This was an interesting story. Bee is trying to fit in but not everyone wants to be friends.
Harper let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published in the fall.

She makes friends with girls but they keep moving.

There are ghosts, a boy she likes and more in the story. Her Granny is a ghost.

You start out and it's like normal and then everything changes. As you keep reading you wonder how it will all turn out.

The ending is good.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

Right off the bat, I'm going to admit that I can't really relate to this book at all, at least not as far as the main character is concerned. I grew up being what most people would call a "geek" or "nerd": playing video games, reading, doing well in school, and I was in the band. So being "normal" wasn't really a big thing to me. And that's the main concern of Bee. She immediately dismisses a neighborhood boy because he's "weird" where I as a reader just found him quirky.

She was also very fixated on her friend Kitty. I found this to be a huge problem since I as a reader knew nothing about Kitty, and what I did know made me wonder why Bee even wanted to be her friend. At one point Kitty is very rude about Bee's parents' cooking, and she's described in the book as being critical and not very supportive as a friend, not to mention flaky enough to drop friends as quickly as she makes them. So what was it about her that drew Bee? Why does she like this girl? I think I would've understood Bee's desire to be "normal" more if there was some positive aspects to her relationship with Kitty, but I didn't see anything.

I guess it's just because I'm a lot older than the target demographic, but it was super obvious what the "lesson" was that Bee was supposed to learn. And I was getting a little frustrated with her not getting it. She was just so stubbornly set on brushing past red flags and believing these girls were her friends, and I just didn't get why. The narrative did give a hint that Kitty might've been her only friend, but that seemed only because Bee didn't try making other friends. She seemed worried about that while Kitty was her friend-- something I unfortunately could relate to, though it made me want her to get out of that relationship rather than hold onto it.

So yeah, this book just wasn't for me. It's hard to say how much of that is because I just couldn't connect to Bee's character and how much of it was the narrative not giving me anything to understand Bee's point of view. But I'm sure readers in the targeted demographic might end up liking it.

A solid spooky, atmospheric middle grade novel with a diverse cast! It’s not too spooky and has upbeat moments laced throughout the story. Additionally, it balances talking about dark topics with lighthearted moments very well! A great take on the Hansel and Gretel fairytale.

This was a great reimagining of Hansel and Gretel and combined old elements of the fairytale with modern details perfectly. This managed to be bright, uplifting, adventurous, and magical while also being spooky and eerie. We had well fleshed out, diverse characters that all offered something to the story. It was so easy to let myself feel captivated!

this was a great inspired novel based on Hansel and Gretel, it worked well with the original tale. I enjoyed how good the story was and had a great fairy tale element to it. The characters were what I was looking for and it did everything that I was expecting from this world. I enjoyed how good Emi Pinto wrote this and can't wait to read more.

"No, this is exactly right,” she said, pulling the door open with a jingle of her bangles and holding it for Bee. “It’s also why I wanted to make a big batch of that special peach pickle. It would be so nice to share with all the other cottagers when they come over.” Bee grimaced. She couldn’t think of anything less fun. “And why would anyone be coming over?”

There is a lot to love in this book. It is creepy, spooky, and mysterious, while still being upbeat and adventurous. The characters are diverse, quirky and very relatable.

But what I loved most is that this book does a good job of balancing both the light and dark aspects of growing up. It is a thought-provoking read, with themes of family, friendship and cultural identity, as well as bullying, death, and grief.

3.5/5 ⭐

It was great read that I usually would have given 4 stars but I there were a few things that caused it to drop half a star for me.

Inspired by Hansel and Gretel, this is a spooky ghost story about a girl who goes on a summer vacation and finds herself making new friends, discovering new ghosts, and learning to embrace her own identity. Bee was suppose to spend the summer with her best friend exploring a new spooky theme park... but her parents refused and now she’s spending the summer at Storm Lake with her too loud, too thrifty, and too Indian family. But to Bee’s surprise there is a new cool girl she can befriend and a mysterious magical house across the lake. Bee soon finds herself being haunted by strange dreams though and maybe her new friend isn’t as friendly as she thought. Now she’ll have to figure out what is actually going on and how to help the friendly but dorky neighbor who could be the new friend she needed all along. This is a story about a girl who is learning to embrace herself and her own uniqueness, Bee wants to fit in so badly but at what cost? She spends the majority of this book realizing that what she truly wants is a friend who will like her for who she is and she shouldn’t have to change herself to fit in. This was a sweet story and a fun spooky read.

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*