I can't decide which is more mesmerising - the writing, the characters, or the events. I was gripped from the start, standing on the edge of something big. When I reached the end of the extract, I almost screamed 'No!!!' Time had stopped while I was reading. I wanted to stay with Christopher, I wanted to know more about the events from the opening, which freaked me out. I marvelled at the courage both little boys showed. I felt my emotions grow and invade all the space in my body and around me. It's extremely easy to fall for the characters, to be on their side, to want to help. I need to read more!!!

Oohh what a teaser, loved being able to read the first few chapters of this book but tormented now as i want to read the full book. Looking like it is going to be a great read, really look forwars to getting this one.

Wow, reading this extract of Imaginary Friend has certainly whet my appetite for more! It drew me in from the very first word and I raced through it, feeling almost bereft when I came to the end. I can’t wait to read more of what looks like a fantastic read! The fact that there’s also a supernatural element to this mystery makes it even more appealing to me. Brilliant!

I’m not normally one for horror but Chbosky’s writing enthralled me in Perks of Being A Wallflower so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read more of his work. Having read the preview, I know I’ll be reading the whole book on it’s release, no matter how much it freaks me out! Gripping from the very beginning, a disturbing prologue gives way to a narrative that is filled with underlying tension: both a hangover from the fear in the opening pages and the product of the everyday terror Christopher and his mum are fleeing. It’s hard to know at first which will be more disquieting. Chobsky takes a staple of any childhood - shapes in the clouds - and turns it into a sinister tool to foreshadow the darkness to come. I’m both terrified already and completely hooked: can’t wait to read the rest.

Excellent!! I am so happy to have been given the chance to read an excerpt of this novel!

True suspense and fear, with the start of rich character development. I am really looking forward to see just how dark this book can get!

Only a taste of this creepy chilling page turning book only a taste please bring on the rest this is torturous #netgalley #Orion

Just a taster mind; a mere hint of a divine meal by nibbling the buttered roll ahead of the starter.
A teaser that spells out in words large and bold. READ ME.
I am not a great fan of dipping into a book; I gain an impression of novel, its author and subject matter and usually plunge straight in. A small section to gauge your appreciation can be like the slow torture of slowly wading out to sea before immersing yourself. It has little relationship to swimming or fun in the waves.
Well this advance read is a delight; it is an extended book jacket insight or the details behind those stark facts. Two boys separated by some 50 years seemingly joined together by a trip to the woods.
Regardless of this mystery and scary thriller that awaits the build up was a real reading pleasure.
Christopher’s relationship with his Mom and attitude to life is described in directly in set pieces, activities and relationships rather than a history of events.
We learn more than the basic facts as a result, we identify with the characters and start routing for Christopher old before his time.
A son out to make his mom pleased with him, be less of a hindrance than a helper. Coping with a transient lifestyle that always makes him the new kid in school where his mom expects him to shine but aside from bullying he struggles to read and do his maths.
A family always looking for a fresh start, a new beginning a lottery win they are all each other have. They share an optimism from cloud formations and a poverty in clothes, food and poor housing. Yet their bond is strong, he wants to grow stronger to protect his mom and ensure she gets the good things in life.
Imagine her struggle when one day after school this sample of this novel leaves Christopher lost having wandered out of the playground. We’re left with more questions than answers and a sense of dread that this isn’t quite the happy ending for mother and son, that the Von Trapp family enjoy, at those Friday movie nights together back in the motel.

I am going to admit that it is hard to write a review for a sampler of the first five chapters. I think most of us have be stung by an amazing first few chapters, only for the rest of the book to go downhill.

However, reading these first few chapters, I am very intrigued over Imaginary Friend. I must admit I have never read Perks of Being of a Wallflower so I can't compare, but there is something about this that hooks my attention.

I can't put my finger on what it is that has caught my attention as I can't seem to figure this story out. Is it a suspense? A horror? A fantasy? I can't figure this mysterious little thing out and I think that's my hook in. I want to know what the heck this book is and what on earth is going on.

While I might not be a fan of the voice telling the story, I am going to keep this on my radar and, hopefully, will find time to read this as the nights grow longer and the witching month kicks in...

