This book was so fun! I think this is a perfect "intro to horror" type story for young readers who love spooky or supernatural elements in stories. Juliana Brandt perfectly balances the darker sides of the thriller/horror genre with the fun and entertaining elements often found in middle grade novels. Horror is all about introducing deeper themes in a new and exciting and adventurous way, and I think she did that wonderfully with Monsters in the Mist. There's a lot of heavier elements: sickness, loneliness, death, grief, parental abuse, panic attacks, and fear, that are approached in a way that is really special and creative. I think this is a great way to help young readers talk about some of these bigger topics they might be experiencing in their own lives or see their friends experiencing.

This would be a great October read!

I saw the publisher tweeting about this, and it looked perfect for my kiddo! She and I have been reading together every night, and if you saw my YA Month back in January, you’ll see her taste runs towards ghostly mysteries. Not scary, but definitely mysterious. This book sounded right up her alley. I immediately went over to Netgalley and requested it. Thankfully Sourcebooks approved me.

My daughter is 8, and I will say I wouldn’t recommend this for the under 10 age group. This book is intriguing, and exciting, and heart-poundingly intense. It also deals with some very heavy subject matter.

Glennon, his sister Lee, their mom, and the family cat Seamus, all pack up and move to Isle Philippeaux, and island on Lake Superior. They will stay with their uncle Job while their dad is in Brussels teaching. Their mom doesn’t like to be alone while their dad is gone, and he travels a lot. Someone else we see in bits and pieces, in the way they walk on eggshells, on the way they freeze at the sound of anger, is that their dad is abusive. He may not have ever hit them, but his words are his weapon of choice, and the kids each have their own trauma to deal with. However, this is the 1980s, and it wasn’t commonly talked about. So they join their uncle for a few months. The goal is to leave at Christmas and head home.

But someone has other plans.

The island is weird. Glennon feels it immediately, but he’s learned to doubt himself, so every time something feels off, he ignores it, tells himself he’s making things up. Tells himself, in his father’s voice, to be logical. One night, a violent crash resonates on the island, and his uncle, one of the lighthouse keepers, takes his lantern and heads out to investigate. Glennon goes with him, and sees a ship crashed on the shoals of Isle Philippeaux. They can’t do anything to help, since the fog has rolled in and the storm is violent, but a rope is tossed out and 3 people climb up to safety. However, something feels wrong to Glennon. He can’t put his finger on it, but something feels wrong. He convinces himself he’s being illogical and silly.

Until he realizes that his older sister is noticing too.

The two of them band together to try to figure out what exactly is happening on the isle, and they find a few people to help them, but not without cost. As they try to figure out what haunts the isle, they need to face what haunts them as well. No one leaves the island unscathed. For Glennon, he needs to face the fact that his father is not the hero he wants him to be. And until he can do that, his family won’t be safe.

Since this book hasn’t come out yet, I won’t spoil the mystery of this phantom island, but it’s an amazing twist, and I loved the way it was formed (the island and the plot). That being said, this subject matter was probably too advanced for my daughter, but we had some important conversations with it. I wish the author’s note was at the front of the book rather than the end.

I think I would like another book that takes place on the cold waters of Lake Superior, and her phantom island Isle Philippeaux. There’s a lot that could be done with that as a series. Bring it into the future, or even take it to the past. I hope one day we get to revisit this mysterious island. Full of rich descriptions, and vivid realism, even amongst the ghosts, Ms. Brandt has created an intriguing island and an even more intriguing cast of characters.

***ARC courtesy of Sourcebooks via Netgalley

This was a great read - I found it difficult to get into at first but it picked up once the strange things started happening. I wasn’t quite sold on the ending but a gripping story nevertheless.

When Glennon McCues father takes an overseas position, Glennon finds himself relocated from Minneapolis to his Uncle's light house on Isle Philipeaux, smack dab in the middle of Lake Superior surrounded by nothing but black, ominous waters. The place is frightening and becomes even more so when a storm rocks the island and a ship wrecks outside the lighthouse. Even worse, the survivors are terrified to learn they've washed up on the phantom isle.

There are many stories about Isle Philipeaux; sailors wash ashore...and are never seen again.

Suddenly, Glennon finds himself in the middle of a real-life ghost story, and unless he can figure out the mystery of the island... he and his family will be lost forever, too.

Filled with fear and friendship Monsters of the Mist is a nautical themed middle grade horror that delves into traditional ghost story territory but also deals with more ‘real’ fears as well.

Brandt’s protagonist Glennon (never Glenn) is faced with multiple problems ranging from looking after/saving his family, dealing with the ghosts on the isle and coming to terms with his traumatic and tumultuous relationship with his father.

