This book definitely has Sara Farizan’s usual great writing and interesting characters, complete with a message of friendship. One thing that especially stood out to me was the fact that the conflict was largely caused by an adult who tried to make a better living by doing something he knew wasn’t right, and that when he tries to get the main characters to empathize with him, they don’t. It shows that as adults a lot of people lose touch with what’s the right thing to do but as kids and teens they still have a sense of morals and it’s important not to lose that.

This was a really fun read for the most part. The characters were interesting. But the plot was convoluted and the movement between timelines and POVs was kind of hard to track at times. I wish it would've been spookier and explained the plot a bit better.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sara Farizan for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Dead Flip coming out August 30, 2022. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

In 1987, best friends Cori, Maz and Sam were inseparable growing up. They all loved Halloween, arcade games and each other.

In 1992, Sam has been missing for five years. Cori and Maz are no longer friends. Cori thinks Sam is dead and Maz thinks he may have been kidnapped by a supernatural pinball machine. All Maz wants to do is coast through high school while Cori has become popular.

In 1993, Sam returns home as a 12 year old while his friends are now 17. They pass him off as a little brother while they try to solve what happened when Sam went missing.

I was a kid in the 90s, so there was a lot of nostalgia. Overall, I loved this book! It was fun and mysterious. I loved the best friends club. I would’ve liked to see Sam come back a little sooner and the mystery to start sooner. It was at about 60% mark when mysterious things started to really happen. So then it felt a little rushed in resolving the issues at the end. I also wasn’t quite sure if this was meant to be for middle school age teens or YA. At times it felt like both. I think a couple of the themes might be a little too adult for younger kids.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys 90s nostalgia and teen horror books.

I quite enjoyed this story, it definitely gave me the stranger things vibes like promised, and I loved the 80s and 90s settings.
In the beginning, we have a pretty tight friend group Cori, Mazi, and Sam. However, they're getting older and as hard as they're trying to stick together they are slowly drifting apart. When they have a fight on Halloween Sam runs off, and that's the last time anyone sees him. When he reappears years later things go from Happy to downright weird. Sam hasn't aged at all, turns out he somehow got pulled into a demonic-looking pinball machine and has been stuck there ever since.

Now all these strange things are happening to people and animals around town... and it seems to be linked to Sam. Now Mazi and Cori have to work together to figure out what the heck is going on, how it involves Sam, and how they can stop it.

The ending was a bit anticlimatic, and I wish it was scarier, but overall I really enjoyed the story and characters it was a fun fast read that brought me all the nostalgic feelings, and I'll be reading more from this author.

i enjoyed this a lot. the fact that it was set in the 90s and in an arcade really gives me stranger things nostalgia (though not so much nostalgia so much as the vibes), and i thought that the plot was incredibly unique and intriguing. i really enjoyed the characters and the representation, and i thought the relationships were well developed. the writing style was also consistent and flowed very well. it definitely felt like i was immersed in the 90s rather than me reading a random story that just so happened to be set in the 90s, and the characters definitely felt like teenagers.

i will say that this was more of a sci-fi/adventure novel to me, instead of being horror as it was advertised. it was a bit jarring to me seeing it being marketed as a horror as both the cover and the synopsis make it lean more towards those genres to me. it wasn't particularly creepy aside from the initial plot about sam going missing and i wasn't particularly scared reading it. another criticism i have is that the dual timeline style can be a bit clunky at times, and i think too much emphasis and focus is placed on both rather than just being in the later of the two timelines, making the past timeline a bit ineffective in what it is trying to show, and i also think that it makes the present plot a bit anticlimactic. i would say that it would be much more effective if the flashbacks were more sparse, making sam a more peripheral character in the past.

overall, though, i really liked this book and i'm looking forward to more!

This book has send to me as a digital arc! here is my honest review of dead flip!

overal it is a really good story and it has stranger things vibe's, to be honest that was one of the reason I picked this up in the first place. but beside I found the story good I could have been better.

I hate sometime issues with different time line and this decently happen more into the book, the characters were most of the time really great to read about. Also this book isn't scary and I kinda hoped for it to be scary. in the end it had some spooky parts, and that part I enjoyed the best.

I think this book isn't for everyone but if you want to read paranormal books this one needs to be on your list!

As I’m trying to draw out my viewing of Stranger Things season 4, this was a good distraction. Cori, Maz, and Sam were inseparable until Sam disappeared without a trace 5 years ago. Since then, Maz and Cori have gone their separate ways. When Sam suddenly reappears, they’re drawn back together to figure out how to help their friend, who has changed in some scary ways yet somehow remains physically the same as the day he vanished. Does all of it make sense? Nope, but it was still worth my time. I liked the characters and the premise, and it was a quick, enjoyable read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ebook ARC.

I struggled with this one. It was very much more middle grade than YA, and much more immature than I was expecting. The concept was very cool but I did not enjoy the execution and found it took to long to move along. I did not finish this book;.

*Thank you Netgalley and Algonquin Young Readers for this eARC!

I was dying for something to fill the void until Volume 2 of Stranger Things premiered so I was really excited to read Dead Flip. Unfortunately, while the vibes were there I think this book’s biggest downfall is the confusing timeline and POV switches. It also doesn’t really pick up until around 35%. Though from there it is a fun ride to figure out the mystery behind Sam’s reappearance and connection to the malevolent pinball machine!

this said 'for fans of stranger things' and it was not lying. the atmosphere was perfect when i was waiting for stranger things to finally release. the characters were pretty predictable yet still entertaining. the main downfall was the pov switches and time jumps. at the beginning, it confused me a lot but overtime i was able to connect everything. overall, it was a fun read. i think a lot of middle schoolers and stranger things fans will come running for this book.

