Reviews

Took: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn

nichole1988's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

brig_berthold's review against another edition

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

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

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

sneeps's review against another edition

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

2.0

anticlimactic

tizzyxlish23's review against another edition

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

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

dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

badseedgirl's review against another edition

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.