This is a cozy middle grade read great for kids who love Halloween but don't want to be scared. The cast of characters is full of vampires, witches, and scarecrows and they live in something akin to the Disney Channel's Halloween Town.

For the length of the book, I felt that it was a little more juvenile than I expected, but it had some nice messages about found family, strong friendships, and inclusion. The mystery aspect was well done with a good degree of complexity and red herrings.

The Pumpkin Princess and The Forever Night is a cute middle grade fantasy that is perfect for autumn and Halloween. Our main character, Eve, is instantly likeable and I found myself rooting for her the whole time. I did find the pacing to be a bit off and the story dragged a bit sometimes. Overall, I think this would be a perfect read as a non-scary spooky middle grade book!

Thank you to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for my copy of this!

This book was charming to read. It is perfect for middle grade students who are dabbling into the creepy/whimsy reads of spooky sort.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley to read and review.

I really wanted to love this one, but I struggled with it. I found it really slow and I didn’t feel like anything was happening. The forever night part of the title wasn’t even introduced until 60% into the story.
I wasn’t a big fan of Eve, the main character. I found her rude and unlikeable, and I didn’t think she had any character growth. I wish that her nightmares had been explored more. I also wasn’t a big fan of her friend Lyla.
The Pumpkin King was an interesting character, but his way of talking (“hrmph”) got old really fast. I liked how he reassured Eve that she was his daughter and that she was wanted.
The town of Hallowell was really cool, and I liked the mix of different supernatural creatures living in harmony together. The different magics that we saw were fascinating, and I did like the overall vibes of the story, I just wish that it had been more exciting.

THE PUMPKIN PRINCESS AND THE FOREVER NIGHT was just as cute and spooky as the cover promised it to be. It reminded me a lot of a mix between Scoobys GOBLIN KING and 90s Disney Halloween.

Eve is an expert at running away from the orphanage, but so far she's also an expert at getting caught. This Halloween things will be different. As Eve makes her escapes she runs into an unexpected accomplice - the Pumpkin King! He offers Eve a safe haven - or is it?
This Halloween romp is a fun and joyous read for middle grade!

Sometimes it is really hard to do read aloud with my daughter, but this time it wasn’t at all! I loved this book, and so did she! It was sweet, magical, and just spooky enough!

As a lover of Harvest Moon and other farming games coupled with the found family and Halloween vibes, this was the perfect read for me. Such a heartwarming story in which Eve is trying to escape her orphanage and runs straight into the Pumpkin King. She isn't scared of the creature with a pumpkin for a head which is how she becomes his adopted daughter in a Halloweentown sort of place. She slowly settles in and makes friends with a very blunt witch and a skittish and inventive vampire. But most of the town is wary of this human when they are all supernatural beings so much so that there is a coup to get her out of the town and remove the Pumpkin King from the council. Although, I didn't feel the suspense within the story as this is more of a slow-paced read with lots of warm, cozy vibes.

One of the sweetest father-daughter relationships I've read in a while. I loved how kind and accepting the Pumpkin King was to his daughter. He would spoil her with an overabundance of blankets and books and would tell anyone off if they said anything rude about her. He even joined in her tradition of Christmas and made her feel special. I also enjoyed Eve learning all about the farm and how certain vegetables needed to be treated before they were planted or removed. I think it added to the quiet and cozy atmosphere of the story. The scarecrows were wonderful too especially Scrags who acted sort of like a mother at times. And then there were her new friends Lyla and Vlad. Lyla was so blunt and I loved that about her. She helped out at the local bookstore begrudgingly and so did Eve although she loved it (I loved all the different types and titles in the bookstore). Vlad has a tough home life and just wants to cook a good meal and work on his inventions. He's sweet but I really want more of him and Lyla's perspectives in the next book.

All in all, this was such a wonderful cozy, and touching read. If you are looking for a slow-paced sweet read this fall look no further than The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night in exchange for an honest review.

*3.5 stars rounded up*

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This book follows an orphan who gets adopted by a giant pumpkin king. He takes her to a new world that has a bunch of different creatures and everything happens during the night instead of the day. Eve is able to find her family amongst these different creatures and beings.

I thought this was a cute book. It had a nice found family feeling to it. I liked all of the different creatures throughout this book. It had Halloweentown and Nightmare Before Christmas vibes.

My biggest complaint is that I just felt like the story was a bit slow and I got bored throughout. I think this would be a nice read for middle grade readers since it has that halloween vibe but isn't too scary.

This was an absolutely adorable, perfect for the fall middle grade novel. It was really cozy and sweet. The setting reminded of Halloweentown - in a good way. It's aimed at young readers and I would've loved it when I was one of them, but the story and vibes are great for readers of all ages.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

This makes such a fantastic autumn read! It has spooky and whimsy and is just so much fun! Though it is written for middle grade, I think that many older teens and adults will enjoy it as well. It has everything that you could want, familiar spooky creatures with new world building with friendship and family themes and individual development and overcoming fears. I look forward to reading more by Steven Banbury.

