One House Left
Publication date: August 27, 2024

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Ralph Vincent for this ARC eBook in exchange for my honest review.

4.75 / 5

Ok, so ...

I wish I had possessed this book when I was a young adult, along with the hundreds of other YA novels... But it was still an absolute pleasure reading it as a middle aged man, cuz this is one of the best YA horror novels I've read.

This book was so many wonderful things ...

The secrets we keep....
Our need for connection....
Our need for someone who sees and accepts us; imperfections and all....

A scary, beautiful, funny, touching coming of age story.
Lots of eerieness, atmosphere and heart.
(I've seen comparisons to R.L. Stein... but, objectively, this has much better writing.)

This was pure nostalgia... in the sense that this story reminded me of every great horror movie and novel I watched and read when I was younger. It had me thinking of so many of my favorites, and I was looking them up... This is the type of YA novel that truly reminded me of why I fell in love with horror in the first place.

(Full review and thoughts on publication date)

Thanks, Wednesday Books and NetGalley, for the ARC!

This book was extremely interesting! I loved that there were urban legends, mystery, hauntings and horror tied throughout this book. Sometimes there were descriptions that drug on a little too long, but that's a personal preference. I will say, I didn't expect the twist at all! The ending felt a bit abrupt but overall I enjoyed this book.

3.5/5 ⭐️
Best way for me to describe this was that it was mid. It was fine. I kept reading. But it wasn’t great. The first big chunk had the tone of Billie Ellish’s new album: slow and melancholy. And while it took a hard pivot in the final 25% and I enjoyed part 3 the most, it still was mid and not at all scary or thrilling. I’ve read another book by this author and that one was way more thrilling than this. I liked the idea and the twist, but the lead up execution fell short. It was fine. I finished it and wasn’t dragging my feet. But it wasn’t great.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

A YA horror thriller that totally relates to the target audience and beyond. Urban legends, nightmares, paranormal activity and pure gut wrenching horror are found in every chapter. I loved how this played out from beginning to end.
The author did a great job of immersing the reader into these horrible situations. I could feel their fear and the grotesqueness of the situations. Loved it

A fast paced quick read for younger readers.

I enjoyed the story, but somehow it didn’t feel like it fit the title until the end.

Typically, I enjoy a YA novel every now and then and don’t feel like I’m reading “young,” but this book definitely was written for its target audience. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. It just lost my attention here and there because of the naivety of the characters.

More of a 3.5 read for me but I can see the younger audience absolutely loving this one.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Wednesday books for the eARC.

This read was a thriller that took you on a wild ride. If you are into a mysterious thriller having you wonder what is about to come next this is the book for you. There is a paranormal element coupled with urban legends thrill to the overall theme, if that is for you this is the book for you! The writing was easy and I would recommend this to teens and adults!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review This was a surprising book. I did not know what to expect. I think that we all have a little bit of interest in local urban legends. I can definitely see the group of teens hanging and planning their next excursion.

My heart went out to the family running from their past.

The switch of characters at the end was not something I foresaw and was can normally figure out the mystery before the end.

I have to say I enjoyed One House Left

One House Left has a very intriguing premise. Young adult mystery/thrillers are usually right up my alley. I had a hard time connecting with the characters in this one but would still recommend for fans of the genre.

I wanted to love this book. The twist at the end of the book is what saved it for me. Nate and his family are on the run from the hiding boy. The hiding boy from murder lane where every hour is cursed to experience a tragedy.. Nate and his family start over in a new town when he meets max and becomes a part of the hell chasers, his first real friends. The hellchasers are obsessed with urban legends. Little does Max and the hell chasers know that evil can hide in plain sight. It’s worth a read the beginning is very slow and has lots of history.

I was so excited for this book, but it really fell dull and flat for me. It was so slow and just very confusing, a little all over the place. I could not continue as I just did not find myself interested or invested at all.

This was a fun mash up of urban legends and a group of teens who test them out one by one. Unfortunately, new comer Nate is dealing with some supernatural forces that give the legends force when he's around.
This one kept me reading and guessing up to the end.
A great summer read! Thanks for my review copy!

