This was definitely a unique book - it had the Jumanji feels but mixed with the Japanese folklore and the horror element it was just eerie, dark and a good time. I enjoyed certain POVs more than others and there were several twists and sometimes big logic leaps. I had to rewind the audio a couple times because I hadn't quite followed what happened, I suspect I got lost sometimes because the narrator didn't have the most distinct voices for each of the characters. The narrator did give it a good go at bringing the story to life either way and overall, I enjoyed the narration and the audiobook. It made for a fun and creepy story.

Rating: 3.5 stars/5

CW: Violence, gore, body horror, child death.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

"Find Him Where You Left Him Dead" reminded me of other fast-paced, high-stakes game novels that I have enjoyed. The description "Jumanji but Japanese-inspired" was intriguing enough to request this title. I was not particularly fond of the narrator, but I did purchase an e-audiobook copy of this title for my library patrons. I have recommended the title several times this month (October) and know others will find it enjoyable too.

I cannot tell where this book is going. What I do know is four years ago friends got together and one friend didn’t come back. Is this friend dead are they in a hell dimension we don’t quite know. Four years later, the ex-friends all gather together even though they’re not supposed to have anything to do with each other to go to this house. They are all told to finish playing the game. They’re not sure if they understand what game is but think it has to do with a deck of cards that tell stories and they don’t have the entire deck. There is some Asian inspired mythology that part of this that is not very well laid out. And is having the story dragon makes me not want to finish. This isn’t official DNF.

A game that went deadly wrong left a group of friends traumatized in their own ways. They decide they can't take being haunted in their own ways any longer and go to finish the game they started. Japanese underworlds, seven stones, seven challenges, and having the combination of Japanese folklore and gaming aspect made this a unique read. There were definitely some great twists and turns and the ending leaves you satisfied.

I was in the mood for creepy and the beginning of this book delivered! After that excellent creepy start, however, I found the characters to be stereotypes and a bit unlikeable. I wanted to like them, but they were all so mean to each other.

I think this book would have been better served to be written in the first person. Switching perspectives with so many characters whose voices aren't differentiated that much makes it hard to remember where it's coming from. I struggled to figure out who was talking or thinking all the time.

Four years ago, five friends began to play a game and one of them ended up dead. But now, when they’re about to graduate high school, the friends find themselves reunited by a message from their friend’s ghost – a demand to bring him home. They return to the place they began the game, restart it, and find themselves facing challenges in a Japanese underworld. They know they must win if they hope to survive.

This book was fine in many aspects but didn’t really excel at anything. The characters were okay, but they were lacking in the development needed to make them feel unique and alive. I did like how inclusive the characters were, but as they weren’t written particularly well it didn’t matter much. There were some interesting aspects included, but many of the twists and reveals just didn’t work, either from under-explanation or a complete suspension of logic. I think a lot of this came down to the author’s writing, that they relied heavily on telling rather than showing.

Part of the issue with the characters is that there are four friends involved in the story, and the author chose to use all four POVs. This wasn’t a good decision, as the length of the book was not conducive to including enough details/personality to make all four POVs compelling. The number of POVs didn’t add much insight or a different lens to what was happening, which made it feel a bit redundant to have so many.

I wanted a bit more from the game aspect and felt like it wasn’t used well throughout the book. There were some real missed opportunities, though I did enjoy the game of Truth or Dare. There were also some gory moments throughout the book. If you’re squeamish, you may not enjoy this aspect, but I didn’t feel like it was too overly gruesome.

This was set up as the start of a series, but I won’t be continuing it. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Hauntingly eerie with lots of twists and turns--great narration and plotline! Kept me interested the whole way through!

This is a YA horror featuring Japanese folklore. You know the creepy is going to come out to play. A group of friends never recovered from a traumatic event during a game that lost them a close friend. Each haunted in different ways by the lose. When the hauntings bring them back together, they are forced to finish what they started. I highly enjoyed the narration for this novel. The challenges each teen faces, the well thought out themes, character growth and horror elements paired well. True rating 3.5/5.

This was my first book by Kristen Simmons and I was not disappointed. I saw someone said it was like Jumanji with Japanese folklore attached and I just could not get that out of my head. Because wtf? A book that has Jumanji in it? I was thinking the like elephants and stuff, but no, it was more like the game. (And please don’t judge me lmao I know that’s crazy)

Ok so first things first, I knew this book was going to be weird. That’s why I waited so long to read it. I wanted to read it closer to Halloween, but I just couldn’t stop myself from reading. And listen, I wasn’t as scared as I thought I’d be, but it did make me put it down for a little bit. I think to truly scare me I needed some more of an explanation on what they looked like. Like it was mostly a gloss over, but I think I needed some like explanation of the monsters. Not only of what they looked like, but also exactly what a Kuchisake-onna is and what is the significance in the Japanese culture. I mean obviously I looked it up after I finished it, but I wish I could have learned it from the book.

The plot of this was crazy. All the little trials they went thorough was so out there! And that ending made me almost throw my phone. Idk what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. And I’m usually good with picking up on twists like that. That just told me how much I was into that book. I also just wanted to scare myself so I was hanging on to everything that was said in this books. I wanted to be fully immersed. Especially since I was listening to the audio. But Idk whatever the reason I just wasn’t really paying attention. And I think that was better for me. It made it a surprise for me and of course I enjoyed this more because of it.

