This was a solidly creepy book with great world building. I like how the haunted house mirrored the MCs anxiety and fears. This is a great addition to middle school library!

A thought-provoking middle grade horror about fear, illness, and misconceptions from those who don’t have experience with cancer.

The House appears one day, at the end of a cul-de-sac. Jac tries to accept without question that it is there, when it wasn't the week before.

And what with the tensions already in her mind--the ordinary new kid in school sort, and the bigger trauma of her five year anniversary of cancer diagnosis, with a mom who's constant concern is becoming smothering. Every clumsiness, every nervous shaking of her hands, could be a sign that she isn't free and clear after all.

The House calls to her.

Two of the boys who are class bullies dare Jac and her friend Hazel (a boy named after the rabbit, which the bullies have a field day with), to go inside. All four end up going in. They find nightmare built on nightmare.

Jac knows the House wants something from her...and until she figures out what that is, it won't let her go.

Was it pleasure reading? Not exactly--horror isn't my thing, and the House is a horror-poloza. It is a good mix of the profoundly disturbing, the terrifying, and the repulsive. I think young horror lovers will enjoy it. I have to admit I didn't linger on all the different nightmarish encounters, because my mind has a bad habit of playing disturbing images from horror books and movies back to me in exquisite detail which I don't appreciate. (content warning--tooth trauma)

Before I could turn off the keen, alert, reading part of my mind, though, there was a tooth thing. If you, like me, knocked your front teeth out at a young age and subsequently had recurring nightmares where you bit into apples and saw your teeth imbedded in them, be warned! This is the closest I can remember to feeling physically ill because of a scene in a book.

But behind the smoke-screen of the grotesque, this is a moving and thought-provoking story, about acknowledging trauma, but not letting that be all-defining. Being angry, sad, and terrified about having gotten a crap deal, but being able to start letting life flow onward is good to think about. I rarely call books "heartfelt" because it seems a nebbishy thing to say, but in this case it feels valid-- Jac's story came from the author's heart and her personal experience, and it resonated with my heart and my personal experience (the teeth aren't my only past trauma--I had a bad patch of way too many MRIs myself. Seven months pregnant, told I had a tumor behind my right eye, no way to know till baby was born if it was benign or not.....then baby and brain surgery simultaneously. All better now, I hope, knock on wood....)

However, all that being said--short answer is that this is a good mix of horror, a really strong MG friendship (Hazel is great) and good and useful things to think about when one feels introspective.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Internalized fear can manifest in many ways, especially if there is no way to communicate that fear. Jac is facing the impossible and her mother refuses to talk to her about it. Then the house appears and Jac is forced to face her greatest fear and darkest secret. Malinenko allows Jac to slowly understand the situation she is in and explains through horror how everyone must deal with their demons.

I read this book during a spooky middle-grade readathon, and it did not disappoint! I loved the haunted house element, the characters, and the dive into the real fears of a young girl who has been through a terrible illness. I wasn't sold on this book at the start, but it ended up being one of my favorite reads of the season after I finished it. It even made me tear up at the very end! I couldn't recommend it more!

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, and Katherine Tegen Books for the Advanced Reader’s Copy.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was a super creepy story that follows Jac, who is coming up on the five-year anniversary of her cancer diagnosis. It affected her friendships, her relationship with her mother, and her own mental health. She doesn't want to talk about it, and this is why the house appears. She becomes stuck in this haunted house turned escape room with her friends, and it has you questioning what is real and what is she hallucinating. The experience helps Jac realize that she doesn’t have to isolate herself because of her illness. It was a good, middle-grade horror story about dealing with trauma on many levels.

This appeals to the kids who want a bit of a spook factor but also so those who gravitate towards sad books.

I was very interested in the premise of This Appearing House, but overall something about it fell flat for me.