DNF. I just couldn’t get into this book. I’ve read one by this author before that I enjoyed. This one fell short and just couldn’t hold my attention. I didn’t care of the outcome of any characters

Part psychological thriller and part YA horror, this had plot vibes of urban legends mixed with ghost hunters. A family haunted by the curse of a “the hiding boy” and their own dark past. This writing was solid and the story interesting, but I’ll say the pacing was a tad on the slow side. It did pick up toward the last quarter however. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy.

Vincent Ralph is a thriller writer that is a one-click author for me. I absolutely love his spine-chilling and gripping stories adn "One House Left" has proved to be no exception.There were many suprises from start to finish and it was the atmosphere as well as the plot that kept me from putting the book down. The book was incredibly suspenseful and I would expect nothing less from Vincent Ralph.

One House Left is Vincent Ralph’s fourth dark thriller and probably his closest to a straight horror novel. I previously enjoyed both Are You Watching? (2019) and Lock the Doors (2021) but this is the first time I have reviewed him on Ginger Nuts of Horror. For teens you get a kick out of urban legends then One House Left is totally unmissable as the key story thread is cleverly built upon an urban legend which is so notorious even the police believe it to real and main character Nate (with his family) are the only survivors, frequently moving houses to stay ahead of the ‘curse’ which has repeatedly led to deaths in a street in a small town, bleeding out into the houses very close to the street. When the novel opens Nate, his troubled big brother and grieving sister are making yet another new start in a fresh non-descript town. Nate swears to not make friends in his new school and keep himself to himself. This does not happen and this is where the problems start.

Almost against his will, Nate is sucked into the friendship group of horror loving Max (a girl), Tyler and Seb who see a kindred spirit when they clock his Scream t-shirt. The trio don’t just love horror films, they are obsessed with urban myths (but don’t know about Nate’s dark history) and fool around with Candyman style myths to see if they can get some supernatural action. Considering Nate’s history I initially thought it was the height of stupidity getting involved in something like this, but there is good reason with a big reveal later in the story. Nate also has a thing for Max and the friendship group bounce along nicely until it seems a couple of the urban myths they were messing around with are coming to life, with Nate being the catalyst. There were some seriously big plot twists and some hair raising moments in the final third where the reader finds out how real the myth of the Hiding Boy is as the group of friends head back to Murder Row. DO NOT GO! This was a very smart blend of horror, superstition, pop culture and ultra dark thriller. AGE RANGE 13/14+

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the copy of One House Left by Vincent Ralph. I had high hopes for this book because Secrets Never Die was one of my favorite books last year, so maybe my expectations were too high. I loved the urban legends and how Nate and his new friends were investigating them. Was Nate the catalyst for the events that occurred? I never connected to any of his friends because they weren’t well-developed. This book had real promise, but the pacing was off and some secrets could have been revealed earlier so the reveals didn’t come out of nowhere. I enjoyed enough of it to keep it readable, but not enough to love it. I can see where it would appeal to teens who might relate to the teens’ lives and experiences.

So corny. I know I’m not the target audience for this book but I do enjoy YA. We’re following a misfit teen who’s the new kid at school. He gets caught us in this paranormal friend group. At no point was I invested.

I received a free copy of, One House Left, by Vincent Ralph, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Nate Campbell has heard about urban legends before, he thought moving would help, but he learned there was more then one, urban legend. This was a different kind of story, but was a little confusing at times, but all in all a nice story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I enjoyed this book and think you will to.

One House Left is an incredible, unputdownable, gut punch of a novel! Any fans of Urban Legends should pick this up as soon as its published!

One House Left follows Nate and his family as they move to a new town, again, in attempts to escape the nightmares and legends that follow them from Murder Road. Nate is attempting to blend into the background and keep his head down, which should be easy in his new high school.

Max and her friends are a part of a secret club that go out looking for urban legends and local lore, but when they befriend the new kid, Nate, they may stumble upon a legend that's best left untested.

One House Left is a story about family ties, friendships, and ghosts from the past. Ralph brought together some of my favorite aspects of the horror genre into one truly amazing novel.