to moan about humidity frizzing my hair (that's why God invented bucket hats), specially since there's currently no particular boy to impress.

Within pages of starting this, I didn't like it. This was probably just Not For Me.

I am honestly unsure what was happening with the story.

SO WOW. If I had known how much I would love The Precious Dreadful, I would have gone at it a lot sooner! I let it sit on my computer for thirty whole days.

So I had a feeling I would like The Precious Dreadful just from that weird description. I love how the ghost is mentioned so offhandedly. “Oh, yeah, AND there’s a ghost.” Like her other problems are bigger.

I’m also such a sucker for anything involved in young people writing. So we have Teddi’s writing group, boy problems, mom problems, unreliable memory (I love me an unreliable narrator), and oh, yeah, that pesky ghost.

I knew if the book was as quirky as its description, I’d dig it. And it does not disappoint.

The writing is GORGEOUS. The voice captured me immediately.

The beauty for me is especially in this, like, incongruity between the super modern Teddi voice saying things like “legit” and that her illness might be “contage” but also comes out with these brilliant comebacks and gorgeous metaphors. This could have gone SO wrong but it works so well.

One ghost scene actually gave me the chills, which is a huge compliment. It is eerie and spectacular.

The pacing is spot on, this is easily the kind of book one could finish in a day.

The world-building is fantastic. I can feel Teddi’s crappy house and smell the pond. And y’all. THE POND. So much of this takes place around a pond where little Teddi and her childhood friend Corey played. I have no trouble seeing the pond, hearing what happens. It’s just so beautifully written.

The characters are so great. This is phenomenal because while they aren’t all always likable, they’re so incredibly real and you feel for them, even the crappier ones.

Our narrator, Teddi, is phenomenal. I loved her voice right away, and it never lets you down. Going through a less-than-perfect life with nothing but her dog and a ton of super dark humor, and it works for me. Teddi is the one to make a bad situation worse with an ill-timed joke, and I’m so here for it. Teddi does have a rather infuriating relationship with her on again/off again boyfriend, Aiden, and I think it’s important to remember that while that drives us crazy, it’s VERY realistic for a girl her age, especially given her home life. She’s so loving, so feeling, even taking care of her drunk mom whom some would have given up on.

Speaking of her mom, wow. I KNOW THIS WOMAN. She is often awful, calling Teddi names and there’s a physical fight in there, too. But their relationship, their dynamic, their every interaction feels so authentic. I love their shorthand, their ease in communication. And even if her mom is awful, I want to root for her. I hope to be given a reason.

You know I love me a girl friendship, and the one between Teddi and her BFF Willa is awesome. It has bumps, oh lord it has bumps. But it is so solid and amazing and their knowledge and support of one another is beautiful.

We also can’t forget the ghost, who is so important even if she doesn’t say much. Her presence creeped me out in the best way.

I am DEFINITELY going to pick up Steven Parlato’s first book, and keep an eye out for anything coming up from him! This book is strange and creepy and so delightful.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review!*

Teddi Alder is a typical teen trying to figure things out. She joins a summer library writing group called SUMMERTEENS. She's just trying to keep busy and not think but while writing disturbing memories of her childhood friend Corey plague her mind.

Leading her to question her friendship with her BFF Willa, how much her mom knows all about it, and her memories. She feels like she's losing her mind when she starts seeing things like a ghost girl when she is alone at the park pool.

On top of all that, she's juggling two guys. As the summer happens, she is determined to sort everything out. Her feelings, the ghost girl that keeps popping up, and the memories of Corey.

With this book, the first thing I noticed was the gorgeous cover. Add in a bit of mystery and romance and I was hooked.

The main character is extremely likeable and even a bit relatable. I absolutely loved how the author managed to write an extremely good book that fits well into the paranormal, romance, and mystery genres.

Be ready to get swept away into Teddi's story.

The Precious Dreadful was a mystery to me. It started out a little jumbled at first and slowly started to come together. I wonder if that was kind of representative to the main character in the story, Teddi. 

This book starts out with Teddi joining SUMMERTEENS, a library writing group, to keep herself busy and away from her distant mother. As Teddi starts writing, disturbing childhood memories of a former friend, Corey, begin coming to the surface. With these memories, Teddi begins to question everything: her relationship with her best friend, how much her mother knows, and even how much she knows. Teddi begins to worry she's losing her grip on reality. Teddi decides she must get to the bottom of everything as the summer progresses. 

I struggled through parts of this book and got lost at points, but overall I thought this was an interesting story with good development.

I am in love with this book! I read it in one sitting and I highly recommend reading it.