I can appreciate the intent here. We don't get a lot of books about the trauma of a diagnosis, of trying to move on but living in constant fear of a relapse. But the house as a metaphor is a bit strange. It is certainly unsettling but also tends more to the gross.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.*
Verdict: A terrifying haunted house story crossed with an escape room where the scariest things are created by your own mind.
For as long as anyone could remember, there wasn’t a house at the dead end of Juniper Drive--until one day there was.
- first line
Fabulous first line!!!
When Jac first sees the house, she worries that she is hallucinating and that it and her shaking hands could be symptoms of a relapse. When Jac was younger, she beat cancer but its shadow still hangs over her and her mom and controls their lives. Turns out Jac isn’t the only one who sees the house. Her classmates dare her to enter and once they do, they cannot find a way out. But somehow Jac knows the only way out is through. She must confront her own fears and her own mind - because the house is here for her. If Jac is going to find her way out of this house (and save her friend Hazel), she will have to tackle and use her emotions (fear, anger, grief, confusion, pain, uncertainty, worry…) to face her very real fears. The experience helps Jac realize that she doesn’t have to isolate herself because of her illness and in the end, her experience may help others in the same situation.

What a beautiful, smart and impactful book. It follows Jac, a 12-year-old who is coming up on the five-year anniversary of her cancer diagnosis. Cancer has obviously affected all aspects of her life - her friendships, her relationship with her mother, and her mental health. For much of the book, she refuses to talk about it, and this is why the house appears. From here, Malinenko perfectly weaves together real-life horror with a haunted house, making Jac and the reader question what was real, and what was a side effect of her cancer. It's scary, it's weird and it's such a smart way to talk about this topic. This book has all the best aspects of middle-grade horror while educating the reader about cancer, trauma, and mental health. It's so accessible and in the hands of the right reader, it could be life-changing.

Clearly, I want to get this for our library. This book gives so much credit to its young audience, and I want it in their hands. That being said, this will make an impact on adult readers too, especially mothers. There is something for every reader to latch onto in this, and there are plenty of scares. Unlike some other horror I've read, this book's scares have a purpose. There's meaning in everything, but as I said, you don't need to analyze this to enjoy it. I can't wait to share it with younger readers. It's so well done, I can't imagine a middle-grade horror will ever top this.

The cover and title are very catchy, and this author has obvious writing talent, but I can't see any of my horror loving middle grade students making it to the end of this high character, low plot story. It's about a girl who is dealing with all the grief and anxiety that accompanies a cancer diagnosis. Her cancer appears to be in remission, but for cancer survivors there is always the fear of a recurrence and death is always a possibility.

The opening is a grabber. Jac (short for Jaclyn) is riding her bike around her neighborhood, as she always does, when she notices a large, creepy house which wasn't there the day before. Because of her medical diagnosis, she thinks she may be imagining it, so she asks her best friend Hazel (a boy mind you) to verify the house's existence. At about that time, a bully and his sidekick show up, which leads to a bunch of dares, and all four kids ending up in the house. It's a living, breathing thing, with horrible creatures, impossible passageways, and no way out. Almost the entire book takes place in this house, with the kids going in circles, which is why I say the book is low plot.

For starters, main character Jac sounds like an adult. The majority of the book are her thoughts, rehashed over and over while she is stuck in the house. Then there's the book's overarching vibe. I didn't find it uplifting at all. This is one depressed kid. The entire book is about her coming to terms with her diagnosis and realizing that she has a life just like everyone. Everyone dies. I didn't buy into the haunted house representing her own mental state, which must be faced and revamped.

So, spoiler alert, it's all a dream. And I find it hard to believe that a kid can wake up from a dream and BOOM!, her whole outlook is changed. Seems like a few good talks with a few wise adults would more realistically accomplish this.

Ally Malinenko knocks it out of the park again with her latest book, THIS APPEARING HOUSE. I found this twist on the classic haunted house story thoroughly engaging, frightening, and thought provoking. Will young readers get the scares they’re craving? Definitely! But they’ll get so much more. I’m captivated by Ally’s style of using children’s horror for both healing and the empowerment of young readers. Both Ally’s first book GHOST GIRL and now THIS APPEARING HOUSE offer kids an opportunity to face common fears along side protagonists that guide them. Ally pulls no punches when it comes to the hard reality that life isn’t always fair. But her stories are reminders to young readers that a happy ending is always within reach. Though, it might not be what you expected. And that’s ok.

If I had to choose just 3 words to describe this book, I'd go with:
-Intense
-Terrifying
-Beautiful
This book melded the horror aspect and the real life experiences regarding worry, health, the feeling of bring trapped, and the feeling of going through it to find your way out in such a meaningful, artful way.

