A review by chaosandbooks
The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

3.0

Going into this book, my first thought was that the narration was a charming blend of Rick Riordan and Lemony Snicket. I absolutely adored that style and I think it worked really well with the Halloween-esque vibes that the book gave off. There were times it made me laugh and I enjoyed the descriptive attention to detail in it.

The plot itself was very unique and refreshing, even if the pacing of the book felt slow at times. There were a few bits that felt repetitive and made me think of foreshadowing, to which I was right. Despite that, I think the faster pacing in the last few chapters thoroughly made up with it and the plot twist was cleverly crafted. I was actually upset to realize this ended with a cliffhanger because I wanted more.

I look forward to the sequel and seeing the relationship between Alastor and Prosper develop further because I think it has a cranky family-type to it that I find adorable. I'm also interested to see if Nell plays a part in the next book because I think her character is a rare gem, but what I'm most interested in seeing is how Prue is developed.

Overall, this was a light-heartened and enjoyable read.