Scan barcode
strwberidaquiri's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I can't decide if I like this book or not. I didn't think the depiction of Sally was true to her movie counterpart - I found her obsessive in a way that either I didn't catch in the movie or wasn't true to character.
It's an interesting idea and I enjoyed the small looks into other towns, but I think I feel like it was a miss. Still, I kept reading. Not bad, just not the itch I hoped it would scratch.
It's an interesting idea and I enjoyed the small looks into other towns, but I think I feel like it was a miss. Still, I kept reading. Not bad, just not the itch I hoped it would scratch.
strawberry_shortcakez's review against another edition
5.0
Easy 5 star this book was beautifully written and a perfect sequel to the movie, I'd quite like to explore some of the other doors if there's ever a follow up
24hcarlisle's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
rxchellevy's review against another edition
3.0
another Disney sequel: ✔️ 3.5 ⭐️
this was a pretty interesting read! in this unofficial sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas, we get to meet new characters and explore different parts of the TNBC universe! this book was good and oddly enough, kind of thrilling in some parts? I recommend if you absolutely loved the movie!
this was a pretty interesting read! in this unofficial sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas, we get to meet new characters and explore different parts of the TNBC universe! this book was good and oddly enough, kind of thrilling in some parts? I recommend if you absolutely loved the movie!
kaylakay03's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.5
wianna_rickford's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was adorable and is suited well for children. Definitely could have been shorter in some spots and expanded in others. Possibly would have been better as a novella
rosiesaidit's review against another edition
4.0
I loved reading about Sally’s story, my only complaint is that it should’ve been a bit longer. I would have liked to learn more about the other doorways and their towns as well, but besides that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the characters in it. The writing style was also beautiful and it made the book hard to put down. <3
lesserjoke's review against another edition
4.0
With one bizarre caveat that I'll get to below, this 2022 sequel novel to the 1993 stop-motion classic is a worthy follow-up and a great adventure in its own right. It's certainly far better than I expected for a belated media tie-in with such an awkwardly-long full title! Centering on the somewhat-underutilized love interest from the film, this book explores newlywed Sally's anxieties at becoming queen, a surprising retcon of her origins, and her heroic efforts to save the whole world from a threat she unknowingly unleashes. I like how author Shea Ernshaw has taken this opportunity to not only revisit the Halloween Town and Christmas Town settings of the movie, but also to depict for the first time their Thanksgiving, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, and Valentine's counterparts. She expands the worldbuilding further as well by introducing the concept of ancient, pre-holiday lands whose portals are overgrown but still accessible, with our protagonist inadvertently opening one and letting in an eldritch monster that proceeds to put everyone else to sleep in order to steal their dreams.
It's a fantastic premise and a strong showcase for the main character, and generally retains throughout that effervescent blend of quirky darkness that makes the original animation (and the Tim Burton brand more broadly) such a timeless delight. I don't want to spoil the revelations about the heroine's past, but I'll simply note that, as with the project as a whole, I was initially skeptical yet swiftly won over. The ensuing examination of found families, conflicting heritages, and chosen home communities is very well-done, and a neat thematic extension of Jack's old interest in bringing elements of Christmas into Halloween.
As for the clunkiness: this is going to sound ludicrous in summary, but at one point, Sally winds up in the human world, where everyone has likewise been cursed into perpetual slumber while she searches for a cure and tries to avoid the Sandman herself. Thinking thoughts about royalty, the ragdoll arrives in the bedchambers of England's Queen Elizabeth II, and spends a few minutes marveling at how "polished" and "courtly" and "elegant" the sleeping monarch looks. As readers, we are forced to sit through several paragraphs like this, each one seemingly more cringeworthy than the last:
"There is still something about her. A magnificence that cannot be measured in the weight of the silk that makes up her gowns, or the jewels draped over her pale human skin. She has the soul of a queen, sleeping or not. Adorned and bejeweled or not. It's in the breath that rests in her delicate lungs, the refined features of her face, the firmness in her jaw. She is dignified and stately and noble. I suppose some people are just born with it in their veins… I swear I can feel the nobility of her through her skin -- like a golden, shimmery light. The strength of a woman who has seen many things, overcome much in her long life. A woman who was meant for this role."
Published about a month before her death, that is an offensively hagiographic and simplistic treatment of a colonizer directly responsible for countless acts of bloodshed and theft around the globe, not to mention an apparent eugenicist argument for the reality of noble genes. And if you think I'm bringing politics into this cute little YA story…. No, actually Ernshaw and Disney Press did that, by literally writing a real person with a very complicated legacy into this plot only to shamelessly fawn all over her. The royal figure is not even just an obvious winking stand-in for Elizabeth; she is identified by name at several points -- a distinction given to no other living soul by this franchise. It's an embarrassing miscalculation of a scene on every level, and if the writer or editor ever sees my review, I do want you to know that you should feel bad about including it in the finished novel.
With all that being said: the entire rest of the tale is really rather good! I don't believe the one off-moment merits changing my rating overall, so I'm going to go ahead and give this work the four stars that I feel it generally deserves. But I did hate that passage in London so much that I couldn't in good conscience review the title without addressing it.
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
It's a fantastic premise and a strong showcase for the main character, and generally retains throughout that effervescent blend of quirky darkness that makes the original animation (and the Tim Burton brand more broadly) such a timeless delight. I don't want to spoil the revelations about the heroine's past, but I'll simply note that, as with the project as a whole, I was initially skeptical yet swiftly won over. The ensuing examination of found families, conflicting heritages, and chosen home communities is very well-done, and a neat thematic extension of Jack's old interest in bringing elements of Christmas into Halloween.
As for the clunkiness: this is going to sound ludicrous in summary, but at one point, Sally winds up in the human world, where everyone has likewise been cursed into perpetual slumber while she searches for a cure and tries to avoid the Sandman herself. Thinking thoughts about royalty, the ragdoll arrives in the bedchambers of England's Queen Elizabeth II, and spends a few minutes marveling at how "polished" and "courtly" and "elegant" the sleeping monarch looks. As readers, we are forced to sit through several paragraphs like this, each one seemingly more cringeworthy than the last:
"There is still something about her. A magnificence that cannot be measured in the weight of the silk that makes up her gowns, or the jewels draped over her pale human skin. She has the soul of a queen, sleeping or not. Adorned and bejeweled or not. It's in the breath that rests in her delicate lungs, the refined features of her face, the firmness in her jaw. She is dignified and stately and noble. I suppose some people are just born with it in their veins… I swear I can feel the nobility of her through her skin -- like a golden, shimmery light. The strength of a woman who has seen many things, overcome much in her long life. A woman who was meant for this role."
Published about a month before her death, that is an offensively hagiographic and simplistic treatment of a colonizer directly responsible for countless acts of bloodshed and theft around the globe, not to mention an apparent eugenicist argument for the reality of noble genes. And if you think I'm bringing politics into this cute little YA story…. No, actually Ernshaw and Disney Press did that, by literally writing a real person with a very complicated legacy into this plot only to shamelessly fawn all over her. The royal figure is not even just an obvious winking stand-in for Elizabeth; she is identified by name at several points -- a distinction given to no other living soul by this franchise. It's an embarrassing miscalculation of a scene on every level, and if the writer or editor ever sees my review, I do want you to know that you should feel bad about including it in the finished novel.
With all that being said: the entire rest of the tale is really rather good! I don't believe the one off-moment merits changing my rating overall, so I'm going to go ahead and give this work the four stars that I feel it generally deserves. But I did hate that passage in London so much that I couldn't in good conscience review the title without addressing it.
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog