Review of Strange Star by Emma Carroll

Read for: Recently Added & Frankenstein/Mary Shelley Inspired

Synopsis: "From the critically acclaimed author of In Darkling Wood comes a spine-tingling novel inspired by Frankenstein with more than a hint of mystery and suspense.

One stormy June evening, five friends meet at Villa Diodati, the summer home of Lord Byron. After dinner is served, they challenge each other to tell ghost stories that will freeze the blood. But one of the guests--Mary Shelley--is stuck for a story to share.

Then there's an unexpected knock at the front door. Collapsed on the doorstep is a girl with strange scars on her face. She has traveled a long way with her own tale to tell, and now they all must listen.

Hers is no ordinary ghost story, though. What starts as a simple tale of village life soon turns to tragedy and the darkest, most dangerous of secrets. Sometimes the truth is far more terrifying than fiction . . . and the consequences are even more devastating."

My Review: I am always on the hunt for books inspired by Frankenstein, and I have grown more interested in those inspired by Mary Shelley herself, so I was excited to find this middle grade book I had never heard of before. While we do get to see the crew that set out to write their stories at Villa Diodati, most of the book is a tale told by another character. This story is pretty slow to develop and honestly I got a little bored, it may be more intriguing to a younger audience who hasn't read quite as many books to compare it too. With that said it does develop an interesting tale and a creative way to link back the intent of telling what might have inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. Even I didn't make some of the connections until the end of the story. This was a rather unique book compared to the others I have picked up so far and it is a great spookier read for a younger audience, without being overly scary.

My Rating: I struggled a bit with this one as it is clearly meant for a younger audience so the story moved slower and it had a pretty simple plot but by the end I was really happy with the complete story. I give it a rating of Three Paws.