Early Review – The Peculiar Night of the Blue Heart by Lauren DeStefano (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 208 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: September 13, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1619636439
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from Edelweiss for Review
Rating: 3/5 stars

“Lionel is a wild boy, who doesn’t much like to be around other people. He’d rather be a purring cat or a wolf stalking the woods.

Marybeth is a nice girl. She doesn’t need to be told to comb her hair or brush her teeth, and she’s kind to everyone at the orphanage . . . Lionel most of all.

Different though they are, Lionel and Marybeth are best friends in a world that has forgotten about them. So when a mysterious blue spirit possesses Marybeth—and starts to take control—they know they must stop it before the real Marybeth fades away forever.”

I got a copy of this from Edelweiss to review. This was a cute and relatively short middle grade fantasy/mystery. It’s a quick read and has some nice dark atmosphere to it.

I honestly just don’t have a ton to say about this book. I read it and thought it was fine. I didn’t really have any issues with it, but I also didn’t find it to be all that memorable.

I did enjoy the friendship between Lionel and Marybeth; they do a great job complimenting each. There were some surprisingly touching moments between both Lionel and Marybeth and between them and their caretaker.

There are some darker topics touched on in this story. The ghost the inhabits Marybeth has some very dark secrets. Also issues of abuse and murder are touched on as well as bullying (just be aware that some of this might be a bit dark and scary for younger middle grade readers).

Overall this was an okay book. It’s decently written and the story wraps up well. This is a very quick read and there wasn’t much in here to distinguish it from other middle grade ghost story/mysteries out there. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t memorable.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge