I was really hopeful about this book. It seemed like a throwback to 90s slashed movies/books, kind of campy and even the cover evoked a kind of nostalgia. Unfortunately, not much happened at all and then there was a very abrupt ending that came out of nowhere. It was supposed to be a big twist, but there wasn't enough buildup for it. It was a short book, and it was a quick read, but I got a "meh" feeling about it.

Billed as reminiscent of an 80s slasher film, it delivered on that in some aspects. Set in 1993, I really enjoyed the nostalgic mentions of all the horror films. Some parts were a little predictable and not as edge of your seat as I expected. However, I really liked Amy and the relationship she has with the kids. There were surprises in the the latter part of the book that made it definitely worth reading.

As a 90’s kid who loves slashers and horror movies, I wanted to love this book. And I did really enjoy the plot but I found the time hopping and multiple perspectives to be hard to keep up with and that knocked a star off for me. If we had one or the other it would’ve easily been a 5 star read for me. The plot is great, classic creepy horror with many a nod to horror movie icons. The kids are unsettling, the babysitter is meek, we’ve got unexpected troublemakers, and potential outside people with intent to harm. So many great things I wish the format hadn’t taken me out of the story so much.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for allowing me an ARC of Midnight on Beacon Street. Overall, it wasn't my favorite book. I like a good thriller, but for only being 250 pages (roughly), it was a real slow start. Once it got started, I felt like the plot picked up more. There was also a lot of additional details that I felt were not important to the overall story. I did like the underlying theme of babysitter with kids while something spooky is going on. Overall I gave it two stars!

This is a decent debut. I am proud of the author and I loved the feeling of being back in the 80s and 90s.
I am not sure I loved the entire story. I got a little bored but I don't enjoy horror movies now that I am grown.

I found this book to be interesting, but I felt like it took too long to get to the action so I was slightly put off by that.

This book has a nostalgic feel for being placed in the 90s. But for a short thriller novel I could barely get through it and did not finish it.

"Midnight on Beacon Street" has a good premise. However, for me, it didn't work. I wanted more and think that if it was a little longer and possibly expanded the character development, I might have liked it more.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to review an ARC of this book!

3 stars

I feel like if the book was a bit longer some things could have been done differently which would have made this a 4-5 star read, but it was still good and worth the read as is!

This felt like I was in a 90's horror movie the whole time, I had to remind myself this was in fact not real life.

This had a lot of great representation of Horror, but the overall plot fell flat. Amy is babysitting for two kids who's mom likes to go on dates. The kids usually behave, but deal with a lot of anxiety. Amy also deals with many panic attacks, which is why she doesn't often drive her own car. Babysitting is going well, though they are on edge due to recent break ins around the neighborhood. It seems like it's going to be an east night until Amy's boyfriend shows up, and brings along his older brother and two other girls, one who happened to be Amy's old babysitter. These characters have nothing to them except blatant stereotypes, the older brother is a sexist jerk who thinks all girls want him, the old babysitter plays the nice girl but is really a bitch, Amy's boyfriend is slightly nerdy trying to shine outside his brother's shadow, and I could not tell you about the other girl other than she is also a bitch. Throughout the whole story we get flash backs to Amy's childhood and dealing with the babysitters and diving into her own passion for horror. Nothing happens for most of the book beside constant talk of horror movies and anxiety, and you seem to get more ideas of who could possibly be the person breaking in. The real "horror" elements don't come in until the last 5% of the book, and by then I didn't really care. This could definitely be a tribute to the love of horror, but doesn't fit that category or even the thriller category, because the anticipation build up to release is so little of this book. Most of it was characters whining. I think Readers will enjoy the nods to horror, but overall don't think it'll hit the themes it is going for.

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to read this book. I’m always searching for something that, as an adult, gives me the same tense, stay-up-all-night reading experience that Fear Street or Goosebumps did. It had all the fixings, with a strong first chapter. But then it just…fell apart. I unfortunately could not finish it.
Again, thank you for the opportunity. I hope this finds its readers!

Thank you to Harper Perennial for sending me a copy of MIDNIGHT ON BEACON STREET. This one is out now.

I really wanted to love this book. It had so much potential to rock my world but honestly it just bored me. So much build up and separate timelines for nothing to happen at the end. I wish I had stopped reading when I first thought it was going to not be great for me.

