3.5 stars
A middle-grade haunted house story specifically for and about survivors of childhood cancer. I like that the book is quite straightforward about its metaphoric qualities; it is in essence providing a blueprint and language for working through a traumatic experience. The scary bits are quite scary, but there’s also a sense of our main character’s agency that is comforting, and like the best haunted house stories, when you really look at the monsters they’re more sad than anything else. The book features several gems of clever wording: the characters must get through the house to beat it, and the question is never “how do we get out” but “how do we move on.”
The author is also very invested in the idea, expressed explicitly in the book, that trauma is elastic. I think this is a perfect way to express trauma’s effects to this and any age group and is well done here.
Some of the meta qualities of the book seem a little odd for the age group; I’m not sure, for example, whether I was meant to appreciate that the house quotes Shirley Jackson. I did, however, really appreciate the ending, and the fact that the ending isn’t too abrupt; we see what Jac takes from the experience and how she decides to move on.
Honestly, for me the toughest part of the book for me was Jac’s mother, a woman clearly deeply wounded by watching her child survive cancer and who makes Jac manage her emotions for her. Jac must school her expressions, emotions, and reactions, because there is only room for one emotionally vulnerable person in their house and that’s her mom. While I appreciate that this is a very real thing that many children go through, I wish it had been addressed similarly to other issues Jac has, a little more honestly. The narrative is very kind to Jac’s mother and I wish it acknowledged a little more how unfair it is of her to put her emotional wellbeing entirely on her child’s shoulders instead of finding outside sources of support.
I don’t think this book is just for kids who’ve survived cancer; I think it would be useful for any middle-grade reader, because the language and metaphors used are appropriate for addressing a variety of traumas. It would make an excellent selection for school libraries.

Another exciting winner from Ally Malinenko.

This Appearing House is a book packed full of heart. Jacqueline, or Jac is a girl with cancer, awaiting the five year anniversary of diagnosis and hoping she will learn she is cancer free, when she encounters a strange house she's never seen before.. And this house is for her, full of messages and mysterious figures...

Malinenko has an ear for descriptions and an eye for setting. From the start, this book grabs and refuses to let go. Jac and her friend Hazel are exquisitely crafted characters and the messaging is terrific. Jac is a great character; intelligent, strong, but in search of a chance to just want to live her life. Her mother's constant vigilance is smothering her and she just wants a chance to live like any other girl her age.

The horror contains a host of allegory and tells the reader that one doesn't always need to be strong. One can be angry at a world that isn't fair. Bad things can happen and dealing with it is on us. And sometimes that's not fair. Sometimes it's too much. Sometimes it falls on the shoulders of kids. Kids can, and must, deal with their traumas and sometimes they're alone through it.

It is scary, poignant and beautiful. About a girl facing her fears, and being able to take back her life. Amazing book.

This middle grade novel packs a powerful punch. Young Jac is battling cancer and hoping for good news about remission soon. But then, she starts seeing some strange things...like a house that was never there before. After some classmates dare her and a friend to enter it, she finds herself unable to leave. A very spooky haunted house story that ratchets up the scares-- it does not pull its punches! It also treats thoughtfully the many strong and confusing emotions, and a good deal of trauma, that Jac has inherited from her long fight against illness. This is a very scary book with a whole lot of heart, and I enjoyed it tremendously.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, and Katherine Tegen Books in exchange for an honest review.

Content warning: childhood cancer

There are many important messages happening in middle grade novels these days, there is a lot of good representation happening as well. But Malinenko gives us another important story with THIS APPEARING HOUSE. Because the reality is there are middle grade readers who either are, have been, or know someone their age (or younger) that has battled a major illness like cancer. Maybe they beat it, maybe they're still fighting, maybe they are finally at peace. This is a book for all of them because Malinenko gives them Jac and shows them that it's ok to be scared, and that it's ok to be REALLY angry.

I loved the haunted house as a metaphor for Jac coming to terms with the stress she had been under battling cancer and coming out the other side (but always having the c-word hovering over her as a potential to come back). That the "monsters" are really just her fears that she needs to face and acknowledge.

I hope this novel gets into the hands of kids that need to read it the most so that they can break the loop of their own haunted houses.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in return for an honest review.

For me, this was a new and different twist on haunted house horror stories. I liked the author's take of the haunted house being built from past trauma. Jac and Hazel's time in the haunted house was filled with vivid descriptions and imagery. As a heads up to parents, teachers, and librarians, I will say that some of the imagery and descriptions are so vivid, the book might be best suited for upper MG.

This was a very interesting perspective of dealing with events that happened when you are young and influence you forever. The influence can be positive or negative or something in between.
I liked how the author used understandable images to help make it relatable to the reader. Sometimes we don't have to go physically go through something to have empathy for it.
I did feel like the story got repetitious toward the end. It seemed like it almost repeated itself at times.
All in all though, a very interesting read.
Enjoy.

Malinenko creates a scary tale for younger readers that is easily as creepy and haunting as Coraline -- even more at moments. The imagery is incredibly vivid; Jac & Hazel's terror is palpable. I did find the ending, where the symbolism of the house is made clear to the reader, to be a little over-explained. The level of horror may be better for the slightly older middle grade reader, depending on the interests and maturity of the student.

Jac is a 12 year old girl that moves to a new town after a difficult issue in her life. One day she sees a house in her neighborhood that wasn't there before and it seems to be calling her. I absolutely loved this book and the messages in it. There is a realness to the heart of this novel that shines and Malinenko captures that reality expertly.

