Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Long Live the Pumpkin Queen

Ok as a huge Nightmare Before Christmas Fan I can say that it is certainly entertaining and I'm glad there's no racist caricature as a villain this time but as much as I disagree with some fans criticism I do have my own problems with the book meaning its rating for me has been bumped down. First of all apparently in Acknowledges Ermshaw mentions it wasn't her idea and it clearly shows as it sounds like a Nightmare Before Christmas fan has pulled out there own Fanfiction and suggested it to Burton. It feels like Ernshaw was way to overworked as certain parts that should have more build up and more detail have been completely rushed. Although I'm completely up for an accessible reading experience I don't think it should be at expense of the story. You can tell this book was rushed out carelessly due to the fact the fact that in the uk we have no Hard cover version and the paperback version has a terrible lazy cover. Overall it would have been much better as a YA 500 pages as it would have felt like a proper sequel rather than give Sally a character because mysoginstic men wrote her. I'm not woke i just want female characters written well.

Spoiler

Moving onto the positives I can say that Sally's personality is way less one dimensional and so much more developed than she was in the film. When you actually take the time to put effort into writing a character like Sally she has a really inspiring story. The idea she was Kidnapped instead of made makes you understand why she's so desperate to escape abusive situations and you end happy for her when she meets her parents. I also liked having Sandman as a villian as normally the Sandman in media is a hero so I liked switching up and seeing what happens when the Sandman is dream hungry. Also no Ernshaw's writing is absolutely beautiful and the way she describes the holiday towns especially Valentine's Day Town and Dream Town.

Overall despite its flaws I really enjoyed the further development of the nightmare before christmas lore and the slight world building. I'm also thankful that Sally has a character because as someone with anxiety I felt like I could really relate to her struggles. If you however are wanting a slow developed book that continues directly on from the movie and doesn't act so wild and fantastical with wild lore changes I would just stick to A03.

Mel's Rating: 4 Stars/ 7.5 Out Of Ten
🎃🎃🎃🎃🎉🎉🎉

Content Warnings

larareads's review

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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omnipresent's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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cheesy_crackers's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really wanted to like this book- but I found it too predictable and cheesy.

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walskishere's review

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I had a really fun time with this book. It moved quickly, which was nice, and tied up nicely. The only things I would say worked against the book were the sentence structures (veeeeerry run-on-y), and the weird jerk off session to Queen Elizabeth II.

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eed8's review

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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xandraj's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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kaylalynn's review

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mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I was really excited when I seen this book came out, I really enjoyed getting to learn more about Sally and read from her perspective. It was an interesting twist on the original novel and I don't think it feels to far fetched like I thought it might. It was a really great read for Halloween.

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