Coined as Haunting of Hill House for middle graders, Finch House is the perfect novel for young readers seeking horror and mystery all wrapped in a spooky package.

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

Really enjoyed this middle grade haunted house story.

Micah is dealing with moving from her beloved Poppops's house, and her struggles with this are authentically captured in this book. Her friendship with Theo, who now lives in the haunted house, was grown over the course of the story. The haunted house itself was its own character and was really creepy at times.

Overall this was a spooky middle grade story.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this! I am catching up on some already released titles that I had left to review and also listened to the audio of this one from my library.

This was perfectly comped to Coraline, it was nice and spooky. I really liked how close the MC was with her grandpa and the searching for cool items at the curb that they did together.

Let's start spooky season a little early with this middle grade story of haunting and mysterious happenings. We are presented with the standard neighborhood weird house, the place where kids dare each other and children are said to disappear. The plot is solidly tense and built upon a complex twisting supernatural structure. It isn't without flaws. If you think about the details too hard it doesn't follow much logic. Still, the atmosphere is strong and it might be a nice lead into more frightening reads as we head towards Halloween.

Ciera Burch’s debut novel Finch House is an eerie middle-grade tale centering on a young girl named Micah and her family. Living up to the comparisons to Encanto and Coraline, I found it more of an entertaining mystery than anything spooky.

Micah doesn’t want to move away from her beloved grandfather. In her rebellion, she goes to the one place her grandfather forbade her from: Finch House. After her grandfather disappears, she returns to the house to visit her new friend Theo; they quickly realize that there’s more to the house than meets the eye.

The idea of a sentient house acting as a part of the story was a big draw for me, as I imagine it was for many others. There’s a certain magic that it adds to the worldbuilding in any book where that’s part of the story. I really enjoyed the family centered tale that the author wrote, with the ideas of dealing with the change, what makes a house a home, and belonging. The idea of generational trauma within a family was also central to the tale.

Overall, this was a unique and engaging read. Joniece Abott-Pratt was an excellent narrator, and did a great job bringing Micah’s perspective to life. This is a great book for any young reader in your life, and I’m excited to see what this author produces in the future.

Thank you to the author, the publisher Margaret K. McElderry Books, Jaime at Rockstar Book Tours, and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary review copy of the book as part of my participation in the tour. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review the book immensely. Please note - I voluntarily read and reviewed Finch House. All opinions expressed in the review are my own and not influenced in any way.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Grief, Death, Forced Confinement

I enjoyed this middle grade story about Micah and the Finch House. I found myself immediately immersed in Micah's story and the change upcoming in her life as she is getting ready to move from Poppop's house. When Theo invites Micah into the Finch House that is when things start to become slightly creepy with a mystery afoot for Micah to solve! I loved the family relationships in this story, especially that of Micah and Poppop. The mystery also kept me turning the pages to figure out what was going on! Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

A cute story about a girl named Micah who is trying to come to terms with the fact that her and her mom are moving out of her grandfathers house. She wants to stay with her Poppop as they have a lot of fun treasure hunting. There is a house that she is drawn to called Finch House that is suppose to be haunted, she promised her grandfather that she won't go around it but of course she is drawn to it and ends up going by and seeing a boy there.

Her grandfather gets very upset with her and then the next day he goes missing and she goes back to the house where Theo lets her in but once there something happens and she can't get out. She must figure out how to get out and find her grandfather and there could be something there not wanting her to leave.

The ending left it to were there could be a sequel or it's just sort of open ended.

4.5 stars! I wish I could give this one 5 stars because I did enjoy it a lot!! There were a few things that I think were just personal preference with how things ended, and I felt like Micah could have been nicer to Theo at certain points. I did love how much her character grew through the story though, that was awesome to see and made it a lot more enjoyable! The idea had me hooked from the beginning, and it was so well written, I felt like I was in the house too! I do hope there’s more to come or a spin-off book, because the ending felt like a cliffhanger to me! I would love to see where else this goes! Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This creepy cover is perfect for October reading! I just loved this haunted house middle grade book. It was spooky and mysterious. I loved Micah and Poppop. The familial relationship and the friendship stories were so good. I recommend this one for sure. Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

TITLE: FINCH HOUSE
AUTHOR: Ciera Burch
PUB DATE: 09.05.2023 Pre Order Now
GRADES: 3-7 AGES: 8-12 LENGTH: 208 pgs

It’s September and I’m starting all my spooky reads now. What a perfect way to start than with a haunted house story by a new talent Ciera Burch. Finch House is about the beautiful relationship between Micah and her Poppop - they have a special bond and dumpster diving with her poppop in the rich neighborhoods looking for treasures is one of them. Now Micah has to pack up and leave her grandfather to be with her mom, and she is just having a hard time with this change. Micah had always been told by poppop to avoid the decrepit Victorian house called the Finch House - but she sees a boy named Theo and the house isn’t as scary as she thought. But then poppop goes missing and Micah has to get to the bottom of this.

I enjoyed the bit of history about segregated housing, the beautiful relationship between Micah and her grandfather, the themes about dealing with changes and about belonging, and all these made this wonderful book a delightful reading experience. This is the perfect atmospheric read as we head into the fall season. Middle grade readers will find the paranormal and spooky vibes of this book fun to read.

I loved the main character and her relationships with her friend and grandfather, Unfortunately, I found the relationship between the MC and her great aunt to be completely unbelievable and prone to changing course without much reason. I feel like more character development with the spirits would have been helpful.

Beautiful! Intriguing, a little scary, and just on time for the spooky season.
I hope there will be a sequel!

Micah’s PopPop has always told her to stay away from Finch House, but a new family has moved in and not only did they put some interesting treasures by the curb for trash pick up, but there is a boy her age who has moved in, too! Lots of mysteries and shadows seem to swirl around the multi story home and kids tell stories about kids who gone inside, never to be seen again! Middle grade readers will see Micah’s disobedience coming, but they may not expect all the other things that happen after she decides to go inside! Plenty of ghosts and surprises await but this is not a particularly scary book. Perfect for those who only want little tingles! No profanity, no violence, and no sexual content.

3.5 Starts

I enjoyed reading this book once I got into it. It was a slow start for me. This book gives Coraline meets Monster House vibes. It's a good spooky story for middle grades and was an enjoyable read. I'll definitely be picking up a copy for my classroom library.

If you like ghosts, Coraline, and Monster House, then this book could be a good choice for a light read. I read it fairly quickly once I got into it and had the time to sit down and read it.

It follows our main character, Micah, who is about to move, which to me is a horror in itself... she's trying to spend her last few days with her Poppop before there's an hour separating them, but she ends up getting mad at him when he emphasizes how ~off limits~ a spooky house in town is - after Micah's approached the house and met the new boy living there.

The day after that all goes down, Micah wakes up and her Poppop is nowhere to be found. She finds his truck parked outside Finch House... and she ends up learning both family secrets and secrets about Finch House.

It's really fast paced and kind of reminds me of reading Goosebumps books as a kid! I think the mystery will definitely keep kids reading chapter after chapter, and the Black representation is important to me, too. It's got a blend of paranormal aspects and real life aspects - I'd rather deal with a haunted house any day than confront any change happening in my life, but that's just me!!!

Sometimes it feels like a bit of a gamble to read a debut, but this book sounded so interesting right from the moment I heard about it. I loved the eeriness of it. And the fact that it centers on a girl main character and her family.

Micah’s relationship with her grandfather really drove the story home for me. I love the way they connect to one another. He is her anchor in a lot of ways, and I love that.

I didn’t totally follow how the story resolves. Micah made an agreement that felt a little nebulous to me, even after the story concluded. Despite that, I enjoyed the characters, the eerie strangeness of Finch House, and Micah’s explorations through it.

I think readers who like eerie stories, as opposed to horror or truly scary ones, will like the balance this story strikes.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

This was a delightfully spooky story with strong elements of family, family secrets and generational trauma, the fear of change and growing up, and more. I'm a huge fan of place as character and Finch House was all that and more. Micah makes for a great protagonist, and I'm sure young readers will find her a wonderful kindred spirit (pun unintended!)

Micha is eleven years old. She lives in Poppop’s grandfather) house with her mother. Pop pop and Micah go out together to search for treasure in the trash of rich homes left on the curb. One time they drive down a road not normally driven on and Poppop tells her never to go near that house (named Finch house) and turns his truck around quickly as if he is afraid of that house. Micah wonders why but any questions she asks are not answere by Poppop. In fact he makes her promise to not go there and she says yes. Will she keep her promise? Her mother tells Micah they are moving, Micah doesn’t want to leave Poppop behind. She is upset when she learns that it is an hour away from Poppop’s home. When the time comes to move, her mother tells Micah to pack up her room. Upset, she gets on her bike and rides it for a long time. She ends up in front of Finch House. While looking at it, A boy, Theo jumps up out of the snow surprising Micah. He doesn’t invite her into the house. Micah after talking to Theo goes home. Micah upsets Poppop when he finds out that she was at Finch House even though she didn’t go inside the house. Poppop tells her to stay When Poppop is not home the next morning he doesn’t come home that day or the next so Micah decides to go to find him. She decides to go looking for him and sees Theo who volunteers to help her find Poppop. It’s snowing and as they search out in the falling snow, Theo tells Micah lets go to my house and I will make hot chocolate with peppermint for us. Afterwards, Theo gives Micah a tour of the house. They find small doors throughout the house that are locked. Micah thought she heard Poppop’s voice in the attic. She finds another small door. At first it appears locked but then it is open and they discover a staircase that Micah starts to go down but stops. The staircase is so dark that besides scaring Theo, it also scares Micah. She decides to go down anyway. Theo follows to the top of the staircase and tells Micah to not go. She goes and finds herself alone and afraid when she gets to the bottom as she is all alone. Someone stops and asks Micah if she is lost and that they can be friends. She tells Micah that her name is Jen and there is no way she can leave now. Micah accidentally finds a way out and goes home. She returns to Finch House as she heard Poppop’s voice. She tells Theo she has to go back up to the attic. Theo argues with her and ends up with Micah where she was the last time. Jen tells her that she can free Poppop and Theo if she agrees to do something. What is it? Will she agree to get Poppop and Theo out?

The author has written a creepy, spooky haunted house novel. The story includes local disappearances, hidden family secrets, forgiveness and trauma.

This is a nice spooky story that's unique. I think it has a unique take on a haunted house story and is perfect for those who enjoy haunted house stories that aren't gory. I liked how it still maintained an eerie atmosphere but wasn't gory. It's a well done haunted house story. Special Thank You to Ciera Burch, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy prior to publication in exchange for an honest review.