I loved the first book in this series. It took a unique turn on fairytale retellings. It was creepy and fun. I'm happy to report this was the same! Our main character loves books and I think that's such a fun aspect to include in a middle grade. I would recommend this

This is a unique story that includes some light elements of magic, though it is set in the real world and focuses on real-world problems. The setting is also unique, in this town that is defined by its only industry, a slaughterhouse. The novel does not shy away from the realities of that industry! Ravani and Virginia (and the other kids) are wonderful characters that I was rooting for. It's a story about friendship and found family, with a happy ending for all of the characters, including many of the people in town. I very much enjoyed this original story that reminded me of Kate DiCamillo's novels (as well as Gemeinhart's other books).

I was so pleased when I heard that there would be a sequel to Nightbooks! And Gravebooks definitely does not disappoint. Alex, Yasmin, and Lenore team up once again to battle the evil Natacha - who was supposed to be dead. Instead, she shows up in Alex's dreams - a graveyard of unfinished stories. Once again, she manages to trap him into writing stories by completing these that he has abandoned. At first it is just Alex and Lenore. Yasmin ended their friendship in an attempt to heal from the trauma of being Natacha's captive. But Natacha and her new companion - a jackal named Simeon - trap Yasmin in the dream world also to help inspire Alex's storytelling.
Can Alex and Yasmin come up with a plan to defeat Natacha permanently? Another roller coaster ride of creepy stories awaits along with reinforcing the importance of friendship and family.
I was happy with the way this one ended - though there is always room for a third story! Lots of monsters are still roaming around out there.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to review!

Gravebooks is the long-awaited sequel that doesn't feel like the original. Alex and Yasmin are back fighting against Nastacha once again. Strangely enough, this time Alex is trapped every time he goes to sleep. I loved this, but what I didn't love is the enemy that comes out of nowhere and just destroys the main villain after all this invested time. It had every chance to be amazing, but the twist it takes is a little too much.

📣Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and J.A. White for an Advanced Readers Copy of this book!
🙋‍♀️This review is based on my own opinions.

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I was overjoyed when I found out that Alex and Yasmin were back together in this sequel to Nightbooks! I worked with J.A. White during our Meet the Author Club in my elementary library for students in grades 3 and 4. He was amazing! He donated so much of his time for students to get their questions answered. Nightbooks is such an entertaining and different kind of story due to the alternating chapters between the story of Nightbooks and the stories that Alex is writing to survive. This kind of format of a chapter books makes it so easy to sell it to my reluctant readers in middle grades.

This sequel did not disappoint. We are back with Yasmin and Alex and a surprise visitor puts them right back into their scary world they were in in the first book. Alex’s stories are so creative and entertaining that I read this book in a flash. There are many twists that were surprising to me that kept me excited as I was reading. I won’t give spoilers but this book is a five star for me! You have to read Nightbooks first of course but instead of waiting for the sequel like I did you have the lucky chance to read both together!

Verdict: This haunting follow-up to Nightbooks finds Alex trapped in a nightmare, again, but not the same one. This setting is unique, the villain is haunting his dreams. Alex, Yasmin, and Lenore must find a way to work together or Alex may be stuck in his dreams forever…

I loved this follow up to Nightbooks because I could spend more time with Alex, Yasmin, and Lenore. And I got to read more of Alex’s spooky short stories. His stories are some of the best parts of the book. I love that the graveyard is where all of Alex’s unwritten story ideas go and now he must use them to survive this new threat. Yes, it is similar to Nightbooks, but there are enough unique details to make this another fantastic read. If your students enjoyed Nightbooks, they will love Gravebooks. A must for Middle School library collections where spooky stories are popular.

Alex and Yasmin are again faced with some wicked enemies forcing Alex to write scary stories to save their lives. Every time Alex goes to sleep he is forced to write these stories before he can wakeup. Talk about a nightmare!

This second book in this series celebrates one of the best parts of the first, the short stories that Alex writes. In this book his story ideas are found in a graveyard and each grave represents an unfinished story. It was fun to see some of the same character return. I also thought the new setting was a nice change.

However, overall, I did feel like the book was a little too similar. It felt enough like the first book that I felt like I'd read it before. I did still enjoy the book.