Midnight on Beacon Street is a short novel told nonlinearly by various points of view. The focus of the book is Amy, the babysitter, who must overcome her anxiety to help the children she is caring for survive. The book is filled with classic horror film references that do not make up for a plodding storyline.
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I’ll be honest, I considered bailing of the last 20% of Midnight on Beacon Street, because nothing really happened for the first 83 percent of the story. This book was long and drawn out like the last episode of a reality tv competition. You know the one – where they fill the episode with look backs, reunions, and what not until the very end where they announce the winner. This book is essentially an uninteresting Survivor finale.⁣
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Midnight on Beacon Street‘s synopsis promises a thrilling, suspenseful story that is an ode to the 90s & classic horror. As a millennial, that appealed to me, along with the fact this book was short. I thought it would be a quick 200 page refresh between literary fiction reads. I was wrong. It took me days to read this… And those 90s vibes I was promised? Well, this picture has more 90s vibes in its little toe than the entirety of the novel. ⁣
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Midnight on Beacon Street starts with a flash-forward chapter narrated by a little boy covered in blood staring at a dead body in his kitchen. From there, the narrative hops through time in a nonlinear fashion, seemingly without rhyme or reason. The multiple timelines were largely unnecessary and added little to the story. In fact, the prior timeline was completely unwarranted and distracted from any suspense that had built up. And it’s totally unclear why one timeline was even included. ⁣

My biggest issue with Midnight on Beacon Street was that it felt like a short story that was fluffed to be a full length book. Instead of the “fluff” being atmosphere, suspense, chilling surprises, the fluff is teenage drama and panic attacks.⁣
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Overall, I was not a fan of Midnight on Beacon Street, although I know others who are. I think if you are someone who prefers the journey over the destination, you may enjoy this novel. Or you may enjoy it if you miss your crappy high school boyfriend or need a reminder that your anxiety does not define you.⁣

Note: I received an e-ARC of this book from its publisher, Harper Perennial. Regardless, I always provide a fair and honest review.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I felt zero interest in the characters, finding them tedious. The chapters from Bens POV were excruciating to read because I can't stand small children as narrators. I felt zero tension during any pivotal scenes, they resolved so quickly that even they seemed unimportant. Other than the first chapter with the repetitive, stilted stacato resulting in several pages of Ben letting us know he was scared, the writing style was fine. I don't think the multiple POVs or dual time-line added anything to the story.

I felt like the book couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a horror novel, a “thriller” or a book about childhood trauma. It bounced between the three with mixed results. I felt like the graphic opening was to reel us in, which it did but then the rest of the book was more of a subdued character study the chapter felt misplaced.

I think the book needed some tighter editing and more clear marketing. Hardcore horror or thriller fans are going be a little disappointed. Not that content is bad but I don’t think it is what the copy sets you up for.

Midnight on Beacon Street had some good nods to the horror it's main character, Amy truly loved and did feel like a love letter to the genre, without really culminating in anything that does the genre justice. It was cozy and felt nostalgic, but it was sometimes confusing (especially when we called people by the first letter of their name?) And jumped around a bit.

The writing was decent, characters believable (in like an 80s slasher kind of way i.e. stereotypical).

Maybe it was because I was very excited about this book but it really fell flat. There wasnt really anything that happened. I liked the suspense that was built counting down to midnight, parallels in Amys life from when she was the one being babysat, but overall I wanted more.

More from the characters, more from the writing more from the storyline, more from the ending.

I could see where the author was going and clearly loves the movies they are homaging, but it's difficult to put yourself with big horror names.

Thank you to Harper Perennial and Emily Ruth Verona for the e-ARC. All views expressed are my own.

As someone who also has an anxiety disorder who feels calmer when watching horror movies, I felt so seen in Midnight on Beacon Street. Verona does an amazing job describing panic attacks and general anxiety that never goes away and effects every aspect of life. It was the best part of this book.
That said, I wasn't a fan of the style of Midnight on Beacon Street. The timeline jumping got frustrating for me and the lead up to who the killer is, complete with a few red herrings, felt more frustrating than anticipatory.
In the end, it was a good slasher, just not the style that I enjoy. I do recommend other slasher fans read it however because it is well thought out and well written with a fantastic Final Girl in Amy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the opportunity to read and review Midnight on Beacan Street by Emily Ruth Verona.

A single mom in the 90s is going out for the night and has enlisted Amy, the teenage babysitter, to watch her two kids. The night starts out innocent enough with the normal things a babysitter will do with her charges at home, like board games, dinner, and bedtime routines. What comes later in the evening causes chaos to what should have been a very normal night.

Pros: Loved the 90s nostalgia and references to the older horror movies of my teenage years. Also like the spot-on anxiety representation throughout the novel.

Cons: This story just really didn't seem to go much of anywhere. The plot moved very little for the first 80% of the book. The climax happens fast and seemed rushed in relation to the rest of the novel. Very slow burn.

I feel like there is an audience for this book, unfortunately it wasn't me. Midnight on Beacon Street is out now and can be purchased at all retail stores that sell books.

