Elliot is always scared. He has a feeling that he was even scared in the womb. His fear is controlled by a pill that he takes six times a day, but if he is late or misses a dose, the fear returns with a vengeance. It is the day before Christmas Eve when Elliot discovers that the pharmacy gave him the wrong medication. It was scheduled to be corrected on Christmas Eve, but there is a snow storm and his mother’s car won’t start. His aunt is willing to pick up the medication, but when his mom goes to check on his aunt and doesn’t return, Elliot sets out to find his mom and his medication. What will happen when a boy who is always scared ventures out into an unusual storm?

Born Scared is a stand-alone novel that will be interesting to reluctant readers for many reasons. Brooks has written a short book that doesn’t take long to finish and he has included a fast-paced storyline that will keep the reader’s attention along the way. Although the protagonist has a mental issue, readers will still be able to relate to many of his processes as he works his way through various ordeals. Born Scared is a great quick read and I recommend it to all readers.

Elliot is a young man whose life is defined by fear. The circle of people he trusts is extremely small so his medical doctor makes house calls and has tried to find just the right medication to help keep most of Elliot's fears at least at a distance. After two years of trying various medications, nothing has completely eliminated his anxiety. His mother teaches him at home and he rarely leaves the confines of his room. Besides his mother, an aunt is the only other person he trusts--at least that others can see. Elliot also keeps a running dialogue with his twin sister that died at birth, but that is the entirety of his existence.

Elliot's mother is always very careful about keeping his prescription filled as lapses in medication can be disastrous. Elliot has a brand new bottle so he should be fine through the holidays. Except that when he opens the bottle, the pills look different and he realizes that he's been given the wrong medication. This unfortunately starts a series of events that force Elliot to face a multitude of fears head on.

The book is mostly told from Elliot's point of view and the filter of his skewed perceptions and fear. Readers experience first hand the consuming reality of fear in Elliot's life. Just when Elliot's imagined fears can't seem to get any worse, he stumbles across men intent upon hurting those he holds most dear. The parallel story line of the men is a little hard to follow with little explanation for what came before or after their involvement in the story.

Born Scared is an interesting tale that gives readers a glimpse into one young man's struggle with mental illness. The circumstances that Elliot faced would have scared the bravest among us and the picture of someone rising to a herculean challenge was inspirational. The book closes very quickly after the story's climax and readers are left wondering how Elliot will fare after his ordeal and whether justice will be served. I do prefer a story that ties up at least the largest threads within a story, so I feel the ending sort of betrays the reader. To be held in agonizing suspense only to be left hanging in the end seems rather unfair.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of Born Scared from NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

Born Scared just oozes with emotions. I felt the mother's frustration, Elliot's life crippling fear, and Ellamay's quiet, unending patience and understanding as I read. I love the ending of this book because it leaves everything wide open. I have more questions now than I did as I read. Born Scared would be a great book to discuss - with middle schoolers on up to an adult book discussion.

Elliot's character was written very well; I understood the depth of his fear. It wasn't like a person who can't stand snakes, it's a bone deep fear of all things that has no rationale.I thought the author did a great job of getting this across. Except for a moment or two when I thought the book was going to go the way of the television show St. Elsewhere (hopefully others aren't too young to get the reference), i thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Born Scared is a middle grade novel about a boy who has extreme anxiety and fear of...well, everything. He relies on his mother and his medicine to help him cope with day to day activities. Elliott was born a premature twin, and unfortunately his twin didn’t survive. Elliott attributes much of his anxiety to the fact that half of his self was taken from him. Because he relies so heavily on his anxiety medication, when he finds his aunt is detained in bringing him his refill, Elliott struggles to cope. Venturing out to find his medication leads him right into the middle of a heist. Will Elliott overcome his anxiety long enough to be a hero?

I was very excited to read Born Scared. I love finding books that will get young boys excited about reading. This book does just that. Not only does Elliott have a relatibility factor with his inner struggles, but his need for medication adds a diversity factor to his story. The suspense and back and forth between villain and Elliott from chapter to chapter makes this a quick and engrossing read for children. I would recommend this book.

