Review Detail

ONE HOUSE LEFT is a creepy horror read that keeps the pages turning. The story primarily follows Nate, a boy whose family never lives anywhere too long after their proximity to the Murder Road, which got its name from the Hiding Boy curse. This seeming folk legend was all too real to Nate and his family. In this new town, Nate is determined to keep to himself, something that gets difficult when he is approached by Max, a girl in school who he finds magnetic.

Max and her two best friends, Seb and Tyler, have their own little clique and like to investigate ghost stories. They invite Nate along, and even though he knows that they can be all too frighteningly real, he can't help but join their group.

What I loved: This book really kept the mystery of it all going throughout the story. We know that Nate's family is on the run, but not really from what or why they need to keep moving towns. We know that he believes the Hiding Boy to be real but not why. These really propel the reader forward and keep them guessing. I found the first two-thirds of the story completely unputdownable and definitely creepy as the group investigates ghost stories. The horror elements are mixed in well with the character development of being at a new school and this group.

There are some strong themes of friendship, family, legends/rumors, secrets, betrayal, grief/loss, revenge, and fear that were interesting to explore throughout the story. Nate is a compelling perspective with his observations on his family and the friendships that he is reluctantly making. While he does not reveal a lot of the mysteries/secrets to the reader, these really keep his story moving forward. The friends that he makes become more three-dimensional as the story continues, and their stories were also really consuming as well.

The horror elements were really strong, and the atmosphere worked well to keep the reader hooked and jumping. There were definitely some surprising twists along the way that I could never have guessed.

What left me wanting more: The last third got really intense and suddenly broke into multiple perspectives. It felt a bit jarring compared to the earlier parts of the book, and I got a bit lost in what all was going on. While it was eventually explained a bit more, it changed the tone/track of the book and did not appeal as much. The last bit of the book extends this a bit further and upped the ante on the confusion (some intentional and others maybe not).

Final verdict: ONE HOUSE LEFT is a shocking YA horror read that I definitely recommend for people who enjoy scary stories and urban legends/ghost stories.