Reviews

Took: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn

brig_berthold's review against another edition

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3.0

While this was not appropriate for my 5 year old (for whom I was screening it) I still would hesitate to pass it on to even a 9 or 10 year old. Simply because I found the characters to be pretty harsh towards one another. Still a good story and plenty spooky. But I'd want to talk my kid through some of the interactions between these characters. It's not bad by any stretch. In fact, I think it would be a great way for kids to expand their empathy but an adult would be good to help.

jbkep's review against another edition

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3.0

That was actually kind of creepy. Should be interesting to see how the 8 year old in my house who brought it home reacts to it.

iris_adrienne_knight's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

booksarebetter's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 ⭐. Trigger Warnings for bullying, missing children

This wasn't as much a ghost story as it was a story about a witch. I didn't much care for it, and the ending felt off. I'm not sure what to make of this. MDH is a favorite author, but I think this is one of my least favorites of hers yet. This reads awfully young so maybe I would have enjoyed it more as a preteen? It wasn't bad but it read like an extremely tame Stephen King.

sneeps's review against another edition

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2.0

A spooky little story, satisfying ending. Didn't realize until the end that Mary Downing Hahn also wrote Wait Till Helen Comes, which was the coolest and scariest book I read in 4th grade. I enjoyed reading Took, but I think I would have been more affected if I were younger. The diction did continue to throw me off throughout the book (especially specific mentions of iPads, which felt like weird product placement). I would definitely recommend Took to a 4-6th grader who loves scary stories!

aiyana_r's review against another edition

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2.0

anticlimactic

tizzyxlish23's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-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

3.5

skouriano's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

4.0

I had to read this for school and was thinking it would be silly, but I really liked it! A high interest middlegrade book I would recommend to my 6th graders. Perfect for Halloween!
Old Auntie was creepy and Bloody Bones was made of nightmares! This was just a great, spooky little story about moving out to the woods.

grclnntt's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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badseedgirl's review against another edition

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3.0

This short little tale read like folklore, but set in modern times was quite enjoyable. It was faced paced if a little unrealistic. Where were the police when Daniel brought a strange girl wearing his sisters clothes out of the woods. I found both the parents to be a bit assholish throughout the book.
I listened to the audio book and [a:Nick Mondelli|18155544|Nick Mondelli|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s voice for the witch sounded like Snidely Whiplash from the old cartoon, Dudley Do-Right. It was a bit distracting but still enjoyable.