Truth or Dare (You're Invited to a Creepover)

Truth or Dare (You're Invited to a Creepover) by P.J. Night
Paperback, 242 pages

Expected publication: April 5th 2012 by Atom

(First published June 7th 2011)

My shelves: arc-or-review, books-i-own, childrens, currently-reading, ghosts, read-in-2012, young-adult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

During a round of Truth or Dare, Abby Miller confesses her crush on Jake Chilson. The only people who know her secret are her friends at the sleepover - and whoever sent her a text message in the middle of the night warning her to stay away from Jake...or else! But Abby isn't going to stay away from Jake, especially not after he asks her to the school dance. As the night of the dance comes closer, some very creepy things start happening to Abby. Someone definitely wants to keep her away from Jake. Is it a jealous classmate or, as Abby begins to suspect, could it be a ghost?

My thanks go to Atom for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

If I was younger, I would have absolutely loved this book. Even though I'm not in the target age range for this books (probably 8-12 year olds), this was a guilty pleasure for me! This was a simple story with a hint of creepiness that would be fantastic for children, young teens or any reluctant readers.

When I was younger, I really enjoyed reading books such as The Sleepover Club and Goosebumps, and if the Creepover series was available then, it would've been a sure hit with me! Truth or Dare certainly reminded me of both of those fantastic series of my childhood. It felt like I was reading a combination of those books, but modernised. It had just the right amount of scariness - it wasn't horrifying, but there were small scares throughout which is enough to make you feel uneasy. There was also a realistic and fun friendship between the girls at the sleepover. The book is simple and easy to follow with a few mysteries to leave you wondering throughout. I read this book in a single sitting as it was so absorbing and well paced. It was certainly a page turner! I was eager to see what would happen with the ghost that our protagonist was seeing and I definitely didn't expect the ending - I'm glad that it wasn't predictable.

I think that this book would be an ideal starting point for any reluctant readers, children or otherwise. There is enough substance without anything becoming too complex and the writing style is simple but effective. I thought that the activities left for the reader to do after the story had finished were fantastic. I don't usually comment on additional content, but I thought that the invitation to write your own story was a wonderful idea and gave me yet another reason to  urge younger readers to pick up this book.

I didn't expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, simply because it's children's fiction, but it was actually a really enjoyable quick read. I enjoyed the paranormal aspect of it and it also reminded me a bit of Pretty Little Liars. This is definitely something I'd recommend to both reluctant and younger readers. If you're a parent or guardian, I'd certainly urge you to give this book to your child!