Ok, where were authors of middle grade horror like Ally Malinenko when I was of that age?! No offense to some of the legends like Stine, Duncan, Cooney, Pike, etc, but Malinenko just writes a special type of story that is both creepy, mature, and effective in all its metaphors. There are so many layers to her stories and I can only imagine being younger and reading these and feeling truly seen. Reading is such an escape for a child, sometimes their only escape, and to read this story in particular can have a profound impact on so many.

THIS APPEARING HOUSE is both a haunted/puzzle house horror book as well as a metaphor for illness. Malinenko gives the haunted house a different sort of metaphor than what I have seen before and I am here for it. All the haunted/puzzle house pieces were great and there are some really fun scenes in the book. And there's a lot of our main character's thoughts and headspace. It was quite the experience seeing her experience. And I legit was crying at the end of this book.

The bravery of our main character.
The friendships we get to experience.
The overcoming of trauma.

Between This Appearing House and Ghost Girl, a prior book I read, Ally Malinenko is quickly becoming one of my favorite MG horror authors. Her stories are important and are way more than a surface level experience. This is a must read!

At its core this is a great story that takes on a topic that you do not always see in books for this age group. I think the message would have been just as strong had the reader been told earlier what kind of illness Jac had survived. Drawing it out for so long made it overly dramatic and seemed like more of a tactic to keep the reader interested rather than necessary for the story. It definitely made me think of what cancer survivors go through - yes there is joy that they are still alive, but there is also that lingering question of when your life was about accepting your death how do you go back to looking forward to what you will do with your life.

I think this would have made a great graphic or highly illustrated novel. It would have brought more of the story to life and helped show exactly what was in the haunted house. I would have also really liked one more scene with the main bully to know they were going to leave Hazel alone.

Main character Jac and her best friend Hazel are trapped in a creepy house that just spontaneously appeals on a cul-de-sac near their homes. Two classmates have already been dragged off by a hideous insect/woman/creature thing called the Mourner and they are now fleeing from it with doors disappearing, human teeth filled food appearing and according to The House, Jac called it all into being! Ally Malinenko’s follow-up Ghost Girl is filled with truly terrifying haunted house beings but is so much more than that. Jac is a cancer survivor and her 5-year trauma has left her fearful and angry and her mother scared and hovering. This Appearing House comes from her own nightmares and inability to really live life as if she has one at all, but if she can ask the right questions and name her own truth, maybe she can begin living the life she has been granted. This “horror that heals,” as Malinenko calls it, can be read simply as a scary book for middle grade students but also as a hope-filled metaphor that may encourage other trauma survivors to stop being afraid and be all that you were meant to be. “The only way out is through” is a mantra that weaves throughout the book and while that Robert Frost quote may seem harsh, when there is good at the end, it is an encouragement to keep on going and look forward to what is at the end of “through.” Recommended for ages 5 and up, but without any profanity or sexual content and violence that is limited to jump scenes and grotesque creature chases, could be read by those younger as well.

This book scares on more than one level. It's full of that spooky scary energy, but also the real fear that comes with having been ill. It's part fun romp through a manifested horrorscape and part overcoming ones own fears through something scary.

I can certainly relate to the idea of horror being healing and I think people like me will latch onto that concept. Well done.

I really enjoyed this spooky novel. It a different spin on haunted house- focusing on a self haunted house surrounding past physical trauma. I think there are too many lengthy inner monologues from the main character, but otherwise I found it both entertaining and thoughtful. The ending was perfect :) Also I LOVE the main character’s relationship with her best friend.

I have never read a book where I was this terrified and heart broken at the same time. Taking into consideration this is a book for middle grade children, I mean. The pacing was beautiful and so was the friendship between Jac and Hazel. This book is a great look into fear and how it alters a person's mind and personality and I would definitely recommend this to so many people.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read this fantastic, terrifying, and haunting story, This Appearing House written by Ally Malinenko. The following opinion is my own. Jac is a twelve-year-old cancer survivor who is at the five-year anniversary mark of her diagnosis. One day when while biking she notices a house that wasn't there before. This is near the time that she is scheduled for an MRI. She shows her close friend, Hazel to make sure that she isn't going crazy and he sees it too. They enter the house on a dare from a neighborhood bully, John, and also Sam, Jac's lab partner. John and Sam also enter and they all are unable to leave. Jac must face her fears. and face this house that is much more than a house. Read this spooky but full of heart novel.

This Appearing House is about a girl who is remission from cancer but still struggling with the trauma of the experience. When a house mysteriously appears in her neighborhood one day she finds herself inexplicably drawn to it and enters it. She and a friend make their way through the dangers of the house and in the process she must face her own feelings about her past. This is a great option for middle schoolers who love horror and haunted house stories. It has a lot of creepy imagery but is not overly gorgy.

This was a psychological thriller that keeps the reader guessing between reality and surrealism. What started out as a middle grades character-driven story about a 12 year old who was in remission from cancer, quickly turned into a legitimately frightening haunted house tale. There was a "final girl" element, as the friends who entered the house with her were grabbed by monsters. The haunted house changes and creates an element of being trapped as well as a maze and funhouse mirror effect.

As an adult who likes not-so-spooky stories, there were times I felt like this was too scary for me. However, it never became gory or violent. I have a patron at my library who loves scary stories--the scarier the better. I know that this book would be a great fit for her. I especially appreciated the ending that wrapped up the scarier elements into more palatable manifestations of human fears. There was also discussion of anxiety due to the character's illness and how we give power to the areas we put our thoughts and energy toward.

The author's note is especially poignant as she has battled cancer and wants her audience to know that she is rooting for anyone battling cancer.