Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - The Ghost Next Door

Well that was a plot twist. No wonder Hannah’s letters were getting ignored. The kids were annoying as they usually are in these books but then you hit me with a depressing plot twist near the end?!

(Third Person POV)

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gymjam_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Goosebumps used to be one of my top series to read growing up and I wanted to go back and read one again. It wasn't as scary as I recall but it did have me turning page after page long after I decided I needed to put it down - great end of chapter cliff hangers! Focus is very much on the plot rather than character development.

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readasadoornail's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This was another surprisingly dark read by R.L. Stine. The subject matter left me a bit shook but I still enjoyed it. The characters were likable (except the bullies, of course.) and the idea of a spirit having a mission to save another person is really heartwarming. There were a couple times where the setting was a bit hard to follow but it didn’t really take away my enjoyment of the story.

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tyler_j's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

TW: Fire

If I had known how big that TW would be, I might not have read it. That would've been a shame but I was in a house fire years ago. My neighbor saved me. Lost everything owned and some kittens. PTSD is an ass.

I guess I forgot about the initial scene or I might've saw it coming. I DID see some of the twist coming, that was very predictable, but there was still more to it. This is so well written and plotted. Depth to the characters. Foreshadowing. Emotion.

I'm disabled (always have been) and there is some talk of disability (not a major part) in it and having been in a house fire, these 2 things make it mean a lot when I say this book gets all the stars from me. I've hated books because of how they dealt with disability or characters that were just in a traumatic fire situation. I loved this book.

Before today I (think I) could say i've never cried at a Goosebumps book before. I can't say that anymore. That ending had me sobbing.

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james1star's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This was my first goosebumps book I’ve ever read, I did watch some of the tv adaptations when I was younger but don’t really remember them, and it was generally okay. This story follows our main character Hannah who is feeling lonely and bored until a new neighbour Danny comes into her life but something’s off… he disappears, is pale, arrived unexpectedly… is he a ghost? Well that’s what Hannah believes so she sets out to discover who and what he is. There are some plot twists that I did kind of think might have been the case and it does get a bit dark with topics like death, fire damage and arson, potential gun violence too - I didn’t know it would touch on these things really but I guess overall it’s handled okayish. The story was alright I’d say, I didn’t really like the characters all that much and it did come together in a satisfactory manner. Some of the twists and content I found a little repetitive and telegraphed. However, there was a level of mystery and intrigue to this short book. An average read.

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