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A review by shanyreader
The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe by Dan Poblocki
3.0
How could you do this to me! How on earth could he do this to me TT.TT
I've been a fan of Dan Poblocki since last year, when I picked up The Ghost of Graylock. It may have been a middle school book, but the scares were on POINT!
So, I've recently went on a spree and read all of his other books too, and I left this one for last. It looked promisingly terrifying. And well, not to say that it wasn't scary--it was indeed very very creepy, but my problem with it was that
Poblocki has always done this in his novels--add a little moral that is appropriate for middle schoolers. But this book really hit that heavily. Part of the horror were the friends themselves and the viciousness that is middle school. However...I am now in college. Reliving middle school was not what I signed up to do. I wanted a cute little scary adventure...and this was just...it was a dark book. I think the darkest one I've read by him so far--and it's mostly because the monsters are all human in one way or another.
So overall, it wasn't a terrible book--it kept me reading until the end of course--but while it is dark and mature at points, I think that middle schoolers would benefit from reading it, just for the moral lesson itself. Not my favorite Poclocki book, but of course, I'm still ready for whatever he's got coming out next! Woo!
I've been a fan of Dan Poblocki since last year, when I picked up The Ghost of Graylock. It may have been a middle school book, but the scares were on POINT!
So, I've recently went on a spree and read all of his other books too, and I left this one for last. It looked promisingly terrifying. And well, not to say that it wasn't scary--it was indeed very very creepy, but my problem with it was that
Spoiler
People DIE. Like, teenagers, DIE. I'm okay with a few adults here and there, but Gabe and David being killed was very painful for me to read. And that's why there's one less star on this rating. I enjoy my happy endings, and I understand that Poblocki is unpredictable in who he will or won't kill off--but a main character, at the very end of the book, it really broke my heart. It didn't feel like they had WON. They had to sacrifice too much to get to that point. Miri won't ever know her brother, Seth and the girl will start dating, and Gabe will just be stuck as a ghost in the shadows. How is that even close to fair?Poblocki has always done this in his novels--add a little moral that is appropriate for middle schoolers. But this book really hit that heavily. Part of the horror were the friends themselves and the viciousness that is middle school. However...I am now in college. Reliving middle school was not what I signed up to do. I wanted a cute little scary adventure...and this was just...it was a dark book. I think the darkest one I've read by him so far--and it's mostly because the monsters are all human in one way or another.
So overall, it wasn't a terrible book--it kept me reading until the end of course--but while it is dark and mature at points, I think that middle schoolers would benefit from reading it, just for the moral lesson itself. Not my favorite Poclocki book, but of course, I'm still ready for whatever he's got coming out next! Woo!