Couldn't get into the storytelling and the characters at all unfortunately! It's not necessarily a bad book, but this specific strangeness wasn't for me.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was pretty fast paced and easy to understand. The characters were well rounded (and loveable) and I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it!

Dynamic brother/sister duo, Od and Ed have a fascination with magic and the abnormal. They play innocent tricks on their friends in the name of magic and feel that their house contains a beastly untamed magical presence. At first it’s simple to dismiss this fascination as juvenile and the product of the children’s imaginations. It isn’t until Ed’s soul is ripped from his body, sending him to The Pale (basically the upside-down), that we learn that there is definitely something supernatural about this house. From there, the book follows a determined Odlyn and her oddball neighbor Loney as they turn to highly unorthodox methods in order to return Ed’s spirit to his uncooperative empty body. Though the book is written in the perspective of children, it contains dense flowery descriptions and dark themes that prove why this is an adult novel instead of middle grade.
The language is actually where I encountered my first issue with the book. The flowing descriptions are beautiful and paint a vivid picture of what’s happening, but at least in the beginning the literary language is over used. It makes the story drag, and I kept having to re-read passages after getting lost in the copious similes and metaphors. My other big issue with this book was the vivid descriptions involving animal cruelty. If you are sensitive to that kind of material I would advise against Od and Ed. I powered through anyway, and eventually the descriptions became essential to understanding what was happening in the plot. The words soon began to suck me in and suddenly it was impossible to put down.
Even though I did have some issues with the pacing and the gore of this book I really appreciated that it was something different. I also really liked the fact that the book centered on sibling love, instead of falling into the romance trap that nearly every other book seems to. Od and Ed certainly isn’t for everyone due to it’s dark themes and wacky premise, but the writing is excellent and I do recommend it if your looking for a wild ride that makes you think.

This is a hard one to review. I liked the writing, and the story concept was really intriguing. What starts as a simple "let's get my brother's soul back in his body" escalates really quickly to... well without spoiling anything, it reeaaally gets out of hand, but without losing its believability. The story kept me interested, wondering how much worse it could get and how they're going to fix this

However, there were a number of graphic scenes that I just didn't enjoy. Maybe it's because I wasn't prepared for them, and didn't think it would be that kind of writing, but it was too much (especially the part where everyone is throwing up... You really don't need to spend a whole page or two talking about it and the smell).

But ye... I liked it, but there were parts I could have done without.

A great read for those who watched Stranger Things and thought ‘hmm, this isn’t weird enough for me’. This book is one of the strangest I’ve read in a while and it was a delight to follow Od and Ed through this bizzare rampage.

It was initially kind of off putting for me that the book had such a nostalgic, eighties childhood feel to it, but also prominently featured some truly gory stuff, but in the end I think it worked really well. It reads like a B list horror film, and I consider that a high compliment.

But the aspect that really brings this book together is it’s characters. Od in particular is a really well realized protagonist and her relationship with her brother feels natural and anchors the story nicely.
I’ll definitely be watching this space for more Shanti Leonard works in future
(Published on goodreads and story graph)

A mostly engaging, mostly fantasy tale that has some nicely written moments. This is the author's first published book and it didn't show the mature writing of a more experience author. But I'd recommend it for a nice read.

Thanks very much for the free review copy!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-book in return for an honest review.

After Ed's soul is ejected out of his body, his sister Od is left scrambling to find a way to put her brother back together before their parents get home. Od decides to include someone else to help her that she isn't sure she can trust but she is desperate to put her brother back together. As you can probably guess, nothing goes ad smoothly as Od had hoped.

This was certainly an interesting read. Shanti Leonard's debut novel is an eerie fantasy with elements of horror mixed in. This is a very atmospheric read set in the 80's. The author is very descriptive in describing this world to her readers, though there are many times throughout the book that you feel you are being told and not shown what is happening. The story is told well from the children's perspective, however there isn't a ton of internal dialogue of them figuring situations out. More often than not you are just given the information through very descriptive, telling dialogue. I did not love this about the book as it took me out of the pacing, but some people might enjoy it more considering our main characters are children. The pacing in the beginning is a little slow but then picks up rather quickly to keep you hooked until the end. The ending was satisfying with a good lesson about our relationships with family.

This book definitely has some trigger warnings so be sure to check those out before diving in. THIS IS NOT A CHILDREN'S BOOK, despite being told from the children's POV so be warned. I can definitely see how people compare this to Stranger Things with the heavy 80's atmosphere and the way the plot unfolds in an enexpected way. I also think fans of Stephen King might enjoy this with its horror elements along with some dark comedy.

For me, this was quite an interesting read. I did want to dive a little deeper into the characters but I am someone who really likes their characters fleshed out. The way this ended left me wanting to learn more about the characters, so I could see Leonard expanding on this book in the future, which would be great. I think this was a great debut novel with a very interesting, fresh take on the haunted house trope that keeps you hooked through all it's twists and turns until the end.

3.5 stars from me

If you grew up in the 1980’s in a small town and love realistic fantasy with dark elements then you must read this book. I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of watching this authors Indiegogo campaign and opted to buy a special edition copy which I recently received - and I have to say it was well worth it. You can tell the author put a lot of hard work into it.

I don’t want to post any spoilers so won’t get into the details too much. But, it is truly a unique book that captured being a kid in the eighties in twisted and compelling ways. The characters are likable and strange (but in a fun “Stranger Things” sort of way) as well as the references they make in conversations . Even if you didn’t grow up in the eighties and are drawn to this genre I think you would like it.

