Horrid

By Katrina Leno

Book Overview

From the author of You Must Not Miss comes a haunting contemporary horror novel that explores themes of mental illness, rage, and grief, twisted with spine-chilling elements of Agatha Christie and Stephen King. Following her father's death, Jane North-Robinson and her mom move from sunny California to the dreary, dilapidated old house in Maine where her mother grew up. All they want is a fresh start, but behind North Manor's doors lurks a history that leaves them feeling more alone ... and more tormented. As the cold New England autumn arrives, and Jane settles in to her new home, she finds solace in old books and memories of her dad. She steadily begins making new friends, but also faces bullying from the resident "bad seed," struggling to tamp down her own worst nature in response. Jane's mom also seems to be spiraling with the return of her childhood home, but she won't reveal why. Then Jane discovers that the "storage room" her mom has kept locked isn't for storage at all--it's a little girl's bedroom, left untouched for years and not quite as empty of inhabitants as it appears... Is it grief? Mental illness? Or something more ... horrid?

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316537241
• ISBN13: 9780316537247
• Release Date: September 2020
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Just Okay

Not great but not terrible. Just okay. The two things I disliked the most: The Agatha Christie references, more specifically Jane & Will talking about not being able to see the endings to her novels coming. Pardon? You can see an Agatha Christie ending coming from 700 miles away, she’s not exactly subtle. But maybe I’m wrong, someone feel free to correct me. I did feel as though, much like an Agatha Christie, I knew exactly what the “secret” was way before it was revealed. Also just Jane talking about her dad unironically enjoying “weird” things like gingerbread lattes. Again, maybe I’m wrong but I just don’t feel like a gingerbread latte is that strange.

Wow!

Great book I had thought I had figured it out several different times but in the end I was still surprised.

Perfect haunted house story

One of my favorite books of 2020