Brandt manages to deliver some very poignant and heart felt messages about family and relationships in her novel whilst also entertaining her readers with a little spook and spectre fest which is why I loved this book so much!

Monsters in the Mist is probably one of the best middle grade horror books I’ve read this year. It wasn’t only thrills and chills, but it struck a balance between telling a spooky story and a poignant one; where the monsters weren’t only the mystery of what resided in the mist, but could be found in the memory of and about the living as well.

Monsters in the Mist unfolds in the perspective of Glennon. I sympathized with him and understood and appreciated the way the author portrayed how he dealt with the stress of the scarier points of his situation. It was to the point where his doubt in himself made him question what he saw. The story deals with heavy topics, and much of it illustrated the way that grief and fear affect people differently. You don’t need to look any further than Glennon, his sister Leeunah (Lee), and his mother to see what I mean.

The setting didn’t make it any easier for the characters, as Isle Philippeaux didn’t give up its secrets easily. It was a mysterious place with an eerie atmosphere that only intensified as the story headed for its conclusion. I was especially interested in the way lighthouses were used in the story (as indicative by the book’s cover), and it ended up being one of my favorite aspects.

These things were accompanied by some frightening and dangerous instances. And it forced the characters to literally acknowledge all that had happened to them—as well as the predicament they unwittingly found themselves in—before they could move forward.

Monsters in the Mist had a message: feeling somewhat topical in a story that was otherwise a haunting read. All in all, it was great.

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Sourcebooks Young Readers) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

This was a very appropriately scary book for middle grades readers with ghosts who appear to be living and living people who appear to be monsters. The main characters end up on an island while they stay with their uncle who runs the lighthouse over Lake Michigan. The island can be difficult for ships to avoid, and many have run aground on the rocks below.

In fact the story begins with a shipwreck. Glennon sets out to find out more about the island and the victims of the shipwreck. At the same time he is struggling to protect his emotionally fragile mom and sister. He meets a variety of inhabitants of the island, all who seem to be hiding secrets. He soon finds himself having night terrors and begins suspecting some of the shipwreck survivors of being monsters or worse.

This ghost story has plenty of adventure and survival thanks to some quick-thinking children, and it ends with an author's note pointing out the very real trauma that the characters were suffering and that readers may recognize in their own lives.

This was a great read and I highly recommend it for all libraries.

I LOVE a lighthouse-small-town horror story, for whatever age. This one is certainly solid, though as an adult it's always hard for me to read stories where the parent(s) fail so utterly at basic parenting the main character. (I realize this is usually a plot necessity, but it still rankles.) I appreciated how quickly the supernatural elements got going, and I think the target audience will certainly enjoy this middle grade horror as well. (I also appreciated the mental health rep in the main character's sister.)

Monsters in the Mist was a book that I was looking forward to reading since it was outside of my comfort zone. When I reached the halfway point I started having the feeling that I was forcing myself to read this. I ended up finishing this book and though it wasn't for me it is a well written piece of work. Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Kids, Sourcebooks Young Readers for this advanced copy.

I loved the mysterious vibe right from the beginning and that I could guess what the characters were but it wasn't given away from the first time

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. It left me with a memorable experience by the end. I had a no problem in absorbing the story to its fullest. And I believe it's something quite unforgettable.

This book had such a beautiful underlying message of survival from abuse. Glennon's character and the fear of his father, who never physically appears in the book, other than in flashback show an emotionally abused family. That theme shone well throughout the novel working in an engaging fantasy world of a shifting island and seemingly demonic forces of Lake Superior. The mystery of it, along with the characters like Uncle Job, and others he encounters led to an engaging text that many young people will love, though I would have to recommend it to older elementary kids or lower level high school readers.

I adore unique fiction, and this is such an interesting premise. I recommend because of the story itself, writing style, and its ability to transport you into a different world.

The atmosphere in this was really well done, it was spooky and left me feeling uneasy. I loved the descriptions of the mysterious island and the stormy weather that always seemed to loom over it. I also loved trying to work out exactly what was going on. I feel that the exploration of the abusive father's impact on the mental health of the characters was very well done. It made me both angry and incredibly sad because of just how realistic it was. I loved seeing the development of the characters throughout and I just wanted to hug Glennon and his mum and sister and Uncle Job too.

I did have a few issues though such as the book being set in 1989. I don't really understand why it was and there were never really any indications throughout to make me feel as if it actually was set in 1989. I wouldn't have even realised if it hadn't been mentioned in several throwaway comments. There was also a lot of repetition of certain words, such as the word wrong being used to describe the island way too many times.

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.