Plot:

Christopher is seven years old.
Christopher is the new kid in town.
Christopher has an imaginary friend.

We can swallow our fear or let our fear swallow us.

Single mother Kate Reese is on the run. Determined to improve life for her and her son, Christopher, she flees an abusive relationship in the middle of the night with her child. Together, they find themselves drawn to the tight-knit community of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It’s as far off the beaten track as they can get. Just one highway in, one highway out.

At first, it seems like the perfect place to finally settle down. Then Christopher vanishes. For six long days, no one can find him. Until Christopher emerges from the woods at the edge of town, unharmed but not unchanged. He returns with a voice in his head only he can hear, with a mission only he can complete: Build a treehouse in the woods by Christmas, or his mother and everyone in the town will never be the same again.

Review:

I did not realise this novel would be a thriller / horror type of novel considering how cute I found The Perks Of Being A Wallflower so I was not sure what to expect in this.

As you are reading this, you’re taken to a weird world where a young boy seems to hold a lot of power. After fleeing a state, Christopher and his mom Kate end up in a new area. Between his struggles wit words and money situation, he finds himself exploring the woods and is not found for six days which we do not know what has actually happened to him. The only thing we know is that the ‘nice man’ has helped to guide him home. But, the weird thing is that when he comes back home all his learning difficulties cease to exist.

Christopher begins to hear voices from a plastic bag to build a treehouse so he asks his friends to help. They end up digging a Skelton thanks to these voices he hears which I found to be very confusing and spooky. Throughout the novel every time he hears these voices he has headaches and seems to behave in a similar way as his dad and this David guy did before he was found buried alive in the woods.

More ridiculous events drives Christopher to the woods as the ‘nice man’ tells him to and warns him about the scary woman which is also known as the wind I think?

This novel I found to be very long. There are some descriptions that are not necessary in order to tell the story. I prefer Stephen’s other novel however this was also an interesting read.

2/5 Stars