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It's hard to fight the supernatural when you're naturally "un-super." This chilling middle grade is perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark...even if they don't have any special powers. Charlie Greer is nothing special—at least not compared to her adopted siblings. Her younger sister is a ghost. Her brother Mateo is a werewolf. Gideon is the product of seriously sketchy experiments that gave him telekinetic powers. Even her parents work for the Division of Extranormal Investigations tracking down all things supernatural, alien, and otherwise unusual. Charlie's mom says her superpower is maturity—which doesn't really count. But what Charlie lacks in powers she makes up for by keeping the household running. Now, with her parents off on their first vacation in years, it’s up to her to take care of her siblings and make sure nothing disrupts the trip. But then the new neighbors arrive. The Weavers are a nice, normal couple. Too nice and too normal. And for some reason, they don't seem to want Charlie to see inside their house. She’s certain they’re hiding something. Charlie has to uncover what's going on with the Weavers and stop their plans—without letting Mom and Dad find out anything is wrong.
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0 0I must just now read a Kate Alice Marshall’s adult book (her second one comes out next year I think?), which I will probably also love. Once I do that it’ll probably make KAM one of the best writers if she can write excellent Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Adult books.
When I started this book I was thinking “hmm how scary can a middle grade book get?” And then I remembered like Coraline and Monster House. I loved that just because it’s middle grade didn’t mean the scariness would be watered down. It’s scary enough for kids and any adults (me) reading this. KAM just does it effortlessly.
As always with every KAM I’ve read the characters were well-written. I loved getting to know the family. I liked how even though the parents weren’t present for basically all of the book, they were still part of the story (as opposed to being absent parents – although that’s more YA).
I liked the agents that came and stayed with them – Agent Baxter and his husband, Agent Pendleton. They were funny and I could tell they were friends with the family (and not just coworkers) and I liked that.
My heart felt for Charlie as she always felt like she had to be on top for everything. She helped to make her siblings feel like they could act like children without realising that she’s also a child. I also liked that her parents made sure she knew they appreciated and loved her, their relationship with her was very sweet.
Charlie’s relationships with her siblings were so sweet to see as well. I’ve mentioned multiple times in various posts that I really adore good sibling relationships. This is definitely a case for the good ones. They cared for each other and wanted to keep each other safe. And still bantered as siblings do!
The plot and the mystery was done so well (as always with her books). She makes the mystery so intriguing you certainly don’t want to put the book down! I did predict most of the plot twists but I didn’t mind it in the slightest because of how well it was done. I grew up with Enid Blyton so I’m always down for kid detectives and Charlie and her siblings were joys to follow.
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