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.

I w as so excited to receive this book and it did not disappoint! The writing took me a little to adapt to, however once that no longer became an obstacle I was invested in this story and the end had me gasping! I love when a thriller completely blindsides me and this one accomplished that.

It started out a mystery about the house on the street that had various murders happen to it. Confusing when various storylines were introduced throughout the book. Resolution was abrupt and felt unfinished.

Nate and his family are running from something or is it someone?

Nate and his family have been moving a lot over the last few years. They all seem haunted by something that happened at a previous address, the infamous "Murder Road." He seems reluctant to make friends, but eventually finds a group, the leader, an attractive girl named Max, Taylor and Seb. The group investigates urban legends, which supposedly never came true before Nate joined them. Suddenly, the legends are coming to life and they feel Nate is the key component. Will they find out his connection to Murder Road? Is Nate safe in this new town or will he soon be running again with his family?

I enjoyed this book. It had some twists at the end that I wasn't expecting, It was a little slow in parts and a bit confusing at the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the DRC. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for an e-ARC of One House Left in exchange for an honest review.

Nate Campbell grew up on Murder Road, a street where several unexplained murders took place due to the supernatural spirit The Hiding Boy. Nate’s family is now starting over in a new town, where Nate makes some friends who are obsessed with the paranormal.

I was initially intrigued by the book to the ghost story associated with Murder Road. I haven’t read a lot of paranormal books so was excited to check it out! The start of the novel is pretty standard high school new kid story. He feels left out before being accepted by friends, but their obsession with the occult drives a bit of a wedge between them.

Nate is hesitant to bond with these people as he has been severely traumatized. This book focused a lot around healing and coming to terms with trauma in the first half. Then the second half hits and it gets quite scary and creepy and so many surprises are revealed! I enjoyed the second half more and was hoping for more of that throughout the book but once we got there, it was hard to put the book down!

I was really hoping this book would deliver on its comparison to R.L. Stine. I was a huge fan of his Fear Street series growing up. He was probably responsible for my love of horror books just as much as Stephen King (who I came across later).

However, I was really disappointed in this story. I was hoping for a spooky, scary read and instead felt that the story fell flat. It centers more around teenage drama than the horror elements. I also felt like it took way too long to get to the meat of the story. The characters kept eluding to a big event that happened to bring them to where they are now. Yet it wasn’t directly discussed until pretty far into the book.

In the end, I didn’t get any chills or sense of urgency from the story.

I was expecting a little more horror, the pacing and repetitiveness was distracting from the story. The characters did not stand out, not a bad story but left more to be desired.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Well. I’m not sure what to say about this one. I couldn’t really get into it and was really waiting for a “hook” or something to get me engaged. I couldn’t relate to the characters and found the pacing to be a bit off. Overall, this didn’t work for me and I was ready for it to be done.

I started reading about a family that moves a-lot. The children, are haunted by their previous home on Cherry Hill Lane. Murders Row and they fled for their lives. Being the new kid at school sucks evenmore when you want to be a loner for your sanity. Nate makes friends with a small group that loves horror seeking. The mystery thriller then takes a deep turn into survival and loss.

Vincent Ralph can do no wrong and he knocked it out again with this book. An excellent mix of mystery and urban legend. This book had me hooked from beginning to end and Nate was an excellent MMC. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to see read what Vincent writes next.

This was slow paced but I was intrigued for about the first half of the book with the focus on urban legends. We learn pretty early on that Nate's family is on the run from their past and the family dynamics were definitely odd. I wish the back story of why they were on the run had been shared earlier on, as I started getting annoyed with the continued vague comments so deep into the book. Like the fact that Rowan saved those kids and they were moving around to escape the haunted aftermath could have been shared sooner without ruining the book or suspense.

I thought it could have ended around the 80-85% mark when Nate trapped his friends in the house and it would have been a solid ending. It was a twist I wasn't expecting and I would have been satisfied with that closure.. I thought everything after this point was unnecessary, or could have been edited down into an epilogue.

What got my interest was “ R.L Stine meets Urban Legend” Urban legend is one of my favorite slasher movie, so with that said I requested a copy. I read it right away and really enjoyed it. I found it to be creepy and nostalgic, I was not expecting that twist and ending. I thought One House Left was going to be more Goosebumps but I was wrong it was more Fear street and Urban Legend. The description of what happens when The Hiding Boy picks its next victims were pretty descriptive.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday books.

This reminded me of the ya horror books I used to read when I was a kid/teen. This did have a little bit of a slow start but it picked up about halfway in & I couldn’t put it down!

This was quite the tangled web until about the last quarter or so when everything starts coming together. Definitely a slow burn paranormal suspense.

This was a great one for spooky season. It kept me entertained the whole way through. Look out for twists and scary things.

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3.5 stars

One House Left was a creepy and suspenseful mystery that kept me engaged most of the time. I did find that based on the synopsis I thought it would be more of a horror, but that isn’t really the case for this one.

Our main character, Nate, meets a ragtag group of friends that he quickly also becomes friends with. They are super into urban legends and local creepy lore and he gets sucked into that with them. However, they don’t know his past or what his family is running from.

I will say this was a pretty good and engaging mystery with creepy and eerie elements but I was definitely hoping for more of a solid YA horror. However, I did enjoy this!

Thank you St. Martins Press & Wednesday books for my copy of this!

*R.L. Stine meets Urban Legend? Count me in!*

If you’re craving a YA horror packed with urban legends and enough creepy vibes to keep you on edge, *One House Left* should be next on your list. It's a perfect break from your usual reads, combining an eerie atmosphere with just the right amount of thrills.

The story follows a dysfunctional family constantly on the move, haunted by a dark, mysterious secret. Their odd behavior keeps you guessing, adding an extra layer of tension. But things get even more chilling when the new kid, Nate, quickly befriends a group at school who are all too eager to share the local urban legends and ghost stories. As these eerie tales start overlapping with the very secrets Nate’s family is trying to escape, the real question becomes: can they outrun their fate this time?

*One House Left* is a fun, fast-paced read, perfect for fans of paranormal thrillers with a side of adventure.

A big thanks to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, Vincent Ralph, and NetGalley for the EARC!

Ok, so if you’re a Goosebumps/Fear Street or general RL Stine fan, and love local folklore scary stories then this book should be on your radar! With some excellent creepy parts, and an ending that kept me guessing I couldn’t read this one fast enough. One House Left should definitely be on every horror/thriller lovers spooky season list. This is a YA horror/thriller but will hit for all ages.

New author - and I was pleasantly entertained. Every few years, for nearly six decades, a different house on that street has been the scene of a tragedy. Nate and his family move to a new town as they try to outrun the curse once and for all. But, when he is pulled into his new friends’ urban legend club, new ghost stories merge with old until there is nowhere left to run. I dont often read anything in the horror genre so I was giving this a try, and in the end it wasn't too "horror" - more mystery. Parts of this story did drag out when it could have been faster paced. Still a solid book that many will enjoy. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.