This book follows a group of friends who are basically fighting for their lives in a battle that seems impossible to win. Only one will fall prey, and I didn’t see it coming. This was a creepy, tension-inducing read with a splash of gore and character building so skillfully laid out it’s easy to love and hate the characters throughout. Enjoyable read!

i wanted to like this a lot more than i did. i love halloween and i enjoyed the characters. but the plot felt rushed and it left me wishing for more. it might be a personal problem as i am desensitized to the horror genre, so there might be a creepiness factor for others who choose to read this!

i was confused by the constantly switching povs and i was left disappointed by the predictable ending. if i read a book about kids being forced to kill each other for a demon’s entertainment, then i want it to ruin me, but this just felt “okay”. the first half was great and it kept me engrossed, but i feel like the second half, which should have been fun due to the appearance of said demon, felt like a slog to get through.

thank you to netgalley and wicked house publishing for giving me an earc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The book was eery with a good amount of suspense. It wasn't terrifying but just the right amount to engage the reader.

** 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 **

Every night on Halloween three children are chosen. Two will survive. One must go.

"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘮'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦; 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮"

I think that about sums up how I felt about Sam. Immediately hated him. By the time I got about 25% of the way through this book, I was ready for that little prick to be dragged to the pits of hell where he belonged. I actually found it hard to continue on with the story for the first 50ish% because of just how much I hated Sam and hated having to read from his POV. (but also kudos to Alex Reid for being able to make me feel that much emotion towards a character.)

Benjamin on the other hand was my sweet little angel who I just wanted to go through the page and hug and get him away from his "best friend". I also really enjoyed the character development that Benjamin went through. However, because Benjamin's character felt so developed, it made the other characters feel a little underdeveloped especially Maggie. It felt like Sam and Benjamin were the main characters and Maggie was just thrown in to add a little spice.

For all the doubts I had during the first half of this book, the second half came in and chopped them all to pieces. I loved the second half! It gave everything I was hoping to get from this story. The suspense, the tension, the anticipation of what was going to happen next and who was going to make it through the night, I ate it up. ** I do want to point out though that there is a somewhat graphic animal death that is not listed as a warning in the beginning of the book so if you tend to be sensitive with that kind of content, beware **

I do wish we would have gotten to delve a little more into the history behind the ritual and what/who exactly Fomori was. The ending was a little vague with the explanation of "why" the children are chosen, which I could see a lot of people disliking. It did remind me of the scene in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 though when the wife asks "why are you doing this to us" and the woman responds "because you were home", so I actually kind of liked the vague and rather unexciting explanation being the ending.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and the second half was definitely a lot of fun! If you're looking for a fast-paced horror that gives the creepy and the gory, I would recommend you check this one out, especially if you're looking for a good Halloween read.

This was an extremely well written story. It catches you from the first sentence and doesn't let go till the very last. I was truly on the edge of my seat in parts. I loved this little book. Can't wait to read more by him.

One thing is for sure, this is going to be a great read for Halloween if you are looking for one.

Every Halloween three children are selected to make an impossible decision. One of them will be sacrificed. But that is not all. They get to choose who will be the sacrificed one.

The lives of three children will change this year. Selected by a mysterious man, they are asked to offer one of their lives before sunrise.

A fast paced entertaining story that takes place during one Halloween night as we follow the three kids trying to make an impossible decision when running is not an option.

The children are all complex characters and have their own backstories, strengths and weaknesses that will all contribute to the final outcome.

A lot of things happened in the book and the action kept the story moving forward adding up to the tension leading up to the final battle. The horror came more from fear and the unknown but it had a good amount of blood and guts to satisfy horror fans.

This is definitely a great read for people that love some gore and fun during Halloween season.

I enjoyed it for the most part but the time I spent figuring out the different POVs and a few unanswered, or unsatisfactory, questions were a bit frustrating to me. Overall a fun, quick, and creepy read that would be good as a Halloween read. Would have loved for the characters to be fleshed out a bit more, but the creepy parts were excellent and once I started I couldn't stop until I finished it!

I have to admit I'm a bit torn with this one and admittedly, this may be a book that just isn't for me. I fell in love with the concept very quickly, and it is very well written. The characters are, for the most part, written as someone who feels alive and someone you find yourself cheering for.

The ending though. Endings are the hardest part because you have to tie up all loose threads and for me, this just didn't deliver. On the plus side, there isn't a cliffhanger. Certain scenes, while they informed about a character, seemed out of place and slowed down the narrative.

I would still recommend fans of horror check this one out, if for the concept alone. It's clever and one I would love to see tackled again.

Halloween is supposed to be a fun time. One problem with all the fun is the urban legend of ‘one must go’. Three children are chosen to play the game. One of them is to be sacrificed to save the others. The group for this years fun are three kids that have some insecurities going on in their life. As the night progresses, the reader is following the children as the time gets closer to one of their end. This book was written in a way that it was difficult trying to figure out who would be the one to go. The scenes of survival were pretty gory and I could not help but be glad I was reading this book and not in the story.

