Book review - Dread Detention

 

Title: Dread Detention

Author: Jennifer Killick

Genre: horror

Similar books: Scarewaves by Trevor Henderson

                     Finch House by Ciera Burch

Rating:

 

the right level of scary

Summary (provided by publisher): When classmates Hallie, Angelo, Gustav and Naira are forced to come to school on a Saturday, they think things can’t get much worse. But they’re wrong. Things are about to get seriously scary.
What has dragged their teacher underground? Why do the creepy caretakers keep humming the tune to Itsy Bitsy Spider? And what horrors lurk in the shadows, getting stronger and meaner every minute . . .? Cut off from help and in danger each time they touch the ground, the gang’s only hope is to work together. But it’s no coincidence that they're all there on detention. Someone has been watching and plotting and is out for revenge . . .

My opinion: Giant spiders are, of course, a bit of a believability stretch. Killick does a good job of explaining their existence without over-doing it. We get just enough to accept their existence and to keep the plot moving. There's a decent balance between action and character development for a middle grade novel. None of it goes very deep but it maintains the reader's interest. It's exciting and creepy without going over the top, so it's well suited to the average middle grade reader.

More information: Dread Detention releases February 13

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley