Reviews

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw

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alicegraf's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted 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

3.0

zoth's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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

3.0

j1nxc's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

1.5

long live the pumpkin queen is a story detailing the events of what happens after the nightmare before christmas ends. sally is crowned the pumpkin queen and hates the role she's been pushed in to. she finds a door leading into an unknown town and leaves it open, allowing a mysterious creature to slip through and cause everyone to permanently sleep. this happens in every town. sally feels lost and makes her way through the door she discovered and stumbles upon dream town, where she learns of the sandman and meets her parents. she returns back to halloween town, puts the sandman to sleep, and saves the day.

i really do love the concept of the story but it failed to meet my expectations in so many ways. the writing wasn't great and felt juvenile at times. there was a sentence-written like this- on every single page. there are plenty of other ways to construct a sentence and i hope since writing this shea ernshaw has taken the time to learn these ways. the way sally was characterized was really frustrating too. she mentions the fact that she's a rag doll who's been mistreated constantly. we understand girl, please pick something else to take about. she even meets queen elizabeth and STILL manages to turn the situation into an "i'm a poor rag doll, pity me, i'm so sad" moment. to be quite honest, i still don't even understand WHY queen elizabeth was even relevant to the story, but that's not important.

the one thing i did like was the general idea of the story. it really is a fascinating concept and i think it really could have blossomed in someone else's hands. i'm also just a sucker for the nightmare before christmas so even though i have many issues with this story, i still managed to enjoy it. it was definitely an interesting take on sally's life and the whole idea of dr. finkelstein kidnapping her and removing her memories is unique.

• ♡ ₊ ˚ pre-read ‧ ₊ ✧

my mom recommended this to me and if it ends up being total ass i will never speak to her ever again. i HATE books that are like fanfictions of movies or whatever and i'm absolutely insane about the nightmare before christmas so i swear i will have a meltdown if this is as horrible as i assume it is

angietuna's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring relaxing slow-paced

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

3.0

Very cute but a little slow

paintedbypicasso's review against another edition

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fast-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

4.0

acm94's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book was absolutely brilliant!! I will say anyone who enjoys The Nightmare Before Christmas movie & likes Sally as a character that they will for sure enjoy this book. I know it took me long to read (but I was very busy during the holiday season). But whenever I started reading it I had a hard time putting it down. Tim Burton & the Disney team let Shea write this beautiful & amazing story with Sally & the Halloweentown crew.

I could easily picture in my head the scenes in this book as they went on. It would be AMAZING to see this put into an illustrated chapter picture book (similar to what they are doing with the Harry Potter Series).