This was FANTASTIC! I stumbled upon Vincent Ralph a few months ago in Barnes and Noble and quickly became an instant fan. One House Left was the perfect combination of urban legends meets R.L. Stien. It brought me back to my Goosebump days and I wasn't mad about it! The mystery and creepiness of the urban legend was amazing! Ralph's newest book just solidified why he's an auto buy author for me!

Title: One House Left by Vincent Ralph
Genre: YA (Middle Grade) Thriller
Pub Date: August 27, 2024

“𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐨𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

🏡 Family on the Run
✨️ "Unaliving" Curse
🏡 Urban Legends
✨️ Slow Burn Mystery

My Review:
If you love middle grade thrillers with Fear Street/Goosebumps vibes, One House Left will be right up your alley!

I am not the target audience for this book (I'm almost 27 therefore well out of middle/high school) so take my review with a grain of salt! I prefer reading about characters closer to my age, but I believe if I'd read this in 8th grade I truly would've loved it! The pacing is a little slow (it doesn't really start making sense/picking up until the last 25%) but the writing style is solid!

⭐️ 3.5/5

Thank you so much, @NetGalley and @WednesdayBooks and St. Martin's Press, for the digital review copy ❣️

I had trouble getting into this book. For a little over the first half I really had no idea what was happening, but not in a good, mind-bending way; I simply didn’t understand the story. The premise - a missing boy putting a curse on his street for not saving his family - was excellent. I feel this book has so much promise, and maybe fleshing the details and characters out a bit more would help. Things sort of wrapped up by the end, but I was really left feeling blah about the whole book.

Thank you for the opportunity to read in advance!

This horror/paranormal mystery was good, but not great. It had a lot of unanswered questions throughout the book, which made it hard to follow until the last third. The characters felt superficial and underdeveloped. Nate came from a broken house, but I didn't understand why he wouldn't befriend the other three teenagers who seemed to want to include him or why he pursued Max, when I didn't really see a relationship there. There were no surprising twists, but I did think the ending fit with the plot of the book. The writing style of the book was very unique, which made me continue reading despite the slow pace.

I couldn’t get into the story just as I thought. Not disappointed but need more depth, I think. I can't remember when was the last time when I read a book in which the whole plot was 100% equal to what was written in the blurb and nothing more. There was no surprise there, no resolution to any of the plot threads and the whole story was blatantly predictable and painfully dull.

Like urban legends? A good scary story? Well then this is for you! The twist in this book were insane. I was completely sucked into the story and then blindsided! Such a great read!

If you’re a fan of urban legends, then One House Left by Vincent Ralph is definitely a book you should check out. Playing around with Bloody Mary or Death Number 999-9999 is one thing, but living in an urban legend? That’s a whole different story.

For the most part, I wasn’t overly attached to our main character, Nate. Something was off about him – and not just the fact that he was oddly obsessed with Murder Road and keeping people away from there. He just wasn’t a character that I really connected with, to be honest. But sometimes you don’t need to connect with the characters.

I loved Max – she was someone I’d probably have been friends with when I was in high school. She’s fiery but she also has a soft side. She’s my favorite of the characters in this book.

The other two main characters, from whose point of view we get to see parts of the story, Seb and Tyler are interesting characters, but I didn’t really connect with either of them. They were more or less background noise – someone more for Nate and Max to interact with.

The plot for One House Left is fairly simple – Nate and his family used to live near Cherry Tree Lane, also known in the world of urban legends as Murder Road. Unfortunately, Murder Road isn’t just a legend, it is real. Now Nate and his family are on the run from Murder Road… but why? The twist is something you won’t see coming… and even then, it’s a slow burn twist to get the full story.

I didn’t have the massive “can’t put this down” feeling like I have for other books, but I also didn’t hate it. I still wanted to know what was happening, but it wasn’t as much of a burning need as it has been for other books. To be honest, One House Left is the first Vincent Ralph book I’ve actually finished. I tried to read Lock the Doors a couple of years ago and just couldn’t get into it. Maybe it is time to revisit that book, now that I have a better idea of Mr. Ralph’s writing style.

Vincent Ralph’s writing style is slow burn rather than fast paced. It will take you quite a while to get the main action. Sure, there will be bits and pieces to keep you entertained and help keep your attention, but to get to the good stuff, you’ll have to read over half the book. Trust me, it’s worth it.

The ending was great – it left the book with an ending that was both final and not at the same time. The book could have a sequel if Mr. Ralph wanted to write one, but it doesn’t need one. If he did write a sequel, I’d love to read it.

I’m giving this book 4 stars because it’s a great slow burn horror novel that will make you want to know more, but not to the point of obsessing over it.

A very readable book that kept me engaged and turning pages, with a twist that manages to send the book off in an unexpected direction yet still ends up almost exactly where I would have expected. Well drawn characters with more depth than you sometimes find in a short horror novel.

Would definitely recommend for readers into urban legends and creepy vibes.

Nate's high school struggles are about to become much harder when he meets three friends who like urban legends. The set up is terrifying and the ending is horrifying. The pacing at the beginning was a bit slow and that made me knock off a star. This is not my normal type of story and it did not disappoint.

This is a fantastically creepy novel about a cursed boy and a family who can't escape the terrors of their past.