Recommend for middle grade kids who liked the first book and like creepy stories.

I enjoyed Gravebooks! I really recommend reading Nightbooks first though otherwise the reader might be very confused.

I enjoyed it but felt I was missing backstory, I enjoyed the story, but I think I will enjoy it more on a re-read when I have read the previous book.

This is just as good as the original, and I really hope that it makes its way to the screen. Both Nightbooks and Gravebooks are creepy enough to lure in the middle school (or adult!) student, while also being appropriate for the elementary school reader who is begging for more creepy tales. The length of the chapters and readability might even lure in some of your more reluctant readers. Highly recommend.

Gravebooks, the sequel to Nightbooks is a delightfully joyous read. The only problem I had with it was it was a little too reminiscent of the original and didn't build itself up enough in plot to make for a distinguishable sequel. The book starts off familiarly. Alex has once again come face to face with Natacha, the evil witch from the first installment of the series. This time Alex of course has Yasmin to help him battle the evil witch Natacha with his daily stories. The problem is that once again Natacha has found away to torture Alex and Yasmin by finding a loophole into his dreams. The loophole is something in withcraft called a familiar and the familiar that Natacha is manipulating is called Simeon. Simeon is a well written and well developed new character himself when you examine his character closely.

A cool and educational point to Gravebooks is it instructs children (or even adults that are new to writing) on topics such as taking feedback and dealing with writers block which set this book apart from a typical sequel. This little technique is very innovative and helpful to aspiring writers. Another interesting change in the aspect of Natacha's and Alexs deal is that Natacha controls the beginning of the novel and Alex has to finish the story, with the help of Yasmin sometimes and other inspirations he finds along the way. The world building is more explicit and complex in this novel than the first one and that is a very compelling aspect of Gravebooks. I loved watching a world that was already fascinating grow even more. I hope this sequel is also adapted into a film like the first one was. This is a somewhat creepy read so I would take that into consideration before reading with very young readers.

Alex thought that he had escaped the apartment and that Natasha is dead. Yet when he wakes up in a world full of graveyards who should he encounter but Natasha with a new familiar. This must be a nightmare. He knows she is dead there is no way she could be back. Yet as the nights go on and each night Natasha is waiting for him in the graveyard, he finds that dead does not always mean someone is gone. Natasha forces him to write a scary story every night, each one producing a distinct flower that she gathers, for what purpose Alex doesn’t know. Yet when his stories are not scary enough Natasha brings Yasmin to help inspire him. Reunited can Alex and Yasmine figure out a way to stop Natasha? What are the flowers for? And can Alex get over the writer’s block that seems to have followed him since he escaped the apartment?

This is a fun book. I love that you not only get to go through a bit of Alex’s process as a writer, but that you get to read the stories that he writes in his gravebooks. That is so cool for other kids who might aspire to be a writer seeing that process, and then being able to see the finished product. I also enjoy how the flowers represent the stories that Alex creates. Overall, this book just has strong characters, is very well written, and is the perfect book to recommend to an early reader who is looking for a bit of a scare. This will be a book I recommend this spooky season.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Scheduled to post 8/13/22.

So I missed the part on the cover that said GRAVEBOOKS is a sequel. Thankfully, there's enough in here that fills me in on the important details that I wasn't left hanging or at all confused by what was going on. I got the gist of the first book and that was enough to get through this one. Now I have to go back and read NIGHTBOOKS. Obviously.

But this was a fun read. I absolutely ADORED the notion of a story idea graveyard. As a writer, it's the most accurate thing in existence and I loved how it was used against Alex in this nightmare realm he had to escape from. I was expecting the story to be a touch darker, and before anyone comes for me screaming IT'S MIDDLE GRADE, I've read much darker MG horror, so shush. But I liked the balance this book provided. There are definite creepy, terrifying elements, but there was also a levity that came with it that didn't make the story go too dark.

My favorite part was actually probably Yasmin's reluctance to join Alex on this crusade, and basically her trauma that weighed on her for the first part of the book. That's kind of demented to say, but I think that all was portrayed really well. Yasmin's hand shy from her past experience with Natacha, and she associated Alex with that and cutting him out meant she was able to get past that experience. Except the experience was not having any of that.

