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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
The Cursed Moon was an enthralling read with lots of pieces to the story to keep you hooked. It had intricate details with all loose ends tied up by the end of the book. The relationship between Brianna and Rafa was beautiful in a heartbreaking way, knowing all they had been through in their childhood. This really hit home when Brianna was talking about when she’s older and rich and Rafa thought something along the lines of whether kids like them even get to grow up to be rich. Ouff.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Eh, affirmative action type book
I received a galley of this book at the ALA conference.
This is a perfectly scary book for middle grade. Rafa is a well developed character, and his family life is relatable to many kids in America. His mom is incarcerated in prison and will be released soon for good behavior. Rafa and his sister have been living with their grandparents. Rafa loves to tell scary stories. When Rafa tells scary stories on a blood red moon the scary stories come to life and the caretaker is coming to him! Just enough spooky to leave readers leaving the light on at night. I would give this to fans of Ellen Oh or Linsday Currie.
This is a perfectly scary book for middle grade. Rafa is a well developed character, and his family life is relatable to many kids in America. His mom is incarcerated in prison and will be released soon for good behavior. Rafa and his sister have been living with their grandparents. Rafa loves to tell scary stories. When Rafa tells scary stories on a blood red moon the scary stories come to life and the caretaker is coming to him! Just enough spooky to leave readers leaving the light on at night. I would give this to fans of Ellen Oh or Linsday Currie.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
+ scary stories are the center of this middle grade horror diversity in representation
- not a memorable ending.
I received a galley of this book at the ALA conference.
This is a perfectly scary book for middle grade. Rafa is a well developed character, and his family life is relatable to many kids in America. His mom is incarcerated in prison and will be released soon for good behavior. Rafa and his sister have been living with their grandparents. Rafa loves to tell scary stories. When Rafa tells scary stories on a blood red moon the scary stories come to life and the caretaker is coming to him! Just enough spooky to leave readers leaving the light on at night. I would give this to fans of Ellen Oh or Linsday Currie.
- not a memorable ending.
I received a galley of this book at the ALA conference.
This is a perfectly scary book for middle grade. Rafa is a well developed character, and his family life is relatable to many kids in America. His mom is incarcerated in prison and will be released soon for good behavior. Rafa and his sister have been living with their grandparents. Rafa loves to tell scary stories. When Rafa tells scary stories on a blood red moon the scary stories come to life and the caretaker is coming to him! Just enough spooky to leave readers leaving the light on at night. I would give this to fans of Ellen Oh or Linsday Currie.
slow-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Rafa shrugged and smiled. "I'm working on my happy endings."
Beautiful! I finished this in about 5 hours. It's a fast, super easy-to-digest read that is perfect for the spooky season! I would recommend this story to anyone who read and loved Nightbooks by J.A. White.
Rafa is a wonderful character that garners a lot of empathy. He works very hard to be that protector that he feels his little sister needs. He's angry. He feels like his mother has failed him and he's not looking forward to her being released from prison. He turns his trauma into scary stories to help him cope. And every scary story he writes ends with a happy ending. And while Rafa's mind is focused on his stress over his mother coming back home, this story itself is mainly about the ghost story. It is about a boy trying to break a curse and save not only his sister, but every child hurt by the Caretaker.
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Very spooky middle grade! The scary stories told in this were great and actually quite scary. I also loved how this book did tell the story from a child's POV of dealing with a parent that as an addiction and unfortunately serving jail time. I thought it was a great portrayal in an easy digestible way for a child to understand as well. I only wish the ending was a little longer to understand more about the Spooky Caretaker.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
hopeful
fast-paced
Thank you, Angela Cervantes, for the ARC. I leave this review voluntarily and happily. Also, thank you, Scholastic Press, for your hard work!
I truly enjoyed this book. It wasn't exactly scary as it was heartwarming, and it teaches a lesson. Listen to your elders even if it sounds crazy at times. They do know what they are talking about. Evil will always be overcome by love and family. Hope is one of the strongest motivating things out there, and second chances are always worth giving.
This book is fast-paced and very much worth the read. I enjoyed every moment, and when it picked up, I truly couldn't put the book down. I wanted to know what happened next, if anything was going to happen, just the atmosphere was building and was so exciting.
This book isn't truly horror. It's far more than that. It's second chances, hope, love, and just overcoming fear to protect those you love and keeping friends safe. Fighting evil and overcoming old fears. This book is definitely worth a read.
The main character was given a warning not to read scary stories on the night of the blood moon, and yet he does so anyway. Evil awakens, and bad things start to happen. Loved ones and friends are in trouble, and now Rafael must do everything he can to save them all before its too late, before the Caretaker takes them all away.
I truly enjoyed this book. It wasn't exactly scary as it was heartwarming, and it teaches a lesson. Listen to your elders even if it sounds crazy at times. They do know what they are talking about. Evil will always be overcome by love and family. Hope is one of the strongest motivating things out there, and second chances are always worth giving.
This book is fast-paced and very much worth the read. I enjoyed every moment, and when it picked up, I truly couldn't put the book down. I wanted to know what happened next, if anything was going to happen, just the atmosphere was building and was so exciting.
This book isn't truly horror. It's far more than that. It's second chances, hope, love, and just overcoming fear to protect those you love and keeping friends safe. Fighting evil and overcoming old fears. This book is definitely worth a read.
The main character was given a warning not to read scary stories on the night of the blood moon, and yet he does so anyway. Evil awakens, and bad things start to happen. Loved ones and friends are in trouble, and now Rafael must do everything he can to save them all before its too late, before the Caretaker takes them all away.