I have to say that Dead Flip was a pleasant surprise. When anything states that it is perfect for fans of Stranger Things I am a bit skeptical, but this really was kind of perfect for fans like me. It has a heavy Stranger Things vibe throughout, although the characters are not nearly as likable and I never did quite get the "how" of the pinball machine. I really liked Cori and Janet as characters as well as Maz, Sam however was pretty awful and it was hard to sympathize with someone who was such an incredible jerk. I enjoyed how the story is laid out with alternating chapters, which always seems to keep a story really rolling. The plot was pretty good, with lots of twists and turns and slightly spooky stuff. I found the story fun and think that YA fans and middle schoolers will gobble this one up.

*2.5

While I loved the concept, very Stranger Things, I had a hard time keeping track of the different povs and the time jumps. It almost felt like it was too much to keep track of on top of the story itself. But like I said this was VERY similar to Stranger Things and it was definitely scratching my itch until July 1st!!

Thank you very much Algonquin Young Readers for the advanced copy!! 💚

Stranger Things meets Scanners in this unforgettable journey through the power of pinball.

Like the rest of the world, I'm a bit obsessed with Stranger Things. Every single season just blew my mind and the newest season has my entire heart. I mean, have you seen Eddie!? *swoon* So seeing the cover really made me want to read this and I'm glad I did. It was the bizarre blast from the past that I really needed.

Here we go from past to present, before and after Sam disappears without a trace. Three best friends discover this bitchin' pinball game at one of their favorite hangouts. Growing up they were inseparable, but things quickly change once Sam disappears. Years and years later, Cori and Maz go from besties to whatevers. Then something happens that brings these two back together. Sam returns... but as a twelve-year-old. Looks exactly how he disappeared. He didn't grow older like the rest of them but stayed the same age. Dark secrets lurk behind Sam about his reappearance and where he's been for the past couple of years. What we know for sure is that the pinball game shines bright like a beacon.

This story was an interesting blast from the past. It's one that needs to be accomplished by a playlist. It really made me reminisce about my younger days. That paired with an eerie mystery made this one a lot of fun in a demented kind of way. I was glued to every page and I finished this in just a few short hours, that's how deep this thing sunk its claws into me. I really enjoyed it.

Dead Flip was a great read. It was entertaining and every page kept me hooked. The characters were all fantastic and flowed together really well. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

The story started slow and it only picks up at around 30%, so admittedly it took a bit to get to the fun and at first I was confused by the constant changes in timelines and povs. But once we get to the mystery and Sam disappearing, it grabs you and keeps your curiosity. The concept of the story was intriguing and made me think of old school horror movies, which I loved. The one thing I would have liked though, is for the main characters to have a bit more conflict and action. I felt like things resolved themselves way too easily and there should have been a bit more struggle to get there, especially since it takes a while to build up. Other than that I felt like it was a solid horror read and I loved the originality and nostalgic feeling! Definitely recommended for horror and Stranger Things fans!

3.5/5 Stars

Maz, Cori, and Sam are best friends in the late 80s. However, things turn tragic when Sam ends up missing. Cori is convinced he is dead, but Maz believes he has been sucked into a pinball machine. Since then, Maz and Cori have grown apart. All of that changes five years later when Sam suddenly reappears, still 12 years old. He confirms he was in the pinball machine, and that seems like that, until strange things start happening. Maz and Cori team back up to solve this mystery and try to help their friend.

I felt like this started slow - like the buildup to Sam being taken by the pinball machine took too long. Once he reappeared though, I felt like the book went by much quicker. My other big critique is that it wasn't that spooky. The cover and description made it sound like it was going to be really creepy, but I didn't get those vibes from it. It was still solid, and I think would be a good YA book for those who like teens on bikes adventures (like Stranger Things, It, etc.).

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the book but it was a bit weird. The timing was strange and had flashbacks that didn’t really make sense or fit into where they were placed in the story.

This was definitely good but like…. It could’ve been better. It could’ve been way better.

I’m hoping that bc I read an ARC this stuff will be ironed out by the final publishing. The timing was all weird, with flashbacks that didn’t make sense in the flow of the story. The story didn’t make much sense and there wasn’t really much resolution, and the spooky parts could’ve been way spookier. I expected an 80s horror, and instead it felt like a comedy with a few spooky parts.

Overall it was fun to read and I enjoyed the setting a lot! I think it’s a great concept, it just needs a lot of fine tuning that I’m hoping it’ll receive before the full publishing.

This book it wonderfully nostalgic for adults, and exciting for younger readers! An unbreakable trio of friends is torn apart when one of them mysteriously disappears on Halloween night. Then, 6 years later, he returns like nothing happened—but something's not quite right.
Farizan's newest was fun, humorous, and fast-paced, filled with lots of heart and memories of delicious candy that they no longer make anymore!

Thank you, Algonquin Young Readers, for allowing me to read Dead Flip early!

This book seemed exactly right up my alley when I first saw its announcement and cover reveal and I was very, very right. I devoured it in a matter of hours and loved every single moment of it.

Thank you Netgalley and Algonquin Young Readers for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I felt a lot of nostalgia reading this book! It was quite fun to read about books from the time I grew up! Maz and Cori stop spending time together when their friend Sam disappears. When Sam returns, still the young and not aged at all, they band together to help Sam. But with secrets of their own can they? This book was enjoyable and if you like Stranger Things you'll enjoy this book!