I liked the twist, and then the twist again (dammit, that song is in my head now ), unveiling each layer of the story. Just when you thought you knew what was going on, White threw a wrench into your spokes to send you off course. The book kept me guessing as a result.

Never a dull moment, great characters, GRAVEBOOKS is a fun, creepy read that will pull you straight through to the end.

4.5

This sequel to Nightbooks is a fantastic follow up to the first book, which I love and recommend constantly when kids ask me for something spooky.

I cannot wait to get this one into the hands of those who read the first one and to bring in new readers by showing them the set together.

The first chapter both recaps in a way that brings you right back into the world and the characters as well as entices you for what's about to come. Each short story Alex writes along the way adds to the value of the book. I love the way his writer's troubles are framed throughout as well. It felt realistic even amongst the talk of monsters and witches and magic.

So much to love about this story!

Gravebooks by J.A. White is a delightfully spooky middle-grade story. It's a fun and engaging read for all ages, too. Gravebooks lives up to its predecessor (Nightbooks), with Alex and Yasmin facing an even more formidable foe this time. Though this is certainly a horror story, it's a spooky that's safe for bedtime (not likely to cause nightmares!). I've always recommended Nightbooks as a good introductory read for those looking to ease into the horror genre, and Gravebooks follows in its footsteps perfectly.

If you thought Natacha was gone when Nightbooks ended, you would be wrong! She's back in the sequel haunting Alex in his dreams each night. Alex is forced to write a scary story or gravebook each night to feed her with his imagination. Can Alex along with the aid of Yasmin finally escape? The stories inside the story are just as entertaining. I enjoyed each nigh book that Alex wrote. They are spooky, but not gruesome, and perfect for kids. Love the plot twists and imagination.

J.A. White’s sophomore effort finds aspiring writer Alex back in a nightmare world where his life once again depends on his ability to tell a tale. This 21st century version of Scheherazade has a decidedly macabre twist as Alex struggles with writers block and lack of confidence.

An old enemy appears and plunges Alex and friend Yasmin right back to where they were at the end of Book 1. But, is everything as it seems? Of course not! There are plenty of twists and scary situations here to satisfy the budding horror fan.

Recommended for confident middle grade readers.

Thank you to #NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for allowing me to read a digital ARC of this middle grades horror novel which will be released August 15, 2022. All opinions are my own.

In this sequel, the reader returns to the world of Nightbooks. Alex and Yasmin thought they were done with witches. One night, when Alex closes his eyes, he finds himself in a graveyard and Natacha is there with her new familiar, Simeon. He soon realizes that this is a graveyard of his ideas and unfinished stories. Each night, Natacha forces him to write a new story. Alex doesn’t know what she uses them for or how he can escape his own nightmare.

I don’t normally enjoy horror books, but I know my students do. I really liked Nightbooks and it’s new spin on a classic fairytale, so I was excited to see that White had written a sequel. This book is well-structured and full of adventure and suspense. It’s just the right amount of spooky without being overly so. I also love that it focuses on the writing process and the development of stories. This book has some great quotes that could be used to help students understand how to develop stories as well as some great mentor sentences. The story is fun and easy to get into. I hope to add a copy to my classroom library.

My daughter and I abolsutely LOVED this one as much as we love Nightbooks. What a unique world the author created - we could not put this book down. I was very curious as to how Nightbooks could possibly be equalled, but this was fantastic and we will definitely be buying a copy for ourselves.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.com

First Line: There was once a boy who liked to write scary stories.

Summary: In this sequel to Nightbooks, Alex faces a new threat from an old enemy, Natacha the witch. Except this time, Natacha has help from a new supernatural creature. Yasmin is dealing with her own demons from her time spent trapped in Natacha's apartment. The story follows them coming back together to save the dream world from Natacha and her sinister helper. Lenore the cat also makes an appearance.

Thoughts: A good, solid sequel to a great original book. I felt parts of it were a bit quick. The end seemed abrupt, and the overall suspense wasn't as great or as scary as the original. I do think kids who read and loved Nightbooks will definitely pick up the sequel.

FYI: The first book in the series was made into a Netflix movie.