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!

Oh my gosh! My jaw is still on the floor! Between the thrill of the book and the haunted house vibes, I need more!! I couldn’t put this down!

Paranormal , Horror, and Thriller you got me there. Definitely something different for the paranormal horror fans worth giving it a read I highly recommend even if you think it’s not for you.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. This was a solid thriller, I really had a fun time reading it, and would highly recommend this one to those who grew up loving the Fear Street series. I honestly didn't predict the ending either, which was great! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

this was okay! it was hard to hold my attention at times and often felt dull. the writing style may not be for me and that’s okay. just confused and had a lot of questions.

Thanks Wednesday Books and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. This might be my favorite Vincent Ralph book yet! Nate grew up in a small town just a short ways away from “Murder Road”, the story goes that the street is cursed because their failure to intervene in a horrible situation. Every so often, always on the same day, people die in one of the houses. Nate’s family have moved all over trying to escape the curse but no matter how far they run they can’t escape the horror. Now at a new school he meets Max. He doesn’t usually make friends let alone entertain romantic prospects. But he’s drawn to her like he’s never been before. She and her friends seek out urban legends to prove them false or real either way is fine. But when the four of them actually start to face urban legends are there going to be more monsters after him? And if his friends find out about his past can he stop them from chasing that urban legend? The one he knows is true. I spent the first half of the book trying to figure out how all the pieces fit, some of it just wasn’t connecting, then the twist happens and the puzzle begins to formulate! I was so surprised and honestly I loved it! Nate’s family dynamics were so intriguing! I enjoyed unfolding their story! This is one of the first books that I feel like I’ve had difficulty expressing my thoughts without spoilers! It’s thrilling, unputdownable, and will leave you shocked! Highly recommend if you like your mysteries to come with a little paranormal mixed in!

Oh man, I'm not even sure what to make of this one! 3/4 of it is mysterious creepy vibes as you try to piece together exactly why Nate's family is the way they are and how nefarious the Hellhole Chasers are or are not. The last 1/4 is giving hardcore haunted house vibes. And that ending! I've got thoughts but for the sake of spoilers, I'll hold them in for y'all lol. This is a solid ya horror that gives you all the creepy vibes and ends with a bang,

I’ve liked all of this authors books. This one definitely had a creepy, supernatural theme. I did not see the twists coming. A great YA fiction book choice!

Taut, psychological, supernatural thriller. Kept me awake at night! Well-paced and plotted with plenty of twists and turns.

2.5 stars

This book missed the mark for me. Characters were underdeveloped, and I never really connected with any of them. The storyline dragged along for a lot of the story, though there were a couple interesting twists. However, it was a little too late. Ultimately, there were too many unanswered questions. The writing style was interesting, but the execution failed a bit on this one.

So dull.

When I first opened this book I was intrigued by the author's writing style and captivated by the lore. The first couple of chapters were fine, and I excused the slow pacing as the book was establishing its world and characters. But this slow pacing continued and continued, and continued for the entire book.

I am not opposed to a slow mystery, especially if the book is honing in on its character's development- but this one did no such thing. The characters felt very flat, and the mystery was poorly developed to me. I kept reading, expecting it to get better- but everything just dragged on so much. The few suspenseful moments early in the book didn't develop into anything interesting. This author attempts to create character development by giving us these weird glimpses of the side character's lives and backstories. Though these tangents make sense given the end of the story, they are uninteresting and don't do anything to heighten the story.

Then there's the twist. I won't go into too many details, to avoid spoiler territory, but I found the in the last few chapters of the novel dull and uninspiring. I didn't see it coming, because it was never once hinted at- not because it was a good twist. We are suddenly given random tidbits of backstory on the characters leading up to this moment, which would have served the story better- had it been told to us at the beginning of the book. The twist could have worked pretty well, had it been set up better from the start- had the story been tightened up and less rambly. I also found the author's overall writing style weakened towards the end of the book, and it was a sludge to get through.

I don't find this book comparable to R.L. Stine or any other young adult mystery/thriller writer for that matter. I feel this story had a lot of potential, but the author just dragged it on for far too long- without any real focus. I never felt compelled by the mystery, and the stakes just feel so low throughout the book. This was a tough one for me to get through, I am interested in reading some of the author's other work to see how it compares, but this one was a miss for me.

This book just couldn’t find its audience with me. I kept starting and stopping and restarting because I really wanted to get into it and like it. I just had a very difficult time with the writing style and felt really confused and never had the sense of getting any clarity.I do believe they’re having read other reviews that this is very much a problem and not indicative of the book.