Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t know about you guys but the moment Starbucks unleashes the pumpkin spiced latte frenzy is the moment when the Halloween hype begins. Is it just me that drew up this correlation? Maybe I have too much time on my hands. Anyways, with Halloween around the corner I tend to lean towards books with a slight creep factor. I say slight because I’m a big chicken and cannot read anything that will lead me to suffer through nightmares about ghosts haunting me.

“Now Entering Addamsville” is a contemporary young adult book that is described as a mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Stranger Things. That description alone was enough for me to squeal once I was given this book at the HCC Frenzy event a couple of weeks ago. I finished this book in two days and it was a nice escape into the supernatural town called Addamsville.

(picture from @khanlibrary)

Synopsis:

Zora Novak is not liked by the people of Addamsville. So when someone murders the high school janitor by burning down his house, people immediately make Zora suspect number one. Zora acts suspicious as it is but that is mainly due to her secret job of hunting the creatures that are responsible for starting the fires. With everyone watching and recording her every move, Zora enlists the help of her historian cousin Artemis to clear her name. The only problem? A well-known ghost hunting show begins filming in Addamsville and interferes with Zora’s investigation. 

Spooky Ghosts and a Creepy Town

I’m not a fan of ghost stories, but I really enjoyed the way the author wrote this book. The supernatural part was not overdone, which allowed the author to explore and build on Zora’s relationships with her family and friends. I liked the idea of how some of these characters could see the ghosts, while others could only feel them. It was different from the ghostbuster stories I have read in the past. 

The ghost stories themselves were not terrifying, but they were quite creepy. The history and description of the small town definitely gave it an creepy feel. I loved the way the author described the eerie woods and and other areas in which the ghosts lingered. It made me feel like I was walking around the streets crowded by ghosts. The whole ghost hunter TV show storyline was also interesting to read. It really showed how the obsession with pursuing the supernatural can get out of hand. The arrival of a media crew also tackled the idea of tourists being drawn to small towns and how that impacts the town and its people.

Female friendships and family:

“When your mom disappears, your dad goes to jail, and the whole town hates you on sight, sometimes you get it in your head to start doing stupid things to ease that anger.
Stupid things like hunting firestarters alone.” – Francesca Zappia

I think the heart of this story is Zora navigating her feelings towards her family and friends. Zora spends a lot of the time feeling alone. Being practically raised by her sister and rejected by most of the town makes her feel lonely and unwanted. Seeing her reconnect with her family and form a friendship with her cousin was a heart-warming part of the book. You could clearly tell that behind all of Zora’s sarcasm and rebellious ways is a young girl who is lonely. I liked seeing her character develop along with all the secondary characters.

Overall, this book will get you in the mood for Halloween. While I know there are many of you out there who are braver than me and enjoy more of the scare factor, this book had a lot of heart and should be given a chance for that alone. It’s not easy to write a story that has supernatural elements, a mystery and focusing on the family dynamic. Somehow, the author managed to weave all of these themes into a fun story with a couple of action packed scenes that got my heart racing. Recommended for this Halloween season!

Happy reading bookworms,

Shazia.