This book has a strong opening and the writing is incredibly strong, but I think it lacked depth. The plot follows a group of 3 middle schoolers who encounter a dark child consuming entity, Fomori. They quickly learn that one of them will be sacrificed to him before the end of Halloween night. The trio must choose who survives and who dies.



SPOILERS included in this next session. Ft more in-depth opinions:
Personally I found the switching POVs every few paragraphs within the chapter very confusing. Despite this it maintained such sophisticated and thought provoking writing for a young audience. The whole Maggie not saving her friend Devin falling from the tree scene was devastating. And Maggies crash in the police car was graphic. I enjoyed the themes included here like the cycle of toxic behavior (Bens grandpa ‘disciplining’ him), and the normalization of cutting off toxic friendship to preserve your own safety. Some pretty complex and important ideas for a young audience. What lacked for me was the plot and character development. The story takes place solely on one night and feels thin. It relies heavily on flashbacks and memory to fill the space. Theres a lot of just running around and chasing Benjamin. We meet Fomori so randomly and I wish he was fleshed out more. Him and his dead children army felt a bit cartoonish. Sam is pretty heavy handedly depicted to be a sociopath and predictably meets his fate by the end. The final battle feels unnecessarily drawn out. And the story ends on a weird note answering the question we’ve all been wondering about: why these 3 kids? And the answer: “for a good show” HUH??

The visuals the writing brings is amazing. The only problem I have is on page 9. It says hr instead of her at the end and her is said quite a bit in this book. Otherwise it's amazing. The way this author uses words is lyrical.

Every year 3 are chosen by a supernatural being to select a sacrifice to join his ranks of the undead. The three children must choose which of them will be the victim, with no outside help. Three are chosen, one must go.

One Must Go is the debut novel by Alex Reid…but don’t for a second think that this reads like a debut. It is a quick read because the story and pace draws you in so much. The prologue alone sets the scene perfectly with a lot of atmosphere and tension.
The story moves between different perspectives with POVs from adults and children of all ages alike. Every perspective is distinct and matches the personality and age of the character, but they are blended seamlessly so you barely register it. The book reads like a movie because of the pacing and seamless narrative, and everything is described perfectly to help your imagination go into overdrive. Think an episode of Creepshow in book form!

Don’t miss out on this book, I absolutely loved it. Creepy Halloween vibes, some moments of gore, complex characters and great narrative flow: I was so impressed with all of it!

Thank you to NetGalley! 5 Stars!

Alex Reid’s debut novel sucks… it sucks you right in, wraps its bony, decaying, thin-skinned hand around your throat and does not let you go until it’s done with you.

This is a fast-paced horror novel with serious creep factor, some gore, and phenomenal character development.

This author has landed a permanent spot on my must read list.

***** I have received and read an advanced reader 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 a good horror book, and this one did a pretty good job.

It's a fast and easy read, but it seems to fall a little too childish at times and little to adult at times. I would put this more towards older children than YA, but to each their own.

It moves along really fast, but I think the author missed out on some opportunities to slow down and really build up the tension.

I think another editing pass would have really made this book shine, but it's one I would give another chance in the future.

One Must Go by Alex Reid
✨Horror✨
_____________
Netgalley Arc Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date: 19 January 2024

Every year a drunken god picks three middle school children to participate in his ritual. Two may live if they pick one to sacrifice.

Sam is an angry child, Benjamin follows Sam out of fear, Maggie who will do anything to make her parents proud. Whether it’s through bargaining or bloodshed one must go.

This is a very short halloween horror book that takes place is the span of one night. and A LOt happens. Sam at the beginning seems like a troubled kid but when he’s got nothing to lose he becomes a literal psychopath. You had to feel sorry for Ben through the whole book constantly being bullied by Sam, you just wanna wrap him up in a big hug.
Overall i quite enjoyed the story, it had a way of pulling at the heart strings at times.

Alex Reid's book has a lot to recommend it (cool imagery, plenty of horrific moments, generally fast-paced), but it had one rather off-putting (for me) feature which made me have second thoughts about picking it up: the writing made me constantly wonder if it's a novel for young adults rather than grown-ups. It's not clear if this is meant to be a horror novel for adults used to read about animals and children suffering, or meant for younger readers, who can stomach some rather heavy-handedly written scenes of goriness and torment. The same goes, as far as I'm concerned, for the villain of the piece, the godlike entity who's responsible for the bloody ritual. Sometimes it sounded like a comic book villain, other times like a fairy tale monster. In short, I appreciated the many twists and turns of the story, but the simplistic writing style and the flat dialogue were just not for me.