The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night is the ultimate cosy, spooky and magical adventure middle grade story for Halloween. Eve has run away from the orphanage again but this time for good. She runs into the Pumpkin King in the forest and he offers her something she just can’t quite resist, a ticket to a place far away from here and that’s where our story truly begins, the spooky town of Hallowell. I truly adored this story so very much! Banbury crafted such a magnificent tale of friendship, magic, facing our fears, and that family looks different for everyone. It was so sweet to read about the Pumpkin King navigating fatherhood as Eve, too, navigated her first experience with having a family. Lyla, Vlad, and Eve were truly a mischevious bunch and all their character arcs were so well done. Truly, every side segment was so well weaved into uncovering the mysterious happenings bubbling up in Hallowell as Eve and her newfound family try to uncover what’s afoot. I can’t sing the praises of the story enough! Highly recommend for classrooms and home bookshelves alike💗

Oh, this was lovely. I know others have made this comparison, but if you like the movie Halloweentown you will love this. I loved exploring the world of Hallowell and seeing the growth between Eve and her new friends and her adoptive father, the Pumpkin King, just filled me with so much warmth. I loved that we saw Eve make some mistakes and deal with the consequences of them, and also genuinely feel bad about them as well! That's so real! Just, absolutely lovely.

I really liked this. It's a fun, spooky halloween story that is great for older kids to read alone or for mom and dad to read with littler ones. It's charming, spooky, seasonal and so good! I loved watching Eve find a family and friends.

I am also posting this review rather late and so I can say first hand: we sold out in the first week. It's an easy sell to parents of kids who love halloween!

This debut novel hit it out of the park! This was such a cute, adventurous, cozy and fun middle grade novel! This is a cross between Nightmare Before Christmas and Halloweentown and brings all the feels! If you love found family, friendships, adventure, mystery and all things spooky run to pick this one up! New all time favorite!

Publishing 9/3/24

Thank you so much to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

if you liked halloweentown and/or nightmare before christmas, this cozy little fall read is going to be your jam.

this is the story of eve, an orphan, who after running away from a harrowing, lonely existence at an orphanage, is brought home by the pumpkin king. he instantly adopts eve, giving her the first taste of a family that she had been missing, but not everyone is happy about the living coming to stay at hallowell valley.

hallowell valley is home to vamps, werewolves, witches, and even a banshee or two. the world is atmospheric and cozy and managed to perfectly balance a place between crisp autumn breezes and the smell of apples in the air with an insidious plot to overthrow the pumpkin king, therefore risking eve losing the only family that's ever loved her.

i think this book also did a pretty solid job of letting eve be a kid and make mistakes, while giving plenty of avenues for future sequels to flourish (werewolf dynamics, hellooooo).

ultimately, this was a very cute story about finding your place, how family can be found, and things that go bump in the night. highly recommend!

This was a cute little Halloween book! I really enjoyed the atmosphere of it. I will definitely be recommending this as much as I can!

I did catch myself multiple times starting to skim because I lost interest at some parties. But overall a great read!

This book was absolutely charming!! It was a little of Nightmare Before Christmas and any multitude of sad orphans findings new families and I adored every minute of it.

Eve (though she does not get called this at first) is determined to make her escape from the orphanage she was placed at after the death of her parents. She is not sure where she is going to go or what to do when she gets there but she has to get away. Just as she thinks she will be caught for the umpteenth time, she is surprised by a tall talking Jack-O-Lantern who is amused by her lack of fear. He adopts her and takes her back to Hallowell, where he is the Pumpkin King, and she becomes his pumpkin princess.

Hallowell reminds me of Halloweentown from NBC but this author did a lot to make it his own and I appreciated the finer details, especially the bookstore. Watching this little family find its way together, with TPK learning to be a "dad" and Eve learning what it's like to have friends and someone who wants her made my heart squeeze.

This book is not at all scary other than some of the residents of Hallowell might frighten younger readers. By the end I wanted very much to visit this place and meet these lovely characters. I hope perhaps the author may make this the beginning of a series, as I think many more adventures could be had with Eve and her friends in Hallowell.

This is definitely going to be a repeat read.

My thanks to Little Brown Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for this advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

If you loved The Nightmare Before Christmas, you will love this one! We have an almost creepy Halloween village, the Pumpkin King, and a secretly nefarious character that is causing problems. I loved the character of Eve and the way The Pumpkin King accepted her just as she was. She was strong and smart, but still needed help from others and sometimes made mistakes. Her best friends are a vampire and a witch. This is kind of Halloween story that feels cozy and homey. I adored this book.

A cute and clever Fall read that is fun for all ages.

I loved this charming middle reader novel, and my kids enjoyed it as well. This feels a bit like a spin on The Nightmare Before Christmas, but at its roots it’s a story about found family and that happiness and belonging sometimes look different than you imagine they will.

I liked the world building here, though I would have loved a more developed sense of place and a bit more Halloweenish frippery. Still, it’s a solidly imagined setting, and I loved the idea of what might happen when you’re the only one in town who is actually a living being.

I think this is just spooky enough to satisfy adult readers and older kids, but not too scary for a younger audience. And I loved that this was a sweet story that never tips over into the saccharine and over sentimental.