Review: The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. This is a very fun, middle grade, fantasy read that follows main character Prosperity Oceanus Redding, quite a name I know. Prosper comes from a very affluent New England family, but it turns out the Redding's family fortune is due to a demonic contract their ancestor Honor Redding made long ago with a fiend we come to know as Alastor. The Redding clan isn't sure if Prosper or his twin Prue is possessed by the fiend who has been dormant for some time, but Alastor makes his presence known and Prosper finds himself in the middle of an age old curse surrounded by witches and other nasty creatures he never knew existed.

Alastor has reawaken an is focused two things, 1. Destroying the Redding Family and 2. Escaping Prosper's body so he can regain his power and return "downstairs" to the fiend realm and take his rightful place as ruler. To do so he has to convince Prosper to make yet another contract, and allow Alastor to destroy the Redding's and all of the success they've had since Honor Redding made and broke the original contract made with Alastor. Prosper is a hard kid to convince, but with Alastor gaining control over his body and controlling him like a puppet antics ensue and poor Prosper wants nothing but to protect his family, even if they aren't very nice. Prosper has to figure out who to trust, all while Al is whispering in his ear and zapping his strength. There are quite a few plot twists and kept me guessing. I can't wait to see what happens next.

I loved the setting of the book, it is set mainly in Salem and a nearby town that is named after the Reddings. I've been to Salem and I've always been interested in the lore and history of the area. Bracken did a great job capturing the feel of the area and the tourist traps that the natives to Salem have to deal with come Halloween and probably the rest of the year.

I'll definitely be purchasing a copy for my son to read, I think he'll really love this.  As a mom of an avid reader, I've taken to screening books I think he will like because you just never know these days.  He reads well above his grade level, so I'm always trying to find stuff that is age appropriate that I think he will like. I read a lot of young Adult Books, and there have been plenty of them that should have been New Adult because of the explicit content.  I don't tend to read middle grade because, well most of it is pretty juvenile for my tastes, but this was great.  The pace was perfect, and the content was interesting and I just really like the characters.