mehsi's review against another edition
4.0
Something is lurking the woods behind Jenna's house... and what is up with that big claw! A very spooky You're Invited to a Creepover!
I am still re-reading my Creepover books, and being so sad that there are no more new ones, and I am slowly reaching the end of the re-read. It was great fun and I have to say I really liked reading this one. Because the ending was also really good. At times these books end a bit abrupt and at times they just don't make me happy... but this one left it open in a good way. I am also upping my rating to 4 stars (it was 3.5).
So the rest of the review will be old/new combined. Bold is new and old is non-bold.
This one was pretty great, and I really enjoyed it. Instead of a magical monster that wants to eat people, there is a whole backstory and history behind it. I really appreciated that the author added this one to the book. I think if it was just a monster and with the typical: "Yeah, it is magical", I wouldn't have continued or I would have been bored more. But now? Now I was interested in this so called Marked Monster (who actually has some kind difficult name that kept pulling me out of the book to read aloud). It is kind of creepy, the idea that such a beast lurks outside of the town, lurks in your forests. I would move as soon as I would know about such a legend, and especially after finding records of it being a real thing. *shivers*
Yep, I still fully agree with this one. This wasn't just a monster out of nowhere.. oh no it has been haunting this town for a long long time. I was definitely interested to find out, along with Jenna, what this monster was and if there was something to be done about it. We also learn about her symptoms because she got cut by the claw. I am indeed glad that they went with Marked Monster, because otherwise I would have gotten pulled out of the story the whole time. Nothing against its original name, but I just couldn't pronounce it.
I think it is hilarious that people still live in the neighbourhood of that thing. I totally agree with the me of 2015. Run, move, go away.
Jenna was decent, but I didn't always like her. Instead of trusting someone, she held all her fears to herself, which caused her to be super scared and paranoid. Sure, she was brave, but at times I just found her an idiot. An idiot, for not trusting people, for just going outside, even when she knew she was a target. For putting her and her friends in danger.
I think I would rather have had one of her other friends to be the main characters, maybe someone like Maggie, who was more fun and more outgoing.
Yep. I once agree with me there. I get that she is a child, but she should have trusted someone at least with what happened. Come on, there is pus running down your arm. It is doing some icky things and you just smack on some antibiotic cream and hope it goes away? UMmMMMMM, want to lose that arm?
However, I am not sure if I would have liked her other friends to be the main character, unless of course it happens to them as well, otherwise I don't think it would have worked to see the story unfold through someone else's eyes.
I am also still curious about that school project she did. What did the teacher think of it? Since it is such a controversial topic, I can imagine that the teacher might not like it much.
YES! I wanted to see the teacher's reaction to it. I can imagine it is an unconventional topic and that the teacher will have some thoughts on it. It is a shame because we see Jenna put a lot of effort and research in the whole deal. So please, give us some details!
The ending was fun, but once again a typical P.J. Night one. Ending with a twist, or ending with an opening so that the story could potentially go on, but you know it will never continue.
Yep, typical P.J. Night. But as I said I like this one more than one of my previous re-reads which had something happen to the MC and then cut off to years later. Which is just not my ending. This one leaves something open and has you thinking what could happen in the future.
The Marked Monster was creepy, and while I had hoped for more appearances, it was already scary at times because of all the sounds, the spooky things that happened in and around Jenna's place.
OMG, yes, he was so creepy. While we barely see the spooky creature there is enough happening that adds to the creepfactor of the monster. Sounds that are just NOPE, rustling sounds, scratching. I had goosebumps!
Something I had this time, or maybe the previous time too but didn't care to write down, was the brother. He was just such a pest. I get that brothers/sisters will bicker but he was just especially annoying and frustrating as hell. I didn't like that the parents gave the blame to something to Jenna, while they knew that her brother has been pretty mean just a bit before. Instead of maybe thinking hey, maybe Jason did something it was immediately them threatening to have Jenna lose her sleepover. Then there was the time he stole the pizza money that the parents had left for Jenna and her friends. And I could go on. Later on we do see he has a soft side.. but for me it just came out of nowhere. Out of thin air and it felt really forced.
Would I recommend this book? Mmm, yes and also no. Yes, if you don't mind a character holding everything in and being super afraid, and also if you don't mind an open ending. No, if you don't like those things, and also if you expect there to be a lot of monster appearances.
I am still the same here. On the one hand this was a fantastic read, but there were also stuff that just wasn't my cup of tea.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I am still re-reading my Creepover books, and being so sad that there are no more new ones, and I am slowly reaching the end of the re-read. It was great fun and I have to say I really liked reading this one. Because the ending was also really good. At times these books end a bit abrupt and at times they just don't make me happy... but this one left it open in a good way. I am also upping my rating to 4 stars (it was 3.5).
So the rest of the review will be old/new combined. Bold is new and old is non-bold.
This one was pretty great, and I really enjoyed it. Instead of a magical monster that wants to eat people, there is a whole backstory and history behind it. I really appreciated that the author added this one to the book. I think if it was just a monster and with the typical: "Yeah, it is magical", I wouldn't have continued or I would have been bored more. But now? Now I was interested in this so called Marked Monster (who actually has some kind difficult name that kept pulling me out of the book to read aloud). It is kind of creepy, the idea that such a beast lurks outside of the town, lurks in your forests. I would move as soon as I would know about such a legend, and especially after finding records of it being a real thing. *shivers*
Yep, I still fully agree with this one. This wasn't just a monster out of nowhere.. oh no it has been haunting this town for a long long time. I was definitely interested to find out, along with Jenna, what this monster was and if there was something to be done about it. We also learn about her symptoms because she got cut by the claw. I am indeed glad that they went with Marked Monster, because otherwise I would have gotten pulled out of the story the whole time. Nothing against its original name, but I just couldn't pronounce it.
I think it is hilarious that people still live in the neighbourhood of that thing. I totally agree with the me of 2015. Run, move, go away.
Jenna was decent, but I didn't always like her. Instead of trusting someone, she held all her fears to herself, which caused her to be super scared and paranoid. Sure, she was brave, but at times I just found her an idiot. An idiot, for not trusting people, for just going outside, even when she knew she was a target. For putting her and her friends in danger.
I think I would rather have had one of her other friends to be the main characters, maybe someone like Maggie, who was more fun and more outgoing.
Yep. I once agree with me there. I get that she is a child, but she should have trusted someone at least with what happened. Come on, there is pus running down your arm. It is doing some icky things and you just smack on some antibiotic cream and hope it goes away? UMmMMMMM, want to lose that arm?
However, I am not sure if I would have liked her other friends to be the main character, unless of course it happens to them as well, otherwise I don't think it would have worked to see the story unfold through someone else's eyes.
I am also still curious about that school project she did. What did the teacher think of it? Since it is such a controversial topic, I can imagine that the teacher might not like it much.
YES! I wanted to see the teacher's reaction to it. I can imagine it is an unconventional topic and that the teacher will have some thoughts on it. It is a shame because we see Jenna put a lot of effort and research in the whole deal. So please, give us some details!
The ending was fun, but once again a typical P.J. Night one. Ending with a twist, or ending with an opening so that the story could potentially go on, but you know it will never continue.
Yep, typical P.J. Night. But as I said I like this one more than one of my previous re-reads which had something happen to the MC and then cut off to years later. Which is just not my ending. This one leaves something open and has you thinking what could happen in the future.
The Marked Monster was creepy, and while I had hoped for more appearances, it was already scary at times because of all the sounds, the spooky things that happened in and around Jenna's place.
OMG, yes, he was so creepy. While we barely see the spooky creature there is enough happening that adds to the creepfactor of the monster. Sounds that are just NOPE, rustling sounds, scratching. I had goosebumps!
Something I had this time, or maybe the previous time too but didn't care to write down, was the brother. He was just such a pest. I get that brothers/sisters will bicker but he was just especially annoying and frustrating as hell. I didn't like that the parents gave the blame to something to Jenna, while they knew that her brother has been pretty mean just a bit before. Instead of maybe thinking hey, maybe Jason did something it was immediately them threatening to have Jenna lose her sleepover. Then there was the time he stole the pizza money that the parents had left for Jenna and her friends. And I could go on. Later on we do see he has a soft side.. but for me it just came out of nowhere. Out of thin air and it felt really forced.
Would I recommend this book? Mmm, yes and also no. Yes, if you don't mind a character holding everything in and being super afraid, and also if you don't mind an open ending. No, if you don't like those things, and also if you expect there to be a lot of monster appearances.
I am still the same here. On the one hand this was a fantastic read, but there were also stuff that just wasn't my cup of tea.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
wenabra's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jlw_writes's review
4.0
Decent, creepy kids read. This is one of those ones that has an open-ended ending and you never really find out for sure if the creepy thing was real and sometimes I think those are scarier than the ones you do!
pages_and_procrastination's review
3.0
Oh my goodness! I checked this book out from the library for my kids, to see if it’s something we’d like to read aloud. But, this might be a little too much for them. I enjoyed it though, it was super creepy though. As you would expect urban legends to be. The truth of the marked monster is still unknown, but there’s proof enough for Jenna and Jason. This is a great scary read, but not for the feint of heart. I will be checking out the rest of the series.
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