-I felt sheer terror
-I felt claustrophobic and suffocated,
-I cried...
all the feels.

Scheduled to post 8/6/22.

Going into THIS APPEARING HOUSE, I wasn't expecting it to be something for me because of the heavy cancer premise. I liked the horror aspect of it, which is why I requested it, but once I started reading it and I saw just how heavy an element cancer was in the story, I didn't expect to connect with it. Until I did. It took a while, but it ultimately ended up being a gut punch in the end.

Jac is very much struggling with the five-year anniversary of her diagnosis, a word that she can't even bring herself to use. Her mom hovers, afraid every little thing is a sign of things returning, making Jac's anxiety run on a constant high. When she stumbles upon this house, she knows deep down that it's there for her, but it takes her journey through its nightmarish interior to figure out why.

It's very much a traditional haunted house story where the kid needs to face their fears in order to get out of the house alive. In this case, it's a house of Jac's own making, and she needs to figure out why she constructed it to begin with and how to get her and her friends out of it. There are some deeply tense moments, and the real gut punchers are toward the end as everything starts bubbling up to the surface and Jac really starts making connections and facing hard truths about herself.

THIS APPEARING HOUSE speaks to fears in everyone. You don't have to have gone through a cancer diagnosis in order to really get this book. You just need to have had denied yourself some truth and get haunted by it in order to really get it. I'm pretty sure everyone's done that at some point in their lives. It'll just be more impactful if you can actually relate to Jac on a 1:1 level. 

The imagery was creepy as anything, especially the Mourner as it skittered after Jac throughout the house. That's some Scary Stories level creepy there. I genuinely felt Jac's terror as she was facing down these monsters and trying to figure the house out. I felt her annoyance at her mother for hovering, but I also understood where her mother was coming from. The emotions in this book are deeply felt, and it carried with it that scary element I was initially looking for in a read.

THIS APPEARING HOUSE does double duty as a book, making kids feel seen and delivering on the scary story promise. While I couldn't viscerally connect with Jac, I still felt her, and by the end of the book, I was hooked. There were tears, for sure.

4.5

This was a super fun read. Just enough spookiness for a middle grade book. The character development was spot on and the plot came along throughout the whole book. Honestly can not wait for this book to be published so I can buy a copy for my niece!

This is a creepy book about Jac, who is a cancer survivor, but feels like she's always waiting for the cancer to come back. As she approaches her fifth anniversary of NED (no disease evident) a house appears on her street and she and her best friend, Hazel decide to go and have a look. The town bully shows up and goads them into going inside. The creatures in the house and the house itself keep telling Jac that she invited the house to come, that the house is there for her and as she goes through her journey, she comes to a big awakening. This is a great story about dealing with trauma of all kinds and I think it's going to be a great one to have at school.

Hauntingly wonderful take on haunted houses and childhood illness. Jac is waiting for life-changing news when a mysterious house suddenly appears next door. With the help of her friends, she learns some things are scary and it's okay to be scared, it's okay to be angry, and it's okay to ask others for help. The book was a bit slow at the beginning and hard to slog through, but it picked up and was well worth it in the end.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

This book is odd, my biggest advice with this book is don’t give up on it. Read it all the way to the end. The message while a long time coming is a beautiful one, and you won’t regret finishing this book.
Jac knows her neighborhood. So then why does a house show up at the end of the block with no warning. Surly she would have heard someone building a house. However, here it is fully built and beckoning her to come in. A house that appears seemingly overnight is probably not one that someone should walk into without caution, when someone dares you too though. Upon entering the house Jac knows that something is wrong. Keys that are in the shape of her are on tables, spooks lie around every corner, and there is a haunting figure that starts to chase Jac and her friends. Come on a journey with Jac, one where nothing is as it seems, yet everything has a deeper meaning. Can Jac figure out the meaning before time runs out? Or will she be trapped in the house forever.
I don’t want to go to much into this book because so much is tied together and talking about one aspect could unravel the final reveal. Truly the biggest thing with this book is giving it the time to show you how everything ties together. For that you will have to wait till the end of the story. But the beauty is sometimes in the breaking and finding out that sometimes the things we build around ourselves are just that defenses that we don’t always need.
Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.