This extract is a perfect teaser to this, what looks like a really scary bone chilling book! Reading up to chapter 5 learning about the main character and his mum was a good introduction. As a child I also enjoyed making pictures out of clouds, as most of us did or still do! Although, after reading this I’m wary of looking now! This story slowly brings you into the claws of horror and then jumps into it, goose pimples and wanting to know more ... then that’s where the extract finishes! Ahhh I need to know what happens!

What a creepy, mysterious, cracking opener to a book, I raced through that. This looks like it’s going to be something a bit special

This spine chilling read opens with a truly intense chapter set fifty years in the past where we follow a small boy called David Olson
who has crept out of his home and is making his way through the dark streets of his small isolated home town. David keeps hearing voices and seeing shadowy figures,he's terrified but has a important meeting that he has to get too,a meeting in Mission Street Woods,he enters the woods and vanishes without trace.

Move forward fifty years and we witness seven and a half year old Christopher and his mum as they arrive in the same small town where David had lived. We follow Christopher as he starts his new school and the extract ends with Christopher entering sinister Mission Sreet Woods and we are informed that he is not seen again for six days.

Wow,the extract consists of the first six chapters and based on what I have read so far this is going to be one hell of a chilling intense mix of thriller,mystery,horrorwith a possible added dash of the supernatural. I always feel that forests and woods add a creepy atmosphere to any story and the sinister woods in this story are no exception. The chapters included in the extract were extremely well written,hooked me in instantly and I can't wait to read the rest of the book.

Wow!!!!

I was hooked from the first page. So dark and suspenseful, I couldn't stop reading. I am intrigued by the character and I look forward to reading more about young Christopher and his mother Kate.

I can't wait to find out more about this book and read the entire novel!

The extract of Imaginary Friend is a spectacular! Visceral and chilling to the core, it snatched me up straight away - nothing could have made me stop reading! The author’s voice etches itself into your mind and it’s impossible to forget! Even for a minute! LOVED the extract and can’t wait to read the rest of the book! A striking, astonishing and unnerving sample that whets the appetite for more!

This is only Stephen Chbosky’s second book, with the first being the hugely popular The Perks Of Being a Wallflower.

From the extract, this book is very different to Perks. From the opening paragraph, the dark and creepy tone is set, as Daniel makes his way down the street in the night as some mysterious figures taunt and chase him.

We then jump to Daniel and his mother arriving in a new town, after escaping an abusive relationship.

I really enjoyed this extract, and can’t wait to read the rest of the book to find out what happens!

With thanks to Poppy and Orion via NetGalley for this extract.

Well, if you like heart-pumping scary reads this one is going to be for you!

David leaves the comfort of his bed dressed in pyjamas and a coat he needs to get to the end of the cul-de-sac to the woods, it’s a dark foggy night and he’s never seen again.

Christopher is waiting for his mom after school. She’s late and everyone else has left. Christopher wanders off following a cloud into the woods. He realises he’s lost, he can’t find his way out, it’s scary, he’s scared....

Six days later he emerges....

******
I enjoy a certain amount of tension and this book has it in abundance! Leaving you wanting to know what happened to Christopher during those six days, what on earth is going on and how will it all end?

Looks like this will be well worth reading, I look forward to reading the rest of this intriguing, scary, tense story

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In writing this, he has achieved the impossible: a book that can earn a place next to IT (by the author’s hero Stephen King) in the popular consciousness and the canon of American storytelling. Like King’s classic, this is a rabbit-hole of suspense-horror which takes an intimate, human story and unspools it across a canvas that is slowly revealed as bigger, deeper, and darker, than you could ever imagine.

and you are a huge King fan the only thing you can do is hit the request button and hope for the best. Many claim to be as good as King but few rarely are.
Wow was I surprised, this is epic. King is notorious for his depth of “unlikely characters” and it looks like Chbosky has learnt from the master. It gained my interest with the horror/mystery elements and kept it with skilful writing and characterisation.
My only disappointment was that it was only an extract.

I am a huge fan of Stephen Chbosky's Perks of Being a Wallflower and Wonder. From the sampler I was sent it looks like his new book, Imaginary Friend, is quite a departure from what I am used to from this author. A creepy mystery thriller with horror elements, maybe even a touch of fantasy or the supernatural? I don't know yet but I really hope so. It is hard to really say much about the little bit I have read of Chbosky's new novel but it certainly promises something original and exciting and I look forward to reading the full novel, and finding out what happens to Christopher, in due course.