If you are sensitive in regards to darker reading material it is best to tell you that you may be a bit disturbed. You need to be prepared when you read this book that there are elements that get gross and dark. Because these parts pertain mostly to the characters truths and who they are I understood why the author made these choices and commend him for doing so as some might shy away from that. This haunted house story is not your typical tale. But, it is a tale that I will never forget. I absolutely loved exploring this quirky and peculiar world and will read it again and hoping that there is a sequel.

READ IT NOW!

I couldn't mesh with this book, it felt very difficult to read after a while. I liked the beginning, but everything after opening the box felt like it was trying hard to be surreal, and going too far.

It might work for some people but for me it was like wading through treacle trying to finish.

DNF @ 44% (no rating on Goodreads)

This book was really weird. Like, interesting, but also really dark (in an actually horror way, even though it's about kids) and it had some really disturbing and triggering bits, which involved killing small animals in a really gruesome way. So if you can't stand horribly maimed kittens, definitely don't read it :( that's the reason I didn't finish. I want to find out what happens, but I just can't bring myself to keep reading, because what if something awful happens again? :/ Last time I put that book down I was upset all day about how shitty humans are and how we should all go extinct or something cause we do things like THAT.

Other than that, the ideas in the book are quite deep and I would love to find out what happens. But I absolutely can't.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

i appreciate the premise of this, but i simply couldn't convince myself to keep going or to remain interested in the writing and the style of characterization presented. i feel like this would do great as a movie, but it's not to my tastes as a novel.

⭐⭐

I wanted to love this book; it had some interesting elements to it, and I really enjoyed Od's character. However, I just found it all a little too strange and confusing. 🤷🏻‍♀️

**ARC Via NetGalley**

This surely was an original take on a haunted house story with a new twist, but it ultimnately fell a bit short for me.

I definitely enjoyed Od's character in the novel and I liked how she connected with other people.
However, the plot jumps around a bit too much for my liking, which made it harder to understand at certain points, plus I thought that a lot of the scenes would have benefitted from being drawn out a bit more. I did overall like it that most of the happenings aren't explained too much, but felt that it was kept a bit too vague a certain points.
Lastly, I just kind of wished that the "haunted house" aspect would have been a bit more focused on.
Overall, it's a sweet story about friendship and what one would do to help a sibling.

TW: murder (on page)

Ultimately not for me, but this novel has some nicely original ideas, and its underlying concepts are enjoyably scary. I liked the main characters and was rooting for them to succeed. Perhaps most likely to appeal to horror readers who enjoy stories that contain a lot of gross-out scares.

I was disappointed by the use of regressive tropes to characterize villainy. The use of disability—in this case, immobilizing obesity—to signify a character who is scary and bad is, in addition to possibly being hurtful to some readers, unnecessary. The contrast of this character’s “beautiful” eyes and kind demeanour against the terrifying family she rules and her questionable actions easily show what kind of person she is.

The high point of this book is the existentially unsettling concept of "loose" souls. It's both frightening and interesting, which is always a nice combination in horror.

I think there were a lot of good aspects to this book; there was good characterization, there were creepy and sincere moments, and it was pretty atmospheric. However, there was just something about it that really lowered my enjoyment of it. I can't tell if it was trying too hard to be something it's not or if it just wasn't a book for me.

I found that while the spooky elements - from the outside - seem really interesting and well incorporated into the world every time something new got introduced it completely shifted my understanding of what was happening and just pulled me completely out of the story. I still don't really understand what caused the initial problem of Ed's soul leaving his body and I only vaguely came to understand all the lingo they were using.

Overall, it was a pretty easy and enjoyable read but I don't think it's a story or world I want to revisit.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I really enjoyed this one and read it in one day. Look forward to much more by this author.

This started out well, then I found that the story started to slow down, even though the action started ramping up, after Ed’s soul was ejected from his body. Od has to figure out a way to get her brother Ed’s soul back into his body and ropes in an acquaintance. To help her do this The schemes get increasingly desperate, and gross, as the situation devolves and unexpected hiccups in their plan occur.
I could see why this was compared to “Stranger Things”. “Od and Ed” has a slightly nostalgic, quirky feel at its outset. And it’s up to Od to figure out what to do and rectify matters.
I think the book started off reasonably well, showing us the siblings’ relationship, then, the story transformed into something much darker and dire as the narrative progressed. Unfortunately, I felt the pacing began lagging the further I got into the story.
This book wasn’t what I expected, which is a good thing, but this also wasn’t a book I fully enjoyed, and wasn’t really for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for a review.

What seemed to start out a haunted house story, quickly became so much more. No spoilers…all I’ll say is this is a thrill-ride. Here’s hoping for a sequel.

Although the book was not for me, I think it has a very interesting premise and I really liked the creepy scenes. It is a simple but entertaining book. I would have liked better development of the characters and the plot itself

The book is quick to read and if you enjoy books with creepy settings and weird stories, you will surely have a good time reading this.

So in Zelda Ocarina of Time there’s a part in the game where you incorporate a cemetery and have to help the grave keeper Dampe. Imagine the level being challenging, creepy, set in the 80s, mixed with Stranger Things actors. Boom!!! This novel. Read it. Do it now, then find a chopper!