The characters were all off the wall tho. At the end when the big secret is told and that one person goes to visit that certain someone, does that mean that there’s going to be another book? Like I wasn’t sure if that meant she was going to try and make something happen afterward? If so, I’m here for it. Idk what else there would be to say, maybe the journey of what she finds out, but I’m here to see what it is.

This book was so much fun. I don’t want to talk too much about it because I don’t want to spoil anything. I’ll just say it was creepy, weird, and it will throw you for a loop. Everything that you could want in a monster or demon filled horror book. Definitely a great book to put me in the Halloween spirit!

I love all things mythology and folklore and there's always something so compelling about "stuck in a game" stories. I think this was a decent YA horror, but I did find some aspects to be pretty predictable, which is where this book lost some points with me. That being said, I thought it was so entertaining, so if you're looking for a thriller/horror to pass the time, I'd recommend checking this out!

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

This one took me a little while to get into but the ending was so good!!

Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by @Kris10writes - As usual, I enjoyed this. Kristen Simmons writes some great books. I always love books about Yokai, so I knew I had to read this one asap. The story was fun, the creepy bits were well written, and the twists were great. Is it bad that I'm hoping for a sequel somehow?

This was a fun YA Horror!
I enjoyed the challenges the main characters have to take on, and their delveloping friendships.
The ending was both satisfying and surprising!

Thank you, Netgalley!

I recieved a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

This novel sounded so interesting, creepy and just what I wanted to read for October! The novel started out with an awesome creep factor and hooked me in the beginning and then......just got so damn wordy and long and boring. For such a short novel this one felt like it dragged on forever and took me a really long time to finish it. Some parts would capture my attention and keep the horror factor and then other parts were awash with so many internal feelings/wants/desires that I just did not care about and did not seem to make the story move forward. Then BAM, action and crazy horror again then....back to the duldrums. The ending captured my attention again (was it because I was finally finishing it or the story....?) and had a bit of a wild ride for the last few pages and clearly ended with a cliffhanger. However, not enough to make me care or want to revisit this painfully dragged out world with a sequel.

***** I have received and read an advanced audiobook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for giving my honest feedback. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.*****

I love Jumanji, so the premise for this book instantly drew me in.

The book feels a bit slow and I had expected more action. There are moments where it feels like the author forced a little extra twist that didn't feel natural.

Overall, it's not a bad book, and it's interesting, but it could use some editing to really elevate an amazing concept.

"Kristen Simmons's masterful breakout horror novel that's "Jumanji but Japanese-inspired" (Kendare Blake) about estranged friends playing a deadly game in a nightmarish folkloric underworld."

Wow, this book was a fun, twisty ride. We follow a group of high school friends that enter the same cave that their friend went missing in four years earlier. As they return to the place where they lost Ian, they quickly find themselves facing dangerous challenges that they must overcome by day break. Told through each friend’s viewpoint we learn what happened when Ian went missing and why it broke their friendships. As they face each challenge they learn more about themselves and each other, coming together for a twisty end.
What sold me the most about this book was "Jumanji but Japanese-inspired" and I think that description is accurate, but with a side of horror.

The audiobook is well done.

Thank you to @netgalley @macmillan.audio and @tornightfire for the gifted copy of this book.

This book was amazing! I read it in one sitting (something that's rare for me) and kept me at the edge of my seat. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book!

Japanese inspired version of Jumanji is an oddly specific yet accurate description of this book. It was entertaining and deep. It had several twists that took me by surprise, while some did not. There are plenty of little bits at the end that leave it open for a sequel, which I would absolutely check out. I did like listening to this, because I know I would have been stumbling and questioning myself on the Japanese words in this. Overall, this was a perfect read for spooky season.

Four years ago, they played a game in a cave by the river, and one of them didn’t make it out. Now he appeared to all of them and told them they had to find him by morning or else. Back at the cave, they end up inside a Japanese game where the only way to get out is to finish playing. Each card represents a different challenge and after they finish one, they will be able to move on to the next. With one night to complete all the tasks, trying to decipher everything in a foreign language, and something chasing them through the game, this task seems daunting.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook, all thoughts are my own.

I received the audiobook of this story via NetGalley

This is a YA horror/ suspense story. Both of the narrators were pretty decent.

Overall I enjoyed the storyline. I thought the game aspect and all the Japanese mythology was pretty neat.

The characters were probably the worst part of this, they all kinda blend together.

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead

This turned out to be a true delight to listen to. At first, I had a bit of difficulty with the different character POV but once the story got rolling, it was easy. Each characters story arc was meaningful and unique enough that I could easily separate them.

Four years after Ian went missing in the caves, Emerson, Dax, Owen and Maddy are called back into the cave to finish the game they started. In true Jumanji style, the game is deadly and sinister.

It is a creepfest of paranormal horror that they were lucky to escape the first time.

I enjoyed the plot twists and Japanese folklore that was introduced. The narrators were a perfect cast and moved this story along effortlessly with the perfect amount of tension and horror.

My thanks to @MacMillan.Audio for this gifted ALC.