Nightbooks by J.A. White

 

This week, I read Nightbooks by J.A. White. This contemporary dark fantasy is the creepy and thrilling tale of Alex Mosher, a boy who is captured in the apartment of a witch when he decides to destroy the books of scary stories, "nightbooks", that he wrote himself. Alex is completely surprised that magic and witches exists, but after he starts to suspect that he isn't the first kid that the witch has taken, he begins forming a plan to escape the witch's apartment. When his attempt to convince the witch to simply let him go doesn't go well, he feels alone and scared until a girl, Yasmin, mentions that the witch likes stories. Alex never had a chance to get rid of the nightbooks, so he reads a scary story to the witch each night to survive. As the days go by in the magical apartment, he befriends Yasmin and a cat, Lenore, and they work together to find a way to escape their imprisonment before the stories in his nightbooks run out.

I absolutely adored this refreshing update on the "Hansel and Gretel" fairy tale. It felt very modern taking place in a New York City apartment building instead of a forest like the original.  I also thought the fantasy elements were really cool because the apartment itself was magical and the witch had taught Yasmin how to grow magical plants and mix magical oils from those plants. The book itself was very suspenseful and I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how Alex, Yasmin, and Lenore would find a way out of the apartment. At times, I was worried that the witch, Natacha, would find out what they were up to and then hurt them, and it turned out that my worry was not completely misplaced. There were definitely some tense moments, but I enjoyed the plot twists and the conclusion was very satisfying. Not to mention, I thought the stories written by Alex were particularly creepy. Nightbooks is the perfect choice for aspiring writers, especially those who sometimes suffer from writer's block like Alex, and anyone who likes their fantasy dark. I also recommend it to fans of Spirit Hunters, Small Spaces, and other scary novels.