Descriptive, eloquent, thrilling, author, Kiersten White, catapults you directly into her new series – Sinister Summer –Wretched Waterpark – Book #1.

Middle-grade gothic, mystery thriller I would recommend to the more mature middle ‘grade readers! Kiersten White makes it very easy for one too let their imaginations run wild!

A sincere thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s, and Delacorte Press for providing me an advanced copy of “Wretched Waterpark” in exchange for an honest review. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read this story and leave my review voluntarily.

**4.5-stars rounded up**

The Sinister-Winterbottom twins, Theo and Alexander, along with their older sister Wil and her cell phone Rodrigo, are shocked and abhorred when their parents drop them off at their Aunt Saffronia's house for the entire summer.With nary an explanation, or actually even really a remembrance of how this strange turn of events came about, the siblings are left without a choice. They must stick together and make the best of it.

Truth be told, it's a little uncomfortable. Aunt Saffronia isn't exactly schooled in having children around. Why did their parents leave them with her? Seriously, it's like the woman just stepped off the pages of a gothic novel from another era...

Luckily, Aunt Saffronia offers them a chance to escape the house during the day by taking them to Fathoms of Fun, a nearby waterpark. She buys them week-long passes and insist they return day after day from open until close.

Sure it sounds promising, all the water slides, wave pool, park food and a lazy river, but alas, that's not quite what Fathoms of Fun is all about. From the moment they buy their passes the kids realize this is no ordinary park. There's barely anyone there. Instead of chilling in a cabana, it looks more like a mausoleum and even the rafts used to go down the water slides are shaped more like coffins than anything else. What the actual heck?

With Wil staring at her phone all day, per usual, Alexander and Theo are pretty much left to their own devices. They start to learn more about the park, including the fact that the owner disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As each day goes by, the population at the park dwindles, both patrons and staff alike; increasingly sketchy things are happening around them constantly and the kids are on edge. Then Wil disappears and the fun is over. Now the twins have to work together like never before to solve the mystery of the park and get their sister back!

Y'all, it's official. I am in love with the Sinister-Winterbottom siblings. This was so, so much fun. A funny, thrilling, odd, quirky and engaging Middle Grade Mystery.

I loved the writing style, it definitely channeled A Series of Unfortunate Events for me. Additionally, I loved the gothic tones woven absolutely everywhere into this story. White did such a great job of keeping that aspect entertaining. It was like the characters from Hotel Transylvania opened their very own waterpark.

Theo and Alexander were both such strong characters in very different ways. I liked that they supported each other as siblings. They knew they were different from one another, but that didn't cause them to fight, or dislike the way the other did things or saw the world. I found that to be quite refreshing. They loved each other so much and were able to work together seamlessly even in the face of grave danger.

I also enjoyed their older sister Wil a lot. Always staring at her phone, completely disconnected from what was going on around her, but when it counted, she wanted to be there for her family. For the most part.

The ending was so fun. I definitely get where the comp to Scooby-Doo came from after those final scenes. Delightful! The end also left some questions unanswered. Really, I have a lot. I was super happy to read that there is actually a sequel to this, Vampiric Vacation, that may in fact be released later this year. I certainly hope so. I need more Sinister-Winterbottom goodness!!

Thank you to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm in love with this series! Pure sinister fun!!

Where better to spend a week in the summer than at a waterpark? Perhaps that does not apply to the Fathoms of Fun waterpark. Some very strange things are going on there. Three siblings: Wil, Theo, and Alexander find themselves without their parents and with the strange and clueless Aunt Saffronia. Their Aunt drops them off at the park each morning and has encouraged them to find "it." What is she talking about? Why are their so few visitors at the park? Why do employees seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate? Like Scooby Doo, the kids team up to solve the mystery and their are "bad guys" in disguise. As we find in The Series of Unfortunate Events, there is vocabulary fun like: the replacement for Edgar being named Edgararen't, going willingly vs. going won'tingly, and being prepared vs. being postpared. There are some very progressive ideas that are thrown in here and there making me wary of continuing the series. Now I see that the next adventure has vampires in the title. No, thank you.

Thank you to Random House Children's and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read reminiscent of A Series of Unfortunate Events, which was one of my favorite series growing up. The characters are interesting, the plot mysterious.
I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes a plot to be wrapped up while still not knowing what the heck is actually going on.