Elliot is scared of almost everything , and has been from almost the moment he was born. His experience of the world around him is drastically different from most, and the number of people in his life is limited to his mother, his doctor and a family friend who looks after him occasionally. Colors, noises and strangers are terrifying and the only thing that keeps his fear at a manageable level are his tablets, but when a mix up with the medicines leaves him close to running out on Christmas Eve his mother is forced to leave him alone, and go pick up a new supply. When she doesn't come back and stops answering the phone, his fears begin to spiral out of control and he must conquer them to face the outside world and try to find his mother.
As a portrayal of how difficult it is to live when you are hampered by fear, this book stands out. Every moment of Elliot's terror is so vividly described that it's almost enough to scare the reader too. As a character, he is so empathetic that it is impossible not to root for him to succeed in his quest. The way in which several innocent encounters send him spiraling into increasing anxiety and panic is incredibly well executed.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own

Elliot has extreme anxiety. He can’t leave his home, or meet other people than his mother and a few trusted others. He’s had anxiety since he was born, and is finally on a medication that lessens his fear. But when his mother leaves (in a snowstorm, no less) to refill his medication, and doesn’t come back, it’s up to Elliot (and his twin sister, who lives in his head), to venture outside and find out what happened.

There’s a lot of good things about this book. I like how anxiety is handled here; often it’s treated as frivolous when compared to other mental illnesses, but it’s a very real medical condition, and Elliot’s struggle is treated honestly and with compassion.

I am not 100% convinced this is a middle grade book. I know it’s being marketed as one, and Elliot is certainly the right age to be a middle grade protagonist... but there’s a lot of adult things happening here, presented in a very adult way. Lots of middle grade books tackle difficult subjects, but it just feels different in this book. There are scenes of adult drinking and drug use, drunk driving, and gun violence. Just an FYI.

Elliot’s POV is just one in the book: we get many others, and it toggles back and forth. I wish we spent more time with Elliot, because his journey is the one we’re most invested in.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc.

Enslaved by intense fear and anxiety from birth, Elliot spends the majority of his time in his bedroom at home. The only thing that keeps “the beast” living inside him under control is his “anti-fear” pill, and due to a pharmacy mix up he has found himself with only enough to last him 24 hours. Thanks to the addition of a raging snowstorm and it being the day before Christmas Eve, his situation has become exceptionally more desperate and unfortunately for Elliot, things are only going to get worse.
Brooks does a wonderful job portraying Elliot’s fear. In particular, I appreciated how well done the scene involving him leaving the house on his own for the first time was. The back and forth panic of “I’m going” and “No, I can’t” really hit home for me. As someone who prefers to have more details when a character is suffering from mental illness, I would have liked more information on what was going on with him though. Did he never get a proper diagnosis? It is not something that is super important to the story, just something extra that would have been nice.
I found myself mildly annoyed with how short each “chapter” was. It is the kind of story that goes back and forth between two main perspectives, but the way it was done felt a bit jolting to me. Just when you get used to one point of view and character mindset, we go back to the other. It also felt like there were far too many unnecessary details. Pretty much everyone who shows up in the story has a first and last name and enough information to give you a little detail about them. We do not need this level of detail for each police officer or each person Elliot runs into. It comes off as filler to me.

*Thanks to Netgalley I received a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Born Scared is a gripping and heartbreaking look at childhood mental illness. Elliott was born scared. Born premature and a twin, he loses his sister within moments of their birth and begins his life in terror of everything around him. People, cars, animals, and even colors terrify Elliott. But his mother has created a safe environment for him in his home where he lives of most of his life in his bedroom, rarely venturing out. But a mix-up at the pharmacy leaves Elliott with the wrong prescription and fixing that mistake will lead Elliott and his mother on a series of devastating events.
Born Scared was absolutely heartbreaking but also very inspiring. I spent much of the book thinking of Elliott's mother-there isn't much written about her because the focus is on Elliott-and how she must cope with Elliott's fears. Elliott is literally scared of everything. Everything but the three people closest to him. But even through Elliott's fears, he is still able to gather the courage to leave the safety of his home to find out what has happened to his mother and aunt. Excellent story.

This is a book about fear. Elliot’s fear. And Elliot is afraid of just about everything.

The story is about Elliot being put in a situation where he is nearly out of his medication, and the person he can always count on goes to get a prescription and doesn’t come back. That’s about all I can say without spoiling it.