This was a solid debut novel with affectionate nods to 70s-90s slasher films. 17 year old babysitter Amy enjoys the predictability of horror movies as a way to manage her anxiety disorder, and I enjoyed all of the movie references, although it doesn't begin to compare to the dazzling virtuosity of Stephen Graham Jones' love letter to horror in his Indian Lake series. Still, the references in this book are knowing and apt, and effectively ground the story in enjoyably familiar horror-movie territory. The narrative zips back and forth time-wise like fast-forwarding and rewinding an old VHS tape and playing from multiple points in the story. It kind of worked as a vibe, but it also began to feel a bit excessive and gave a certain disjointedness that more judicious implementation might have avoided.

Aside from its many typographical errors (they're/their, cord/chord, wrap/rap, etc) which I hope will be corrected prior to publication and do not factor into my assessment, the prose is good - colorful and enjoyable. Descriptions are clearly and vividly written, and a lot of care was taken to develop certain characters thoughtfully, particularly Amy and her anxiety. The author did a good job establishing the classic horror context of a babysitter unknowingly about to go through hell, but here is where I feel the setup over-promised and under-delivered.

While the story opens in the immediate bloody aftermath of an anonymous grisly death, it takes a very long time for this part of the story to finally pick up again towards the very end of the book. There is some tension with the introduction of other characters who, for various reasons, shouldn't be there, but none of this truly creates a sense of growing danger or steadily building dread. One is more of an annoyance than a threat to the main character, and the other is easily and quickly resolved. Long stretches of the book go by where not much happens, and I found myself impatient for hints, at least, of the carnage that surely must lie just ahead. By the time the actual danger finally appears it is in the last few chapters, and I feel the tension could have been more effectively ramped up with better pacing and raising of stakes, which would have made for a more satisfying resolution, where this one felt not quite but almost anticlimactic. Also when it finally came, I just couldn't find it believable somehow. Some carefully chosen (but easily overlooked) breadcrumbs, and clever red herrings, might have made this reveal more plausible, and shocking in a thrilling way as opposed to the completely-out-of-left-field way found here.

The character work, in my opinion, was skillful in some ways but inconsistent overall. I liked Amy, and the descriptions of her anxiety felt extremely realistic and relatable. I liked that the family she was babysitting for was Jewish, and the way protective mezuzahs (on their door and worn by a character) were woven into the story. I liked the depictions of the relationships between the "cool" mom and her kids, and between Amy and her nerdy, soft-boy sweetheart. The children, Mira and Ben, are quiet and seem to have been through some trauma. Mira is a moody 12 year old who seems (fairly plausibly) mature for her age. Ben is only 6, but vacillates between behaving like a first grader and behaving more like a middle schooler. (It doesn't seem realistic that at the start of first grade, a 6 year old would advise another 6 year old that he needs to be "more sociable", or care at all about popularity. They'd probably just play TMNT and be generally socially oblivious. At that age social groups are still very malleable and simple - who is fun to play with, who was nice to me today, who happens to be nearby and playing a game I also want to play - and not the fraught, self-conscious minefield that comes with approaching adolescence.) And, as I mentioned previously, another character's behaviour is completely inexplicable given what is shown up until that point.

Some other plot points don't quite add up. A character screams long and loud enough to almost knock another character backwards off her feet, but nobody else hears it - not the neighbours, and not someone we find out was right outside. When the first invasion (or subsequent invasions) of space occurs, the very responsible babysitter doesn't think it's necessary to alert an adult at any time, and for unlikely reasons - not the mother of the kids (because she deserves an uninterrupted date night at all costs), not her own parents (because she doesn't want them to think she's immature), not the police (they'd just call the mom and make her end her date early). I mean, I get that teenagers don't have fully developed prefrontal cortexes and sometimes make decisions using weird calculus, but at the first sign that things were getting upsetting for her and the kids, it seems uncharacteristic that Amy wouldn't at least use the number the mom left on the fridge (in case anything happens). Obviously babysitter home invasion stories need the babysitter to be cut off from help, but we don't usually see them repeatedly deciding not to reach out when they have the means and the opportunity, especially after unequivocally serious things have happened, even if no one is hurt.

Anyway. I did enjoy the book overall, and I found it highly readable, but ineffective pacing and implausible twists kept it from being a 5 star read for me. It's a good debut, however, and I would like to read more from this author.

I'm thankful to the author, the publisher, and to Netgalley for providing me with a free advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book is a great love letter to 90’s domestic thrillers & and bit of 80’s horror too. It really lets you get to know the main three characters, Amy the babysitter & Mira & Ben, her charges. You see their different viewpoints at various times before all hell breaks loose. There’s also a nice twist ending! MIt’s direct & to the point, deals really well with fear & anxiety & standing up for yourself. I really enjoyed it.

Think The Strangers meets When a Stranger Calls, meets The Stepfather, when reading this book.