Review: The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

Monday, September 4, 2017


The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken
The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding #1
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: September 5th, 2017
Rating: 4 Stars
Source: Gift
Format: Physical ARC
Pages: 362

Summary (from Goodreads):

"I would say it's a pleasure to meet thee, Prosperity Oceanus Redding, but truly, I only anticipate the delights of destroying thy happiness."

Prosper is the only unexceptional Redding in his old and storied family history — that is, until he discovers the demon living inside him. Turns out Prosper's great-great-great-great-great-something grandfather made — and then broke — a contract with a malefactor, a demon who exchanges fortune for eternal servitude. And, weirdly enough, four-thousand-year-old Alastor isn't exactly the forgiving type. 

The fiend has reawakened with one purpose — to destroy the family whose success he ensured and who then betrayed him. With only days to break the curse and banish Alastor back to the demon realm, Prosper is playing unwilling host to the fiend, who delights in tormenting him with nasty insults and constant attempts trick him into a contract. Yeah, Prosper will take his future without a side of eternal servitude, thanks.

Little does Prosper know, the malefactor's control over his body grows stronger with each passing night, and there's a lot Alastor isn't telling his dim-witted (but admittedly strong-willed) human host. 

From #1 New York Times best-selling author Alexandra Bracken comes a tale of betrayal and revenge, of old hurts passed down from generation to generation. Can you ever fully right a wrong, ever truly escape your history? Or will Prosper and Alastor be doomed to repeat it?

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding is a super fun Halloween themed book that you will want to pick up if you want to read a fun, kinda dark MG about a kid with a demon inside him.

Prosper Redding has always been kind of an outcast in both school and his family. He doesn't have any friends. He gets picked on and bullied by his peers. When he finds out that he is the host to a demon looking to take down his family, he is whisked out of his family's clutches to safety by a stranger who reveals himself to be his estranged Uncle Barnabas.

He has to spend two weeks hiding out with his uncle and his cousin, Nell. And listening to Alastor, the demon he is hosting, talk down to him and try to talk him into making a contract.

Prosper is so fun. He is strong-willed, artistic, seems kind of lonely. He's really sweet and does his best to help people and be kind.

Nell is kind of rough on Prosper in the beginning. Since he has the Redding name, she assumes that he's got everything going for him and is probably full of himself. She is a witch and uses her powers to help Prosper deal with his demon. I wasn't sure of Nell in the beginning because I thought she was gonna be mean for the whole book, but I really liked her.

Alastor was awesome. He was hilarious, especially seeing him try to adapt to the modern human world. When he first takes Prosper's body out for a spin while Prosper is fast asleep, his advertures were SO funny. 

The ending was a surprise to me! The plot twists were a real surprise for me! I guess I never really knew where I thought this book was going to go, but it didn't go in a way that I thought it was going to.

This is Alex's first MG book and it is so fun. There are only a couple mentions of the character's actual age/school grade so it is easy to forget that this isn't YA. The book mostly takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. There isn't any romance.

Overall, this was such a fun book. Not that I would have expected anything less of Alexandra Bracken, queen that she is. This is the perfect book to read for Halloween with its demons, haunted houses, witches, and catbat. Even if you really aren't into MG, I think you would like this book because it doesn't really give off MG vibes in my opinion. I would obviously HIGHLY recommend this book. I am SO excited for my hardcopies to come in!

Have you read The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding yet? What did you think?

2 comments:

  1. How can I never heard of this book before? I feel like this book will be such a fun halloween read and I'm glad I'm not wrong! Prosper and Alastor seem hilarious and have good dynamics. Thanks for sharing!

    Tasya // The Literary Huntress

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    1. It will be a PERFECT Halloween read, especially if you are not into actually scary things! Prosper and Alastor are amazing! If you check this book out, I hope you love it! I hope you do check it out because Alexandra Bracken is such an AMAZING author!

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