Read 8/28/24

This author is really good at writing YA Thrillers. I always feel like they have the right amount of suspense, and the plots are unique enough to keep me invested. This story was a little more on the horror side of things, but I think he did a good job with it. Could you feed randomly chosen people to a vengeful ghost if it meant keeping your family safe?

There’s nothing better than a book that keeps you hooked the whole time and then blows your mind with a twist in the last 20%. It’s like you’re so sure you know where it’s going, and then—bam!—everything changes. That’s when a book really pulls you in and shows off its best moves.

This was a great mystery thriller. I enjoyed the plot of this one and loved the idea behind the story. I did think there were a lot of great elements throughout the book but this book just didn’t have the impact that I was expecting for the plot and genre that it is in. Overall definitely recommend reading this one!

One House Left by Vincent Ralph is a gripping supernatural thriller that explores the chilling legacy of a cursed street. Sixteen-year-old Nate Campbell, who has grown up haunted by the legend of Murder Road, must contend with a family history of tragedy linked to the vengeful spirit of the Hiding Boy. When his family moves to escape the curse, Nate hopes for a fresh start, but he’s drawn into his new friends’ obsession with ghost stories. As the line between old and new legends blurs, the tension builds to an unsettling climax. Ralph masterfully blends suspense, mystery, and a touch of the supernatural, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. A must-read for fans of eerie tales and psychological thrillers.

This book reminded me of a train wreck. You want to look away hit you just can’t stop staring. Or like going to the movies and you don’t like how the movie is going but you paid for tickets so you stick it out and finish it. I just, no so much no.

One House Left started off ok but then I felt like I was missing something as I kept reading. There were so many unanswered questions. I felt like we only got the surface of the characters and never really knew enough about them to care or root for any of them. The last quarter of the book picked up and got crazy so I was able to fly through the end, but the first 3/4 of the book dragged on & left me with more questions.

I would’ve loved this set in the 80s— almost gave off a Stranger Things friend group vibe (maybe because the girl’s name was max?).

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good YA horror/thriller read. If you tend to like books more on the scary and adult side, this might not be for you. It was spooky in the way that urban legends are spooky, but wasn't scary or vulgar. I enjoyed reading this as a light wrap up to fall!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A throw back thrill ride. Like a more grown up RL Stine novel. Full of chills and twists. With great characters and fun writing. A delight.

The storyline is great and definitely kept me intrigued the entire time. Sometimes I had a hard time following the story especially the ALT chapters. With that being said, I really enjoyed this book!

I tried reading this quite a few times but this storyline never really made sense to me? I felt so confused for so much of this book and even though I loved the take on urban legends I just never fully got into this one. The family was clearly on the run but everything else was so vague. More clarity would have been appreciated. I know horror is usually ambiguous, but this is YA. If I struggled then surely a teen will, too! Overall, it did pick up by like the 70% mark but I still wasn’t thrilled with the direction this took. Hoping I enjoy other books by this author more in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press/Wednesday Books for this ARC!

I was not expecting that ending. I was a little confused about what was going on in the beginning, but I think that helped the story along for me. It gave me a sense of dread about where this story was heading. I'm going to pick up some of the author's other books and see if I get the same feelings, hopefully I will.

This book was wrapped perfectly in a mystery shroud with a very twisted ending. An ending that left me thinking about it for a day.

There are a few chapters where it was unnecessarily detail heavy but overall it was a good read!

Will definitely recommend this!

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this!

I have read another book by this author and I absolutely loved it. However this this one fell short for me. It took me forever to read and I couldn't fully get into it.

This one is great for the spooky season and certainly invoked all those feelings I had when I used to read R.L. Stine books as a teen! I'm excited to read more from the author!

This one was a bit confusing at the end, as Nate and his 3 friends make their way to the ultimate Urban Legend location. Some twists appeared, things get a bit weird, and then it gets pretty wrapped up. Not sure if Hiding Boy is appeased or what as it’s not clear to me. Bulk of the story was good, closing was just ok.

✨Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the gifted physical and digital copies of this book!✨

I did not enjoy this book. I shouldn’t have finished it, but I hung in because I felt obligation.

I had no idea what was going on probably 70% of this book. It was incredibly difficult to follow. I listened on audio so maybe it would have been better in print? Either way, I found it difficult to connect the dots here.

The twist was pretty shocking. It added a little bit of interest to an otherwise boring plot.

Overall, I didn’t find this one to be worth my time. I’d skip it.

Thank you so much, St. Martin’s Press and netgalley, for the eARC copy!
 
One House Left by: Vincent Ralph
 
QOTD: Do you believe in urban legends? Are they real?
 
This was a good YA thriller. The beginning starts a little slow but once it picks up it picks up!
 
"Ready or not. Whatever you do. The Hiding Boy is coming for you. "  
 
One House Left follows Nate and his family as they settle into a new town after their contestant moves to avoid the curse of the "murder road". I love reading about urban legends that the teens tested out. I remember we would do this when we were teens, which was nostalgic. There were many twists, especially that ending- that is something I did not see coming at all. It brings the story full circle while also bringing in that perfect shock at the end. It was very intense; the story was well-written.
 
I recommend this book if you love horror and mystery combined. Do not read this book at night…. LOL

I really wanted to like this book more as I have enjoyed all of the other books I've read by this author. The storyline was interesting but was hard to hold my attention at times. While this was a quick read, I don't know that I connected with the characters as much as in other books so the ending, while thrilling, was rather uneventful to me. This is a good spooky read that may keep you up at night, and as a fan of the author I would read his books no matter what, but if you're new to the author, I might choose another one of his reads as my first.

Honestly, I didn't love this book. The synopsis coins it "R.L. Stine meets Urban Legend", and I was expecting an anxiety-inducing, chilling horror story. I feel like the concept was there, maybe just not fully executed in a way that would have given me what I needed. I believe this is something others will love, just not exactly what I was expecting.

This is very much in the style of R.L. Stine or Christopher Pike and brings back all the early YA reading you did even in middle school. Very well written and with enough intrigue that keeps you reading, if you wanted to guess and run through all the scenario's in your head about the outcome you would be able to guess it but it was so fun to just go with the flow and let it happen. Then it does surprise you a bit with a twist. I really had a good time with it.

Thank you to St. Martins Press, Wednesday books, Vincent Ralph and Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.