Reviews

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw

heathercorinne's review

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4.0

I really enjoyed reading this book! It has all the cozy, spooky vibes. ✨️ I tried to read it slowly in the character's voices (that I knew). The descriptions are well written and paint pictures of the scenes without being too much. The exploration and descriptions of the other holiday towns and the iconic love story were my favorite parts.

The star deduction lies in my annoyance with how much Sally cries and how she is SO unsure of herself until the end... But that's the point, right? The plot wrap up at the end with visiting Queen Elizabeth felt really out of place. That part could have been completely removed for me. I also didn't like her parents' inconsistent behavior. All that to say, the author did a really great job creating an interesting story that draws you in. TNBC is so well loved; it's unrealistic to expect everyone to enjoy a sequel (light-years better than the Hocus Pocus sequel, let me tell you).

Overall, I would recommend it as a fun read.

rosemwood's review

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4.0

This is a cute story about Sally finding herself and excepting who she is will be enough to be a queen. A good plot and and easy read. Enjoying the old characters that we learned to love in the Nightmare before Christmas and meeting new characters. Justice and secrets are discovered.

allisonschoneschmetterling's review

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2.0

Take a shot every time sally thinks about her “chest full of dead leaves”. I was also confused by the intended audience for this - this book was marketed as YA and written like MG. And the typeface in my copy (I bought at B&N) is literally HUGE like they had to try so hard to make it over 200 pages. I think I just wasn’t the intended audience which is a bummer because I love Nightmare and was excited for a creepy YA expansion of the universe and lore

hashki's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

sarahp85's review

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4.0

Absolutely adored this?!?!

What a wonderful story about finding your place in the world, finding who you were/are/meant to be. I love Jack & Sally and this was a perfect short "what happened after they married" story.

Also, extra love for ghost ❤️

dancin_kimmie's review

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

readingwithtay's review

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adventurous inspiring medium-paced

4.0

Reads like a true Disney story. 

moodreaderschaoticlibrary_92's review

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

this was such a fun read! I absolutely love The Nightmare before Christmas, this book really opened up the world more with more holidays and more characters. it's great that we can see Sally grow into the pumpkin Queen and her love for Jack is so pure and deep and his love for her is just the same and I adore that! it's such a fun wonderful quick readn love it! recommend 10 out of 10!

anatrnd's review against another edition

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2.0

i'm a huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, it's one of my favorite animated movies, and i love everything Tim Burton does (though this movie was directed by Henry Selick, but those are still Tim's characters). that's why i was really excited to read this book, but it was just SO bad.

first of all, it's not young adult book. i don't know why it was promoted like that one, but it's actually a middle-grade book. also, it's a really short story, and that's a problem, because everything happens just too fast, but at the same time i was dying from boredom while reading it.

the writing is just bad. it has nothing special, it's too simple, and i felt all the time like i was reading a mediocre fanfiction on wattpad. also, there were too many descriptions of everything (surroundings, characters, actions) and the author kept repeating us some things (like, for example, that Sally is a ragdoll, like we've known that for years, STOP IT).

it felt like the author watched the original animated movie just once and didn't even bother to rewatch it. this book isn't aligned with the original story, canon, at all. there are some things in Sally's backstory that definitely couldn't have happened, and most of the characters are acting completely different. moreover, they are so boring here. i loved all those creatures in the movie, because everyone was somehow special, and here, in this book, they are just blank.

wouldn't recommend it to anyone, especially to those people, who actually love the movie and have watched it at least more than once.

dana_yamaguchi's review against another edition

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5.0

“He wipes away the tears streaming down my cotton cheekbone to my chin and looks at me like his own chest is about to fracture.
And for a moment, I’m certain they should just bury us both here, at the center of the graveyard.
Married and died on the same day.”

“I am now Sally Skellington.
The Pumpkin Queen.
And I’m certain I will never again be as happy as I am right now.”
-Sally Skellington, from Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw