Nightbooks by J.A. White (Mystery)

Nightbooks is about a boy named Alex. Alex has always been different; he likes scary and mysterious stories, and he finds that other kids are not like him. One night Alex goes to the bottom floor of his apartment complex to burn the books he wrote. He calls them his night books. He takes the elevator to go down to the basement, but he ends up on the wrong floor. As he is about to step back into the elevator, he hears voices, and he gets invited into an apartment to watch a movie. Soon he realizes that he is trapped. He starts to get dizzy and collapses to the floor.

When he wakes up, he finds himself in a strange room and realizes that he was lured into the apartment by a witch. There is also a girl living in the apartment, her name is Yasmin.

The witch has no intention to ever let them leave the apartment.

Yasmin and Alex befriend each other and together devise a plan to escape the apartment and the witch. His night books are the key to keeping him alive. If only he does not run out of stories. They find a door to leave the apartment; the only thing missing is the key to that door…

This book is great, especially if you like mystery or suspense. It got me hooked; I could not put the book down until it was finished. I needed to find out what happened to Alex and Yasmin.

The book builds on the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel in a modern way. For example, the apartment is like a modern gingerbread house it tricks kids in not with sweets but, by reading their minds and creating an illusion of whatever their favorite things are, and then the witch puts a spell on them and traps them forever.

I especially liked the characters, because you could tell that their emotions influenced their actions in the story. Like how at the beginning Yasmin was distrustful to everyone and therefore made it harder for Alex to get to know her, and since Alex was new to the apartment, he had many questions which annoyed Yasmin.

I also liked that the story had a happy ending because throughout the book things look pretty bad and hopeless for Alex and Yasmin. But they end up with a plan and hope to one day leave. I would give the book 10 out of 10, it was an awesome read.

Reviewed by Ava N. 6th Grade