Wretched Waterpark is the first book in a new middle grade series by Kiersten White. Due out 7th June 2022 from Penguin Random House on their Delacorte Press imprint, it's 256 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. The second book in the series is due out in Sept 2022.

It's not derivative; the author is capable and talented, but to describe this first book as an episode of Scooby Doo written by Lemony Snicket feels appropriate and accurate. The three Sinister-Winterbottom siblings, the eldest is 16 and permanently looking at her smartphone, and fraternal brother and sister twins aged 12 are sent to spend the summer with their Aunt Saffronia and it soon becomes crystal clear that weeks of boredom isn't the worst that could happen. People are *disappearing* and it's left to the siblings to get to the bottom of the weirdness.

This is a fun summertime mystery for middle grade readers. It's well written, edgy, but not inappropriate. The plotting struck me as a trifle meandering and the pacing was odd (clearly intentional on the author's part), and much of the page count is used on world and character building, but it's understandable to write a solid basis for the following book(s) in the series.

Four stars. This would be a good choice for public or school library acquisition, home use, or gifting to a young mystery fan.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I loved this book! Wretched Waterpark was such a fun and slightly spooky read. The story is about twins, Theo and Alexander along with their older sister, Wil, who are sent to their aunt's house for the summer. The kids have to spend their days at a gothic waterpark. While at the park, they notice that people are disappearing and the twins decide to solve the mystery.

I loved the gothic, creepy elements. This book reminded me of The Addams Family. I really loved reading this book, but I do think that the ending seemed a little rushed.

Kids who enjoy a little snark with their scary stories will appreciate this ridiculous romp through the most imaginative water park ever created. Everything about this book works - the well-matched and very capable group of 3 siblings, the kooky and mysterious aunt, the even more mysterious week at the water park and the deliciously odd but appealing mystery to be solved.

I was reminded a little of Lemony Snicket but the tone, plot, and characterizations are unique enough to keep you reading.

Recommended.

Thank you to Random House Children's Publishers for giving me an ARC on Netgalley!
Three siblings, Wil, Alex, and Theo are sent to stay with their Aunt Saffronia for the summer. While there they spend a week at a Waterpark full of water slides, no churro's, and a mystery to solve.
I adored this book more than I expected. Both Alex and Theo, who are twins, each struggle with their own type of anxieties, Alex it's being overly cautious, and Theo it's the bees she finds dancing in her stomach. But both characters compliment each other so well.
The mystery in this book was both interesting and suspenseful and I enjoyed it. White hints there's more to the book than just the mystery at the Waterpark, like their Aunt Saffronia for example. And a little hint of magic or ghosts existing here and there. I won't say more so I don't spoil anything about the book.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting a fun mystery solved by two twins, one brave and the other cautious.

Three siblings; teenage Wil who is married to her cell phone, and twins, Theo and Alexander are sent to stay with an aunt they’ve never met for the summer. When the aunt tells them she has bought a week-long pass to a water park, the twins are ecstatic – until they discover the park is rundown and their cabana looks like a mausoleum, the park is staffed by some very weird characters and to Theo’s horror there are no churros available. As the week progresses people disappear and the siblings are embroiled in a mystery they are determined to solve. The first of a series, the story of the Sinister-Winterbottom siblings will appeal to fans of The Series of Unfortunate Events. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's Publishers through NetGalley.
This new series by White has humor and enough creepiness to appeal to middle grade readers who enjoy mysteries. Fraternal twins Theo and Alexander and their older sister Wil suddenly end up with an aunt they never knew they had when their parents leave for a secret reason. Readers learn about each of the characters early in the story, and White continues to reveal more about each as the book unfolds. Hints are offered that more is happening behind the scenes than an unexpected summer vacation at a waterpark.
I appreciated the pace at which the story unfolded clues and offered several mysteries for the twins to work through. The final sentences sets up the next book in this series.

Theo and Alexander are fraternal twins. (Theo is short for Theodora, which she hates.) Their parents ship them and their big sister Wil off to their aunt's for the summer, with no explanation why. Aunt Saffronia is weird, aloof, and packs them off to go to the local water park for a week, where they get told that they must "find what had been lost." Staff keep disappearing, and no one even goes to the park, so the twins embark on a quest to find out why the water park is being run like it is, and where people keep going.