They call it Murder Road. A street in a small town where brutal and unexplained murders happen each year on a certain day tinside different houses. It's an urban legend about the "Hiding Boy" and a curse he placed on the street after the death of his mother.

Nate and his family are running from place to place trying to outrun this curse. They know it's very real and with good reason.

Nate is in high school and reluctantly makes friends with a trio who like to test urban legends.

This is the setup to what is going to be a horrifying narrative. The author has done a great job of setting up all the pieces and saving the most dark twisted secrets until the end.

Part coming of age, part family trauma, and terrifying supernatural encounters will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end. I highly recommend this book.

I think this is my favorite book by this author this far. This one is a ya paranormal thriller. Minus parts going just a tad slowly, I think overall the pacing held up well.
Loving the urban legends being true part. Parts of that were definitely suspenseful. I think those final plot reveals were superb. I had an inkling about a bit of what was going but it wasn't until quite a bit in.

And um...that end? Bravo.

This was a great thriller. I absolutely loved it. It kept me engaged from page one. This will be a must read for thriller fans.

I enjoyed this book, and I think that the target audience will as well.

Mysterious
Twisty
Relatable teen issues in terms of friendship and sibling relationships.
The spooky urban legend focus is something that calls to many teenagers.

Delivered on the description of “RL Stine meets Urban Legend”

Spine-chilling and gripping! It was a thrilling ride from beginning to end. The plot and eerie atmosphere kept me hooked. The suspense and scares were not only brilliantly executed but will also will haunt me for days.

Vincent Ralph's One House Left is the perfect teen scream, horror story, and could easily be made into one of the teen horror movies such as Scream and Final Destination. The characters are fun and lively, the description is vivid, and you quickly get pulled into the story and absorbed in the lives of the teens as they try to navigate their way through the urban legends that are terrorizing them. As I read this book I compared Mr. Ralph and One House Left many times to R. L. Stein, and his Fear Street and Goosebumps series., thinking how Mr. Ralph could easily give Mr. Stein a run for his money. This was the first book I read by Mr. Ralph, but definitely won't be the last. I can't wait to see what else Mr Ralph has in store.

Vincent Ralph has a real knack for writing YA mystery/thrillers!!! I really enjoyed the guessing game that this book played and the twist/big reveal at the end!!! This was an ending I didn’t see coming, and I loved every word of it!!!

My patrons love thrillers, and I have a hard time keeping them on the shelves. I especially love that this book features a male MC. This book will definitely keep readers on the edge of their seats.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's for the pre-release copy of One House Left by Vincent Ralph. Here are my honest thoughts.

This one was a lot of fun, but it also had some pacing issues. I felt like there was a lot of repetition -

Family life: parents doing their thing, brother fighting and coming home late, sister crying on the phone, oh, I can't tell my family that I have friends

Friend group: I need to stay away. I don't want to. I'm gonna stay away. Okay, I'll hang out.

School: Oh look, another note/article.

All of this repetition made the first half of the book a bit of a slog, even though there were some interesting things sprinkled in to help make it still hold a bit of my attention, and I mean the urban legend parts, of course.

Once the 75% mark hit though, the story accelerated really fast, and skyrocketed straight towards an ending that was impossible to see coming because of the unreliable nature of the storytelling method.

All in all, it was really fun when it was fun, but the pacing issue knocked off a star for me. Recommended for Vincent Ralph fans, YA horror fans, and slow burns.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Aug. 27, 2024
Vincent Ralph’s new YA horror novel, “One House Left” is a terrifying exploration of four teenagers and an urban legend come to life.
“Ready or Not, whatever you do, The Hiding Boy is coming for you”. Nathan Campbell knows what the true story of Cherry Tree Lane, nicknamed “Murder Road”, and he, and his family, have been on the run from its terrifying secrets, trying to outrun the curse. At his latest school, Nate tries to stick to himself but is soon under the spell of local girl, Maxine, and her small group of friends, obsessed with urban legends. As much as Nate tries to hide his history, Max and her friends soon discover Nate’s connection to the “Murder Road” urban legend and are desperate to investigate, leading to a night of bloodshed and terror where not everyone will survive.
Vincent Ralph has a way of understanding his YA audience, introducing naïve and anxious characters that are believable and honest. The first half of “House” is narrated by Nate, and the last half is narrated by Max. In between chapters there are snippets of haunting dreams that have terrorized Nate as a result of his involvement with “The Hiding Boy”, all culminating in one heck of a final twist.
The beginning of the novel was innocent yet spooky, as Nate and his friends naively investigate urban legends but, toward the end, the plot takes a legitimately terrifying turn that reminded me a little bit of Stephen King’s “It”, where all the characters are faced with their worst fears and secrets of their past that they must confront in order to survive. I loved all of the scary components- the haunted neighbourhood, the urban legends, the “Hiding Boy”- and I managed to feel a connection to the characters, even though I haven’t been part of the YA audience in a decade (or more).
I read “Secrets Never Die” by Ralph, which got me used to his unique writing style that reoccurred in “House”. His language is easy to read, designed for a YA audience without all of the current generations’ ridiculous slang and verbiage, but there is something unique about it that had me re-reading a few passages, thinking I had missed important plot points (I hadn’t).
“House” is clever, haunting and gripping, and Ralph connects with audience, young and older alike, in creative ways. I look forward to reading more of Ralph’s scary stories in the future!