The Dream Mystery Solvers are on the Case!: Don't Call Them Cute is a spooky and captivating tale of betrayal and revenge

 

Don’t Call Them Cute

Banunu and Yennie Fer

Independently Published, 2025

Ebook, 225 ppg.

ISBN: 9798293365821

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NOTE: This review is based on an ARC I received from the authors. This book is scheduled for release in November.

 

 

***Thank you to authors Yennie Fer and Banunu for this digital Advanced Reader’s Copy! This review is voluntary, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.***

 

Weird dads! Weird dreams! Blueberry muffins!

 

No, it’s not the world turned upside down. It’s the middle grade horror novel Don’t Call Them Cute by Banunu and Yennie Fer. In this novel, a group of four kids who are trying to make sense of a lot of strange dreams that keep happening, and which seem to be connected to two people in the group.

 

Emile Carter begins to have weird dreams on the night she receives a stuffed lamb as a gift. Is the lamb cursed? A tool used by aliens?

 

Only her best friend, Mary, also 10 and a budding detective who devours mystery novels, would be able to crack the case. But Mary has dark secrets of her own, which could tear her world apart if her friends knew all about them.

 

Then there’s Logan, age 9 and the only boy in the group (who, according to Mary, is not really a boy) and the one who has a crush on Emile. But Logan remains in the friendzone, and he’s still happy to be included in the group all the same.

 

Then there is Lucy, the 12-year-old practical and prim member of the group who is actually (gasp!) normal. Lucy seems to be more mature than her friends, but probably because she is the oldest of the group.

 

Together, this group of best friends decide to form a mystery solving club to get to the bottom of Emile’s strange dreams. Because they seem different from most “normal” kids, they are often bullied, but they stand together to fight off anyone who tries to tear them down.

 

Emile is the daughter of the school principal, and while her dad often tries to remind her that she should get her act together because she has to set an example (for real??), Emile is more interested in getting her own phone. Her FIRST phone, to be exact.

 

But the weird dreams keep happening, and after Emile is hurt in one of them, she and her friends realize that this is serious business. More serious than getting a phone.

 

Together, the friends investigate this mystery to try and find out why these dreams are happening, and if the lamb stuffy is connected!

 

Children are often faced with horrible circumstances that are much bigger than them and too terrifying to understand, but with her friends at her side, Emile finds a way to make sense of the scary situation she is in and find a way to get out of it alive!

 

Don’t Call Them Cute is a heartwarming story of friendship, family, and what it takes to be brave. This story will offer teachable moments to young readers and open the lines for discussion with their parents. A story that could be enjoyed by readers young and old, it provides an entertaining mystery and a good dose of suspense that will keep readers hooked until the very end.

 

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

Disclaimer: Thank you to authors Yennie Fer and Banunu for this digital advanced reader’s copy! Reviews are totally voluntary. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Ghosts, Murder and Scandal!: Secrets of Lakeluster House is a chilling YA ghost story full of mystery and suspense

Secrets of Lakeluster House

Diane Scott Lewis with Jorja Parkinson

BWL Publishing, 2025

Ebook, 160 ppg.

ISBN: 9780228635598 (PDF)

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“Lakeluster was always said to be haunted.” And until 13-year-old Sage actually goes into the house to see it for herself, she hadn’t been so sure. Up until then, there were just rumors about the house being haunted. A house which her great-great grandmother once worked in so long ago and where there were stories filled with mystery and scandal surrounding it. So when Sage and her 14-year-old cousin, Patrick, and her 11-year-old brother, Nate, go inside the house to meet with the new owner, Miss Dora, she is the only one who does, in fact, see a ghost. A REAL ghost!

 

Secrets of Lakeluster House by Diane Scott Lewis is a young adult paranormal mystery novel of one young girl’s mission to uncover the secrets of a mysterious house and try to find out what really happened when her ancestor worked there.

 

If it hadn’t been for the ghost, Sage probably would not have had much of an interest in the house beyond wanting to know about what happened when her two-time great grandmother. But seeing the ghosts keeps tugging at Sage’s curiosity about the house, especially since there is a young ghostly girl living there who is intent on revealing to Sage all of the horrible things that happened there.

 

There is also the fact that she had a teacher who was investigating the house’s history and ended up dead under mysterious circumstances. Sage just has this burning desire to know the house’s secrets, no matter what kind of danger it might get her into.

 

Fortunately, she has her cousin and her brother along for protection. She seems to feel safer being in that house if one or both of them are with her, even though their occasional rudeness and daring annoys her. Still, she is a good sister/cousin to them both, often adopting a take-charge attitude to keep them out of trouble.

 

I was surprised that the butler, Huntley, tolerated her many visits to the house so well. She is smart enough to pretend she’s doing research, so she has at least this to go by when she starts suspecting something about Huntley.