This was so much fun! A must for every lover of spooky kids and Halloween. I really appreciated how different the three main children were and the odd friendship between Sam and Ben was intriguing in its reality. Very believable characters made for an extremely disturbing read ..in all the right ways. This needs to be on every October TBR list out there!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title free of charge. I'm leaving an honest review voluntarily.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers of this book for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, this book was a DNF for me. I pushed through to chapter 9 which is almost the half way point and the introduction of the god was where I broke and just cant hang with a character that sounds like it was written by a child. I understand this book is meant to be YA and that this god from the underworld collects children but I would expect him to be more "god" like and not described so childishly. None of the 3 characters are believable or likeable for that matter and the writting style is just not for me. I dont like when the plot points get told by dialog between characters in order to get the plot across. To me it comes across lazy and like the author does not have faith in their audience to put the plot together themselves based on the events in the book. This just isnt for me. I do apologize for it not being for me. I am sure there is plenty of audience out there for a book like this. The idea of the story is a good one, just not executed in a way that "hits" for me.

This fast-paced, bloody horror story opens with children Sam, Benjamin, and Maggie. The three set out trick-or-treating Halloween night and meet up when Sam is beating up his buddy Benjamin. Sam is a troubled child. From the early age of 3, his mother finds he's not your normal sweet child after a horrific incident at the pet store. Sam and Benjamin have been friends for years, but Sam has actually resented Benjamin for being everything in a son he never felt he could be. Benjamin is a very self-conscious boy, easily persuaded and often times very lonely.
These two characters feed off the others' trauma, finding a common bond but always rocking back and forth in conflict. Benjamin becomes the punching bag, Sam, his daily companion. Maggie is a well-known baseball player who gets a lot of attention and every so often just needs an escape, somewhere people don't know her. After running into Sam beating on Benjamin, she decides to stick around following them through town. She takes to Benjamin and sees he needs some watching over. They head into the cemetery where they are faced with a creepy character, Fomorti. This encounter changes everything for these kids, as they find themselves running for their lives; being hunted and hunters; who will be the one to go down! Creepy, violent, bloody, and thrilling. It's very entertaining. I kept rooting for Maggie and Ben right to the last page. It starts off light and creepy, but be warned, it gets violent and graphic towards the ending.

Thank you, Netgalley and Wicked House Publishing, for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

***Disclaimer: I was provided an electronic copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.***

Every year three middle school children are chosen for a Halloween ritual—only two can make it out alive. The fact that the children have to decide who lives and who dies is horrific and got me very excited to read this book.

I was very interested in Benjamin and Sam’s friendship. Though friendship may not be the correct term… frenemies? friends of convenience? There was a scene early on where Sam runs into an older boy they know and ignores Benjamin and denies their friendship to seem ‘cool’. Then, later on when they’re alone, Sam calls Benjamin his friend. This whole dynamic felt quite real to me—I remember being both Benjamin and Sam in this situation when I was a young child—and it helped flesh out these characters and their relationship with one another. I enjoyed learning about Maggie, the third of the chosen trio. She’s a lonely kid and has lied to her parents about her Halloween plans. She has no tie to Sam or Benjamin prior to the start of the book and doesn’t actually meet them until about one-third of the way in when she rescues Benjamin from [redacted] when they’re all out trick-or-treating.

What’s especially interesting about the characters is they all have a dark side which is what attracts Fomori, the creature whose ritual they’re about to star in. I won’t say what they are because they are potentially spoilers. What I will say is that some characters are darker than others and Fomori, in my opinion, is not the scariest character in the book. Also, because I find etymology fun, the name Fomori stems from Irish folklore and seems to allude to beings from the ‘nether’ or underworld. I just thought that was neat. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomorians)

There were times when there was a bit too much exposition. For example, in the prologue, the author lingers too long on the futures of two characters, Nathan and Justin, who are used to set up the story and the world. I can understand why the author included this as it does hint at the effects of untreated childhood trauma and the unhealthy coping mechanisms that survivors lean on, such as alcoholism. However, we were only with Nathan and Justin for a few pages and then we never saw them again, so it didn’t feel as impactful. There are times throughout the book where these glimpses of the future are used well and add the ominous nature of the story, such as at the beginning of Chapter 5 where the author writes:

“Three children sat in their rooms this particular autumn night. They stared at the same moon while its light whispered to each of them a different secret. None of them knew that the moon would be absent from the sky the following night and that for one of them, this would be their last time in their bed.”

The story is about middle schoolers and I think this is definitely a great book for middle grade and young adult fiction readers who love a spooky Halloween tale. The voice of the book steers young for the most part and, while it deals with themes of violence and death, the themes aren’t too mature that the book’s inaccessible to a younger audience. As with a lot of genre fiction, the pace picks up toward the middle of the story. While this would usually be a critique for a larger book, I enjoyed this in a shorter story as the first half of the book was very character driven while the second half was more action/plot driven (while also keeping the characterisation there).

One Must Go by Alex Reid will be published on 19 January 2024.