This was an interesting and short read. Levi and Kat live in Cowslip Grove where everything seems perfect until kids start going missing but not one actually misses them. It’s like they are completely erased from everyone’s memory and their rooms are emptied so there is no evidence of anyone having been there. But Levi and Kat do remember that his sister existed and try to catch who took her and why but they end up getting erased themselves and now have to rely on each other to stop the monsters of myth from killing the kids they stole from the town. This was really good read and I loved how they finally defeated the monster at the end and got everyone back safe and sound.

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

The cover definitely caught my eye on this one, and I knew I had to read it. I’ve really been enjoying this trend of half-written, half-graphic novels lately, and this is no exception. The art style is super cute, but not too cute, walking a nice balance of feeling creepy but also nice to look at.

No Place for Monsters is half-written, half-graphic novel, and all spooky mystery. There’s a lot of creepy happenings in the small town of Cowslip Grove, but not all the monsters are terrifying!

I had a lot of fun with this one! My biggest complaint was that the ending was a bit too sudden and convenient, especially after the struggle through pretty much the whole book. It felt a little too clean, considering.

My Thoughts:

- The artwork in this book is charmingly creepy and works really well to establish a foreboding atmosphere. The combination of words and art worked perfectly in this book. It was a quicker read than I expected because of it, but it definitely set a tangibly creepy atmosphere. Merritt does a fabulous job of matching the illustrations to the story in a way that just enhanced both. The pictures aren’t always highly detailed and elaborate, but Merritt knows when to use shadows, silhouettes, and vagueness to create an eerie effect. There are so many examples of this that I really enjoyed, but if we’re honest, those are spooky things in and of themselves, right? It manages to be scary without being too graphic when bad things happen (and I assure you, bad things happen).

- The friendship between Levi and Kat is sweet and fun, and I loved seeing them team up. Both are outsiders in their little town; Kat because of her reputation for being weird and Levi because he’s new in town. Kat is a force unto her own, though, and Levi gets swept up in the whirlwind that is her aura. Together, they have to unravel the conspiracy going on in their small town. Kat’s personality itself is larger than life: the slightly out there kid who believes in the paranormal and conspiracy theories and is a little too loud and outspoken for the adults’ comfort. Which is the perfect person to pair with quiet, introverted Levi. I loved the way their dynamic worked, playing off of each other. They each bring their own strength to the story, and they each have to grow and figure out what’s really important to them.

- Be prepared to meet a cast of fun, quirky monsters that aren’t exactly what you’d call cute, but they might surprise you anyway. Like a Chupacabra! Those are always fun, yes? Merritt’s imagining of the creature isn’t exactly the sort you’d want to cuddle and take home as a pet (or so I’ve been told by my husband, though he’s clearly mistaken). The monsters in this book are sufficiently scary, without being too scary. They won’t give you nightmares, per se, but you definitely wouldn’t want to meet one in a dark alley. I particularly enjoyed the use of different fonts to portray different creatures talking. It made it easy for me to picture different voices for each character. Plus, each creature has different speech patterns and personalities, which really brought them to life and made meeting new creatures fun.

This book was just the right amount of spooky for my upper elementary students. Not too scary, but spooky enough to be fun. Levi and his friend Kat are on a mission to find the monster that has stolen Levi’s little sister and erased her memory from everyone’s mind. I loved this book. It was funny, a little scary, and a true mystery/adventure. The illustrations are ink sketch and creepy. I would recommend this book for 4th grade and up.

My daughter read this book and absolutely loved it! She said it kept her engaged and turning the pages to find out what happened. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Overall Impressions
Suburbia just got a whole lot creepier in Kory Merritt’s new novel No Place for Monsters. Kat and Levi realize that other kids are going missing and no one remembers the disappearances, except for Kat and Levi. The disappearances send Kat and Levi on a mission to save the other children while facing the terrible monsters that took them. No Place for Monsters is an expertly interwoven illustrated text that creates an immersive reading experience for young readers. While the book is certainly creepy, it is not super scary and will help young readers get in the mood for fall and the spooky season.

Book Themes and Reading Level
Book Themes: Community values, herd mentality, sacrifice, teamwork, and trust

Reading Level: 4th-6th Grade

Summary
Kat and Levi live in a typical suburban neighborhood that gets strange when children begin to go missing. It gets even more bizarre when Kat and Levi are the only ones who remember them. Upon their journey to find these kids, Kat and Levi find out that there is a world of monsters lurking near ours and it is not for the faint of heart. Racing against time to save the missing kids, Kat and Levi go after the monster that could make the world forget that they exist.

Review
I thought that this was an enjoyable novel and it had the right amount of creepy without being too scary. I would say that this book is less scary than a Goosebumps novel. Due to this, I would not be worried about scaring a kid too severely if they read this book; however, every child is different when it comes to their abilities to read creepy materials. This book’s illustrations wonderfully depict monsters and creepy creatures that Kat and Levi face, but I never felt like the illustrations would keep anyone up at night. I was also intrigued by how the text and illustrations are woven together. Merritt creates an immersive experience that feels like the reader is in the middle of the action with Kat and Levi. Overall, this is a creepy novel that is a must-read for the spooky season.

What a wonderful spooky twist on the boogeyman! I will probably never look at the neighborhood ice cream truck again though!

The art was fantastic! This is one book your sure to remember long after you read it!

It was a middle grade read for sure and my 12 year old daughter will probably have this as a keeper in hard copy.

Kat and Levi need to find the missing children of the town while on the run from the town.

Scary monsters, disappearing children, danger around every corner - what's not to love? Mix in a couple of relatable protagonists - quiet, cautious Levi and bounce-off-the-walls chatterbox Kat - with amazing detailed pen and ink drawings on every page, and you've got a story that just about any middle grade reader will gobble up. Don't let the bulky 354 pages scare you, there are tons of illustrations so the pages fly by.
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Adventure, friendship, and a lesson or two in not judging a monster (or person) by its cover make this a book that parents and kids will both love.

This is a dark and dreary tale, just right for fans of the Scary Stories to Read in the Dark. Definitely best for an older, middle grade audience, the illustrations are wicked, twisted, and scary in the best ways! The adventure comes with a bit of mystery and a lot of creep factor!