Prosperity Redding, Prosper for short, comes for a long line of rich, successful Reddings but doesn't seem to meet the expectations that everyone has for him. His twin sister, Prudence, however, seems to be everyone's darling. At the family reunion of all of the Reddings just before his 13th birthday, Prosper barely escapes with his life, rescued by his uncle Barnabas and his daughter Nell. At their haunted house home, he learns that the Reddings success is because of a contract his ancestor Honor Redding made with a demon, Prince Alastar, who now resides inside of Prosper. Magic, witches, demons, changelings, elves, goblins, ghouls. What more could you ask for in this exciting book.

I had an exciting opportunity a while back to review the second installment of this series and I remember saying that I see in the near future this series becoming a movie. After reading the first installment, I back that statement 100%. Children of all levels will love this story and fall in love with the drama and conflict that come with reading the story. Prosper Redding is an interesting character inspired by a concept that is unique to the J Fantasy community and from Alexandra Bracken's Darkest Minds series and how successful that was, we don't expect anything less.

Thank you Netgalley and Disney Book Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. We will definitely consider this title for our JFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding features an absolutely delightful demon who simply stole the show.

Prosperity Oceanus Redding is the first and only Redding to be completely ordinary, that is until he learns he has a demon inside of him. Four hundred years ago, one of Prosper's ancestors made a deal, and subsequently broke it, with a malefactor. Now that fiend has reawakened and is determined to destroy the family who betrayed him. With only two weeks to remove the demon and break the curse, Prosper will have to rely on new allies while trying to keep from entering into a contract of his own.

Alastor, the demon living inside of Prosper, was my favorite of the characters in this book. He's incredibly snarky and has no time for fools. He's conniving and works at every turn to try and trick Prosper into a contract. He's baffled by modern conveniences and abhors the current state of the English language believing it to be lacking in elegance. If the author were to write an entire book just about Alastor and his exploits, I wouldn't hesitate to read it.

Prosper is where this book fell apart for me. I found him insufferable and couldn't stand his constant complaining. I understand that he's twelve years old and at that age most kids complain about everything, but he grated after a while. Cornelia, or Nell as she prefers to be called, was marginally better and I was interested to learn more about her and her magic, but the book never explored her character too deeply. Toad, the changeling who watches over Nell, was delightful and I wish there had been more scenes with him.

This book is told both from Prosper and Alastor's points of view with Prosper's scenes in first person and Alastor's in third person. The changing perspectives threw me off a bit and while I get it was likely to help distinguish between the characters, I still had trouble whenever it shifted. I did like though how the author distinguished when Alastor was speaking in Prosper's point of view.

Overall I think my lack of enjoyment of The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding is in part because I am not the target audience for this book. Also, I am a character driven reader and I had a hard time connecting with a twelve year old boy. I do think younger readers would enjoy this book and it's great for the Halloween season.

As a middle school teacher I found this to be a wonderful read to recommend to my students. I really enjoyed The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding. If you are looking for a light-hearted, humorous, and spooky read then I think it would be a good choice for you!

I fell in love with the story Alexandra has created in this novel. It’s the first middle grade novel I’ve picked up in a while but it did not disappoint. Perfect for the creepy Halloween season.

Have I mentioned that I live in MA, OH Yes, so imagine how excited I was when I was reading this book and found out it was taking place in Salem, MA? AH, so cool and exciting!!!! Anyways...back to the review.

So, Prosper (what a name lol), poor kid, imagine growing up with that name and now imagine growing up with the kind of family Prosper grew up with? Prosper lives in a town that his family owns it and because of it he has to live it to it's rules all the time, rules that his grandmother makes sure everyone follows. But things go all wrong when Prosper discovers a four thousand year old demon living inside of him. Poor Prosper ends up finding out that a curse has been on his family for many, many years because of his great, great, great, great, great, grandfather made a contract (and broke it) with the same demon that is living on him. And now the demon has reawaken for one purpose only, to destroy the family that betrayed him.

Prosper has days to break the curse but things are not so easy and he needs more help than he thought he needed. Get ready for a little adventure with Prosper and lots of twists and turns and a great ending that will leave you craving for the next book like crazy.

5 out of 5 stars :) I'm dying to read the next book...

XOXO,

Nelia

This book had me on the edge of my seat. I could not put it down and can't wait for the next installment.

I don't read a ton on middle grade, but this was a pleasant surprise. The characters were all multi-dimensional and had a lot of personality. I am going to recommend this more as a seasonal read, given the atmospheric feel, it would be a great read in fall leading up to Halloween.

This was beautiful and creepy all at once. I loved the characters and even though it is meant for middle graders I think many ages will come to love this one.

Even though The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding is a middle grade novel, I can see how it could appeal to a wide array of ages. However, it just didn't appeal that much to me. I was so excited to read it because of all of the hype it was getting on booktube and bookstagram, but I feel like it was kind of a let down. The writing itself is wonderful, as Alexandra Bracken's always is, but I just couldn't get in to the story. I loved all of the creepy elements and the idea behind the story, but I think I found it difficult to connect with twelve-year-old Prosper. I like how he isn't just the typical, cookie cutter character and has some depth to him, but he was somewhat underdeveloped and I didn't have enough backstory on him. I loved all of the humor because it made the book easier to read, but I felt there were some jokes or moments that seemed forced or unnatural. Overall I think it was my age that caused me to not enjoy The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding as much as I wanted to, but I highly recommend it for younger readers who enjoy spooky things.