What a fun beginning to a series. I was getting Lemony Snicket and Mysterious Benedict Society vibes while I was reading this, in the best ways. So many questions swirl around these kids, like why the whole water park is gothic black and creepy, where their parents went, why people keep disappearing, why they can't remember traveling anywhere, and just keep appearing places... This may be a middle grade kids book, but I'm 100% ready to see where this series goes, because I'm hooked already.

And by the way, read the first lines of the acknowledgements at the end. You'll get a chuckle!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity! It was so fun!

3.5 Stars...

'Wretched Waterpark' is a creepy adventure into a gothic waterpark where the Sinister-Winterbottom children must find what is missing. This will be a great read for the younger side of the middle-grade set as it's scary without being gory or terrifying, and the mystery was well done.

I'm only giving this 3.5 stars because the ending is a segue into the next book, which will apparently take place in a spa in Transylvania. We never find out where the Sinister-Winterbottom parents are, who the Aunt really is or why the children can never seem to remember going from place to place as well as the inside of their Aunts house. I assume these questions will be answered in future books, but for now, having only this one installment available, I don't like being left with so many unanswered questions.

Overall though, I enjoyed this book, and I think it will do well with 6-12-year-olds who like creepy/scary stories. I look forward to Book 2 in the series.

Very cute spooky middle school mystery. Had me hooked from the first chapter. Growing up with Scooby and the Gang, this brought me back to those days. Very good read.

I’m a HUGE Kiersten White fan so when NetGalley and the publishers provided the opportunity to read an ARC of her new middle grade series I absolutely jumped at the chance!⁣
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Wretched Waterparks follows the hilariously named Sinister-Winterbottom twins who solve mysteries at increasingly bizarre summer vacation destinations in the hopes of being reunited with their parents—or at the very least finally finding a good churro. When their mysterious aunt forces them to visit her town’s waterpark they find a gothic landscape, no churros, and a series of mysterious disappearances. Can they solve the mystery before it gets too deep?⁣
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This book was an entertaining ride filled with fun characters and a simply genius setting. (Don’t we need more gothic waterparks??) I think the kiddos will find the mystery intriguing and spooky. I must admit I was a rather disappointed though because I expected more of White’s signature humor to shine through. Instead she seems to be leaning more towards adventure with just enough creepiness to satisfy but not traumatize this age group.⁣
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Nevertheless, I liked this book and I think lots of kids will enjoy it too. I hope Kiersten White becomes the new Lemony Snicket as I definitely got A Series of Unfortunate Events vibes. And perhaps we can also hope she provides a few more laughs in the sequel.

The Sinister-Winterbottom siblings, 16-year-old Wilhelmina and 12-year-old twins Theodora and Alexander, are left reeling when they dropped off with an aunt they never knew they had for the summer with no notice and no reasons. Wil, who never lets go of her cell phone, seems completely unfazed but Theo and Alexander, though disappointed and confused, are determined to have fun anyway. When Aunt Saffronia suggests a water park, the twins are looking for just one thing - fun! Okay, two things - fun and churros. What they find instead is a gothic theme park full of disappearing kids, gargoyle water slides, and pie with raisins (the horror!) The owner is missing and his wife is rushing around to declare him dead and no one really knows what's going on.

When Wil goes missing, Theo and Alex decide it's up to them to solve the mystery, but can they figure out what's going on before they go missing, too?

This book is fantastic middle grade gothic horror! There's just enough mystery to keep you reading and the horror elements are just scary enough without being too scary or gory. It's just creepy enough.

Well-written and well-paced with great character development, this is a great choice to introduce the middle grade crowd to the gothic and horror genre. SO MUCH FUN!! I definitely recommend it!

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for the ARC of this!

When I saw this described as Scooby Doo x Series of Unfortunate Events from an author I’ve loved? Had to have it. This definitely lived up to its comparisons! The mystery solving siblings, the creepy vibes and weird things happening, the language used all reminded me of both of those. This was really enjoyable and I totally want to know what is up with their aunt and why they can’t remember much of her house 🧐 I wish I already had the next one!

Creepy yes, but not realistically scary. Closest to Lemony Snicket in tone. White’s writing is fun and quirky. The Sinister-Winterbottom twins (yes, that’s their last name) summer plans vanish as their parents send them to stay with an aunt they’ve never met. An aunt who would appear to never have watched any children.

