Member Reviews

I quite liked this short, fast paced YA thriller. It reminded me of Goosebumps and stories like Night of the Living Dummy. Perfect for Point Horror fans leading up to Christmas.

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You’d Better Watch Out is a short, fast paced horror/thriller, that’s perfect if you’re after a quick read between spooky and festive season! Think ‘Elf on the shelf’ gone wrong!

At only 144 pages, I finished this one in no time. It was also my first YA! There was the odd slang term/abbreviation that I had to look up the meaning of though- must be a sign I’m getting old 😂.

I loved the creepiness of the elf and the descriptive writing. They really brought the character to life! Parts of it reminded me of the Netflix series Elves too.

I didn’t see the twist coming at the end, and I loved how it left me wanting more 😍

There was also a preview of the authors next book coming next year, which sounded really good! There’s not a pre-order live yet but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out.

Thank you so much to @netgalley @cadaverousfrank and @uclan_publishing for the e-book copy.

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Great premise but unfortunately didn't deliver for me personally.

I found the characters absolutely insufferable and the dialogue was really immature (even for a YA book) and grating.

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I'd have really liked to love this book but I think maybe I'm just not quite sat in the target audience.

The story was a brilliant idea - I loved the Evil Elf on the Shelf plotline and as a parent who thoroughly rejects the twisted little fairy from my own home it was a delightful set up.

The ending wasn't as predictable as it should have been, in hindsight, and I enjoyed the pacing.

I think, for me, the writing style let the delivery down somewhat. I can see how it could appeal to a younger audience, but perhaps younger than the content (injury description) would suit? I was an early reader and might be atypical, but my own child who would appreciate the level the tale was pitched at would find the writing a little young for him, I think.

I felt the style suits a GooseBumps type of reader, and the story could too, but might need to be tamed a little to make it an easier sell. Just my own personal take though - like I said, I really appreciated the pitch, the pacing and the storytelling. It was purely the style that didn't sit for me.

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Really enjoyed this book, was a quick, fast paced read, the story was quick to develop and the ending was super unexpected.
Can wait to read the next.

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Thank you Netgalley and UCLan Publishing for my arch copy.

I really enjoyed this creepy little christmas story, it was more creepy then festive. The elf was as creepy as I wanted it to be and I really enjoyed getting the back story of the elf and finally finding out how it came into the characters life.

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Thank you so much to UCLan Publishing and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

I really liked this book it was a great horror read, the premise was so intriguing and the evil elf didn’t disappoint at all. I did find personally that the horror within the book was very tame and mild, I was really expecting it to be a lot scarier, creepier and even gorier than it was.

The story itself was really fascinating and I was gripped into seeing how Evangeline was going to get herself out of the mess she’d gotten into with the evil elf watching and following her, attacking everyone that is remotely naughty around her. It was so very intriguing the whole read.

Though a big part of the story I did kind of figure out almost right away, though I won’t spoil what, the ending did take a turn I wasn’t really expecting to come, which was great.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was so different to other horror books I’ve read, I really liked the Magicka lore used within the story and the use of an evil elf on the shelf type topic. It’s a great tame horror read for people that get scared easily this is a good book to read as it’s not very scary but very entertaining.

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