I found the way this book dealt with mental illness to be very interesting. It gives pretty detailed descriptions and Elliot comes to feel like a real person. It’s handled in a very thoughtful way. As an emotional atmosphere, it is claustrophobic and sometimes Elliot’s fear is so real that it jumps off the page at you. I also loved seeing the world through Elliot’s eyes. It gave me a perspective that I don’t think I’ve ever read before. It made me want to go and learn more about this particular type of illness. After all, everyone experiences fear at some point, but raw, visceral fear that is ever present and associated with nearly everything? That’s something else entirely. I felt like a lot of thought and research went into making this character seem so vivid. And it worked. I was invested.

Elliot goes through a number of emotions in this story, apart from fear. There’s a lot of depth to his character, and thusly to the story. His relationship with his mother was the core of it. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have a child with that particular mental illness, but I loved the way it showed how much she cared and looked after him.

My main issue was with the way that it ended. I was along for the wild ride, but I feel like more was needed to close it out. There wasn’t any real development for any of the other characters. There are hints mentioned about several of them that makes you curious, but they’re not taken anywhere. The other issue was that on occasion it veered into what I considered unrealistic behavior for the major characters towards the end.

Overall, it was a suspenseful but enjoyable (and at times downright frightening) read and great for giving a picture of mental illness without sugarcoating or flossing over it. Elliot is a compelling character, and I rooted for him the whole time. I will definitely be checking out anything else written by Kevin Brooks. I’d give it 3.5 stars.

This was a very interesting quick read. I especially liked the split narratives between the chapters which made it very easy to read and created and diverse setting for the book. The writing was very good as well which always helps.

The reason for the three stars is mainly because even though I enjoyed it I did feel like a lot of the good action was left a little too late to the end. Also, I was left kind of wanting more at the end I don't really know why but I'm one of those people that really like to know what happens to everyone, and in this instance, I really wanted to know what happened to Gordon. But I suppose this is the idea for a thriller and a mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.

From the publisher: Elliot has lived his first thirteen years confined to his home, incapacitated by fear. Now he’s out of pills, snow is falling, and his only safe person is missing. A terrifying thriller from Carnegie Medalist Kevin Brooks.

As the parent of an anxious child, I was immediately drawn to the title of this book. Thankfully, our life looks nothing like this book. Elliot is afraid of everything - including his own fear. A virtual prisoner in his house - even in his own skin - everything is controlled by a regimen of pills that he takes six times each day. Elliot's mother, his aunt Shirley and his doctor are the only people with whom he will communicate. When a mix-up at the pharmacy on Christmas Eve means that Elliot's mom has to leave him at home to retrieve the pills that hold the beast (his fear) at bay, what begins as a normal day ends as anything but normal. From a car that won't start, to a drunken bank manager, to a crime gone wrong, Elliot must face things and people and do things he never thought he would - or could. The last 15% of the book held me as a breathless hostage. And even the end had me feeling as though I had just been hit by a freight train. Though slow in a few parts prior, this was a solid, quick read and one that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

This is an interesting concept - you rarely see agoraphobia addressed in YA literature - but for some reason it just felt flat to me. It's like the book is trying to make Elliott one way, but then it shoehorns in some odd, supernatural aspects that don't fit in with the rest, like misaligned puzzle pieces. Over all this was a fast read - I read it in one night - but I don't think it was particularly memorable.

I'm not sure why, but I was under the impression that this was a middle grade horror novel. It's not.

Born Scared is a young adult psychological thriller with a protagonist dealing with mental illness. His inner demons are just as frightening (and sometimes even more so) than anything real he encounters.

When his mom goes out in a blizzard to get his medication, Elliot waits on pins and needles for her to return. When she doesn't come back, Elliot does the unthinkable and goes in search of her.

Alone at night, Elliot encounters monsters, both imagined and real. Not only does he need to survive the beasts his imagination conjures, but he also has to battle the elements and some very real threats.

This book was unexpectedly suspenseful and intriguing. It's a quick read and I devoured it in just a few hours. An interesting look at mental illness, the people that suffer from it, and the ones that love them.

Content: Perilous situations, violence, and some mild language.

Reading from the POV of Elliot; a young man with severe anxiety was very interesting. I've never experienced anxiety in that form, but I feel like I can understand it better now.

Born Scared was well written, the monologues between Elliot and Ellamay were very intense, I feel like the writer could've done more after the book ended, but it was nice the way it was.

I wanted to like it. I tried to like it. I couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t like Elliott. I couldn’t sympathize or really understand what was going on with him.full review on Goodreads.

