This review first appeared in Booklist on November 20, 2024.
Eve has spent much of her young life running away, be it from a cruel orphanage, an identity that never felt like her own, or loneliness and fear. Her repeated efforts to escape this dreary existence finally find success when she meets the Pumpkin King, an imposing figure with a jack-o’-lantern head, who helps Eve not only by giving her a proper name and a royal title but also by spiriting her away to the lands of the undead. In the bewitching Hallowell Valley, Eve hopes to find friendship, family, and a place to finally call home—though not without first facing the many challenges that come with bearing the noble rank of Pumpkin Princess. Full of wonderful world building, clever conceits, and autumnal abundance, debut author Banbury has written a cozy, heartwarming story that has all the makings of a seasonal staple. Reminiscent of books like Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree and Joseph Fink’s The Halloween Moon (2021), readers will find similar festive delights here.
Oh hey here’s something new: I’m writing for Booklist.
I’ve been super low-key about this for no real discernible reason. I updated my About page last month but never drew attention to it. I’ve mentioned it on my social media exactly twice. I’ve always been bad at the internet, so I guess it follows that I’m bad at self promotion, too. Alas.
But anyway—I’m writing, on a freelance basis, for Booklist, reviewing fantasy and horror fiction for middle grade and young adult readers. Have you ever heard of anything that’s more up my alley? I’ve reviewed a handful of books so far, but this is the first one to be published.
It’s been fun. It’s also been a challenge: For one thing, Booklist reviews are super short affairs, and while I wouldn’t call myself a long-winded, overindulgent sort of writer, I am definitely far from concise; for another, the magazine is aimed at libraries and librarians, and so doesn’t really do negative reviews—the philosophy being that there’s an ideal reader for every book. My own reviews have never really skewed towards the overly critical, I don’t think, but there can admittedly be a fair amount of snark, so that’s something I’ve had to cut back on a bit.
Like I said, it’s been a challenge. But it’s a good one.
Thankfully, none of this turned out to be a problem with the first book I was assigned, since I ended up truly and utterly loving it. (And of course my first review would be for a Hallowe’en book. Fate, they call it.)
ricardo reading 