When she asks if they’d like to spend a week at a waterpark, the answer is a resounding yes. Do waterparks usually have a Gothic theme and a mystery to solve? This one does. A nice summer read that will make you hungry for a churro. I did say it was quirky.

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

I LOVED this book! A middle-grade book about a mysterious gothic waterpark (that also has a library) being explored by twins with the last name Sinister-Winterbottom? Strange lifeguards wearing 18th century bathing suits and lace parasols? Mausoleums instead of cabanas? It’s a spooky grown up’s (err, kid’s) dream. Growing up I loved all the John Bellairs’ books I found at the library and this book reminded me of a modern take on that series.

I am a big fan of Kiersten White and have to say that her writing in this book is perfection. Her sense of humor, word play, and ability to describe her character’s “big feelings” in a way that kids could relate really shine in this book. I look forward to reading the next book in this series!!

Source: DRC via NetGalley (Random House Children’s, Delacorte Press)
Pub. Date: June 7, 2022
Synopsis: Goodreads

Why did I choose to read this book?

Kiersten White seems to be in this amusement park phase for some reason, and while I don’t usually read and review middle grade, I wanted to read through this one quickly to see if it was any better than Hide. I even requested this after I reviewed Hide, and was surprised that the DRC was granted to me. I’m glad that Random House/Delacorte doesn’t hold a grudge over one bad review.

What is this book about?

Three siblings (older sister Wil and younger twins Theodora and Alexander) are mysteriously sent to their Aunt’s house for the summer. She buys them tickets to the weirdest water park on Earth and tells them they have one week to find what was lost. The kids try to enjoy the creepy water park at first, and then mysteries draw them deeper into solving the problems they think they’ve been sent there to solve.

What is notable about the story?

This book is like if the Haunted Mansion employees escaped from Disneyworld and decided to open up their own waterpark. Coffin-shaped rafts, water slides made out of stones, cabanas that are actually mausoleums, and a restaurant that only has formal tea service and requires that you dress up (in a water park remember). The setting and mysterious magical origins of the kids (possibly a curse?) are original and eye-catching.

Was anything not so great?

You get no back story, no explanation. The kids just go along with all of this without asking any questions or refusing to participate. Theo and Alex were 100% on board with coffin rafts and hurricane force waves in the demon-mouthed wave pool. All you get is a few remembrances of their parents lighting a lot of candles and suddenly they were at their “Aunt’s” house. All of my experience with teaching kids for the last 17 years tells me that in this kind of situation there would be a lot of whining, pouting, and digging in of heels, not just blind following directions. The only believable element of the kids’ behavior is that the teenager Wil never looks up from her phone.

Putting myself in the shoes of my younger students I probably would have devoured this novel, but I would still have had a lot of questions about what the hell is going on here.

Side note: White also manages to wedge a little climate change statement in here which, I mean, I picked up on but seemed kind of gratuitous in a kid’s book.

What’s the verdict?

Going 3 stars on this one. Cool setting, meh characters, good mystery. I’m not sure why Kiersten went all in on amusement parks in her current books (I wouldn’t be surprised if Obi-Wan going to a space amusement park in Padawan!) but I’m looking forward to whatever she’s planning on after she gets this out of her system.

Thank you to the publishers at Random House Children’s and Netgalley for this e-ARC of Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White!

Read this if you
👻 love gothic themes
🧒🏼 enjoy children’s books
🧳 are a fan of A Series of Unfortunate Events
🛝 wish you were at a waterpark right now

The Sinister-Winterbottom siblings have been sent to spend the summer with their aunt Saffronia in the middle of the night. Confused as to why, Wil, Theo, and Alexander are even more puzzled when their aunt drops them off at the Fathoms of Fun waterpark for the week, instructing them to find “time.” When they discover that one of the waterpark’s owners, Mr. Widow, has mysteriously disappeared, the siblings set out to find him at any cost. But this is no ordinary waterpark, and the siblings must keep their wits about them to solve this impossible mystery.

I absolutely loved this book. The sarcastic humor, the references to the strange waterpark, the mysterious aunt, everything was spot on. If you loved Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, then you will, guaranteed, love Kiersten’s new series! I can’t wait to see what the twins, Theo and Alexander, and their older sister, Wil, get up to next! This book is great for all ages!