This is the first book in a fun new middle grade series. When 12 year old Prosper and his twin sister Prudence are taken to their evil grandmother's home and met by all of their relatives, Prosper knows something is wrong. It turns out even worse than he imagines when his family attacks him and an uncle that he has never met rescues him and he awakens in a haunted house. Will his uncle and cousin be able to help him get rid of the demon who is residing within him? I think that readers will enjoy this book!

Bracken shines with this middle grade novel. I cannot wait to see what comes from her next.

Prosper Redding is the only ordinary person in his family of extraordinary people, so it seems pretty unfair that he’s the one who gets bitten by the family curse. Turns out, Prosper’s great-great-great-and-more-great-grandfather made a deal with a demon—and broke it. Oops. The 4,000-year-old demon has been biding its time waiting for its revenge, and now it’s decided Prosper seems like a good ghost. In The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding, Prosper goes from totally ordinary tween to a kid on the run, hiding out in a strange town and sharing his body with a not-so-friendly demon who is just waiting for Halloween to start wreaking vengeance.

This is a spooky, frequently hilarious middle grades thriller with two likable protagonists in Prosper and his recently discovered cousin Nell. Alastor, the demon on a mission of revenge, is surprisingly funny as he attempts to adapt to life in the 21st century, and there’s a half-bat, half-cat creature named Toad that is kind of irresistible. Alastor and Prosper both discover things they never suspected about their families and end up liking each other—with healthy suspicion on both sides—more than either expected. The book has a (predictable) pair of twists near the end, and it finishes on a cliffhanger without resolving most of its plot points, which I find extremely annoying. Still, I think it’s one of the Halloween-iest books I’ve read in a long time, and I can see middle grade readers who like spooky-funny books really enjoying this one.

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding is by far one Of my favorite middle grade books! From the very begging I was drawn in to Prosper and his family’s story. This book had the perfect mix of mystery, comedy and fantasy.
This story follow Prosper who is a 12 year old boy who does not quite fit in but he comes from the biggest and wealthiest family in his town. Unfortunately, prospers great, great, great, etc. grandfather broke a contract with a deamon and now Prosper is forced to deal with the consequences and thrown into a new life.
The characters were so appealing and had great delevopment. I throughly enjoyed how Alastaor was protrayed as an actually character not just some random deamon. There was development in every character and their personalities really got to shine through!
There were so many times while reading this that I would find myself laughing at Prosper and Alastor’s conversations and I loved that I could enjoy this middle grade book as an adult as well!

I really liked this book! I have never read an Alexandra Bracken book before, but this has definitely intrigued me to check out some more by this author. Thank you so much for this opportunity!

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding was a delightful and quirky middle grade novel. I had so much fun reading it and can’t recommend it enough! The book has a perfect mixture of spooky, Halloween-like vibes (demons, witches, curses), real world issues (bullying, fitting in) and witty dialogue that I was never bored. While it’s labeled as middle grade, I totally believe that people of all ages would enjoy it.

The story focuses on Prosper, a young boy who just doesn’t fit in. To make matters worse, he finds out that he has a demon living inside of him! Much of the story is Prosper arguing with his demon, Alastor. I just loved their conversations so much! Prosper is very sarcastic and Alastor (while supposed to be evil) can off as a grumpy old man, always trying to trick Prosper into agreements. Every page that featured these two characters was enjoyable to read.

My only issue with the book was how uneven it was. The story started strong, became stagnant in the middle and then picked up pace near the end. I struggled to get through the middle bits and am happy that I did. It was more than worth it but I didn’t take away some of my enjoyment. Overall, even with the pacing issues, this is a must read for people looking for a fun and spooky read.

So I've long been a fan of Alexandra Bracken's writing and I was a bit skeptical upon hearing about this middle grade novel she was writing. I'm very happy to been proven wrong. The writing of this entire book is lovely and hilarious. I enjoyed myself immensely while reading this one. The world, the characters, and especially the writing makes this book a complete success.

I wanted to love this book. Don't get me wrong, I definitely liked it. But I wish I could have loved it. It had an intriguing premise, one that mostly held the book together as it flowed choppily through the misadventures of poor Prosper. Sometimes it seemed to just get hung up on the plot though, dragging bottom and almost making me want to stop. The promise of more exciting currents and better scenery ahead kept me going, but sometimes just barely.

As a kids book it seemed equally too mature and too immature. Some of the scenes drug on longer than necessary, and some of the characters were too important to be so poorly developed. The back story was interesting, as was the over arching plot.

I ended up having no problem finishing it, but **spoiler alert** there was such a huge cliffhanger that now I feel compelled to read the entire series. I'm not usually that annoyed by cliff hangers, but since this was just a three star read for me I was seriously ready to get to the end and see what the heck happened! No go, sorry. Now I'm stuck waiting for book two, and hoping it will get better.

I really thought I was going to like this one but I've realized she's just not an author for me. The plot dragged on and the voice was odd. It didn't hold my attention at all. Prospero didn't seem really yo me at all, either. I don't know what else to say to sum up how disappointed I was in this one

I should have known Alexandra Bracken would leave the story unresolved, making me anxiously wait months before a sequel will appear. Alexandra is a great storyteller and her characters have a very distinguishable voice. My favorite scene involves Alistair's take over Prosper's body and a stroll through the midnight air of Salem. During the stroll, he liberates a fake vampire who he thinks is an old friend and snacks on the occasional pumpkin adorning the nearby houses. Prosper Redding is Bracken's first middle-grade novel. It has just the right combination of suspense and humor, with a dark twist at the end, that will motivate readers to come back and find out what happens to Prosper Redding.