 

Along with her fascination with Lakeluster House and finding out the truth about what really happened there when her great-great-grandmother worked there, Sage is also still trying to cope with the recent death of her history teacher, Mr. Saunders. The man was found hanging from a tree near the house, his body skinned. It’s a terrible tragedy for everyone and nobody knows why or how it happened. While she investigates Lakeluster, she also tries to get to the bottom of what really happened to her former teacher. She and her best friend sometimes talk about him, and both of them want to know why it happened, which is natural considering they were his students. After Sage learns that he was likely murdered, she wonders if his murder happened because he was investigating Lakeluster House.

 

I liked seeing the character, Sage, grow and develop in this story. Apparently, she hadn’t seen any ghosts her whole life and now she was seeing them. It frightens and mystifies her at the same time. Plus, at some point, she accepts that it is just a part of her life now: “All this craziness had become her normal.” (Page 85) She does feel some hesitation about revealing her new gift to others, and she understands that she has to be careful about who she tells it to, especially after she is indeed in danger the further she investigates the murders in and around Lakeluster House. But she learns to be brave and to persevere, admirable traits in a young character.

 

I also appreciated how the grown-ups in Sage’s life made sure she wasn’t getting too obsessed with ghosts and haunted houses and murders and such. Sage is 13 and should enjoy a happy summer like most 13-year-olds. Plus, the topic of death and murder, along with the horrifying ways such things happened, are mature topics that can frighten and traumatize a teenager. So her parents make sure that Sage takes time away from her visits to the house and a break from her investigations to hang out with her BFF, visit historical sites and have fun at the beach. All good summertime activities that kids, and teenagers, need to have in their lives. So many authors of young adult books say to keep adults and parents out of the stories but sometimes kids need to have that kind of guidance when going through a scary experience. But it’s not like the grown-ups are all over the story – aside from the GHOSTLY grown-ups! There’s a good balance of Sage or Sage and company (the “motley crew,” like Huntley calls them – LOL) and Sage with grown-ups.

 

Sage has trouble adjusting to her new gift of being able to communicate with and see ghosts, and she learns some hard truths about her experiences too. Along with this investigation, she struggles with uncertainty about her parents’ future together and the details of her teacher’s murder, and all of these elements in the story cause her to grow up and be more mature. A fitting situation for a girl about to go into high school and encounter all of the dramas and angst about her teen years. In some way, everything she goes through sort of prepares her for it all.

 

The Secrets of Lakeluster House is a chilling ghost story about a teen girl trying to come to terms with the mysteries of her past relative and put a stop to the enduring evil inside of a creepy manor. Filled with tension, mystery and frightening haunted moments, this novel is sure to be enjoyed by readers of any age who like to read ghost stories, as well as stories of a haunted house!

 

 

Five stars

 

 

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

 

Interview with the Dead: Let the Ghosts Sleep stirs up past sins and shocking family secrets

 

Let the Ghosts Sleep

Keller Agre

Undertaker Books, 2025

ISBN: 978-1-966387-10-7

Ebook, 108 ppg.

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It would seem that podcast stories are all the rage these days. I really don’t care for podcasts, so I was grateful that the actual story taking place in this novella was not the actual podcast. While snippets of previous podcast episodes are shared, Let the Ghosts Sleep by Keller Agre is a paranormal suspense horror story of a podcast host named Henry investigating a haunted location with his co-host, Kurt. His bumbling sidekick on the show is just as bumbling in real life, and I sometimes wondered if Kurt was acting the way he did just to get on Henry’s nerves.

 

Henry is not a very nice guy. He rude and he acts entitled. He’s also mean to Kurt (which is probably why Kurt acts so inept sometimes!). And, yet, here is a guy who drives an electric vehicle. Go figure.

 

The strange thing both Henry and Kurt discover during the investigation is that the ghosts disappear whenever Kurt shows up. Stranger still that so many ghosts make themselves known to Henry – but maybe it is because of Henry’s connection to the place. Or maybe because, to the ghosts, he is George Dean – the one tied into this place’s history and who, it would seem, did a lot of nasty things to these angry ghosts in his lifetime.

 

The story gets more interesting as the connections between Henry and the ghosts continue to pop up. And when Kurt keeps agreeing to Henry’s requests even though he doesn’t really want to, Henry’s normal negative attitude towards Kurt begins to soften and he starts to treat him better, which was nice to see. I think he realizes that Kurt is an important part of his team and should receive some respect and kindness.

 

Let the Ghosts Sleep is a chilling story full of scares and surprises. An original and unusual tale of one person trying to resolve mistakes in the past, this ghost story will leave readers on the edge of their seats, absorbing each page with breathless suspense. I really enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys reading ghost stories.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.