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For me, Jennifer Killick is the best there is at writing genuinely tense and scary horror, but with the knowledge that things are never going to go too far (though there were some points in this book where I was crossing my fingers and hoping the thing I was worried might happen, wouldn't actually happen!
In my opinion, I feel that this experience made them stronger, and I’m interested to see where their newly formed friendship will take them in book two. Dread Wood is an amazing story that features four very unlikely heroes, two extremely unlikely villains, and something hidden beneath the school field!
Not for the faint-hearted, this edge-of-seat horror is hard to put down, with many chapters ending on a cliff-hanger. Check out Jennifer Killick’s assembly video where she shares children’s books she’s enjoyed, where she loves to read, her top tips for enjoying reading and more! Their working together, even though they didn’t particularly like one another at the start, and their friendship that grows with each passing minute.
Some plot holes do that, because the story they’re in isn’t good enough to make you not mind it, but for some stories, like this one, you’re willing to suspend your disbelief just that little bit further. If I had read this 15 years ago and been told it had been concocted by RL Stine, I would believe you entirely. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Having no choice but to work together to try and stop all this but could there be a reason why this is all happening and why Hallie, Angelo, Gustav and Naira have been made to have detention.With scuttling horrors, subterranean scares and creepy caretakers, this is a great claustrophobic horror and we get to enjoy the bonding between the children as they’re compelled to join forces, despite their differences. The school setting was spooky, especially the manor, some of the characters were so creepy it honestly made my skin prickle and the revelation of what’s going on is just spine-tingling. It was so well done and I haven’t read a book like this since Home Before Dark, so it was a really great one to pick up.
When Mr Canton goes missing looking for the school groundskeeper after they hear weird noises and find weird substances on the ground, the weirdly quiet and ever-present Mr Latchitt goes from being a simple groundskeeper to the prime suspect in a day that just keeps getting weirder. This book does have a nice dollop of humour and, under it's spidery body, there is a heart and this does touch on dark subject matter such as child poverty, bullying, disability, pressure from parents, and a few others, which shows that our leads aren't bad, but are fleshed out and there are reasons for the way they behave and react. I loved that while we follow Angelo because he is the MC, we learn about the characters along the way. The dialogue between the pupils is engaging and real, as we find out about their lives, but more importantly we find out that all is not as it seems at school on that Saturday morning.They know each other by name, reputation or being in classes together at primary school, but have barely spoken to each other in years. I like how this book dealt with poverty, disability (one of which I have never read about in a book before), bullying (whether you mean it or not) and the pressures parents put on you.
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