A BIG Thank You to Netgalley and Candlewick Press for providing me a copy of “Born Scared” by Kevin Brooks in exchange for my review. I had high expectations for this book! A YA psychological thriller about mental illness, with an awesome cover? I knew I had to read this one! However, it didn’t turn out the way I had hoped.

The main aspect I loved about this book was the dark and eerie atmosphere it creates. The author has beautifully blended the fairy tale fantasies with the horrors of adult life. I felt like I was in a backdrop of a very creepy and dark version of “Twin Peaks”. A town where everyone is a little strange and odd things keep occurring. There are also some terrifying moments that had me to the edge of my seat. I tensed when Elliot stumbled into the house in the woods with the two strange men with gun. Also, I thought that the other two villains dressed as Santa Claus were comical but eerie because I didn't know how they would react. I also loved Ellamay as the mysterious character, and still don’t know if she is a ghost or a figment of Elliot's conscious.

However, I had a few problems while reading this novel. The main trouble I had with this story was it was very hard to relate with Elliot. He fears over the most minuscule things, and while it’s interesting to read, it’s difficult to connect with. Also, since Elliot fears everything, it is  difficult to digest the transformation that suddenly occurs. It hits the readers the same time it hits Elliot, and I found it very hard to believe. The book also gets repetitive and monotonous at times where we keep hearing how tormented Elliot is over his fears.

Also, I really felt like Gordon’s character and his story-line was completely out of place. I guess he’s acts to be the comic relief in the plot but it didn't fit right. When the main story-line is so suspenseful, I felt frustrated by the change of mood and setting when Gordon appeared.

Frankly, I enjoyed Kevin Brook’s style of writing and am interested in picking up some of his other novels. I think he is a wonderful storyteller, and this book would have been amazing if the characters were relatable. While I love reading books about psychology and mental illness, I felt that “Born Scared” was a little too out there, especially as a YA Novel. Overall, "Born Scared" was a good read with some suspenseful moments, but it was not what I had expected.

I really liked the premise of "Born Scared" but the novel just didn't work for me.

The beginning was pretty good, but there were already some supernatural seeming things that just didn't seem to fit the rest of the story, and then the story started switching perspectives and it was just really weird. Towards the end of the story the perspective switching got worse and it just really annoyed me. What I also didn't like was the development of the main character, it just didn't seem natural and I'm not really sure what was going on there.

On the plus side I really liked the writing.

Overall, this book really disappointed me.

What it's about:

Elliot is scared of the world. Colors, cars, dogs, noises… He’s just scared of things and he doesn’t know why. Because of this he never leaves his home, he rarely leaves his bedroom. One winter day his mother has to go out to pick up his prescription after a medical mix up and Elliot finds himself alone. When his mother doesn’t return, he prepares to leave the safety of his home to find her.

What I liked:

This novel is packed full of mental health representation. Not only Elliot, but his aunt Shirley and her son as well, have mental issues of their own. The story unfolds in a way that kept me interested. The different characters and scenes all coming together to create a story that was suspenseful and mysterious. I was never bored, and I loved seeing the world from Elliot’s perspective.

What I disliked:

My only complaint is that the ending was too abrupt. I wanted more. I felt like it ended way too soon.

Overview:

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this wonderful story. I finished it in just a few short hours, because I couldn’t seem to put it down.

A quick read that offers a complex character battling his anxiety, inner demons and a couple of deadly Santa Clause’s.

“Born Scared” tells the story of Elliot, a young boy who has battled crippling anxiety since birth who runs out of medication and is forced to venture out into the world after his mother fails to return home. On this adventure into the unknown he is forced to make the decision to hide or fight as he comes face to face with what he fears most.

I don’t have anxiety or a mental illness similar to that of our main character so I am curious to what people think of this portrayal who actually deal with that in their every day lives, but I have to say it was written in a way that really got you into his mindset rather quickly so you were able to understand his motivations and that push and pull between him wanting to find his mother but also being a bit of a prisoner to the illness.

The changing narratives were a great companion to the main story as the supporting cast of characters also had a personal moment of reflection where they realized they were at a turning point in their lives and made the decision to become someone else.

Overall I really liked this and it’s such a quick read that for anyone looking for a bit of an adventure and the struggle to face your demons head on will enjoy this even if it is a filler to hold you over before your next read!

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review!**