Title: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen
Author: Shae Ernshaw
Narrator: Cissy Jones
Length: 6h 28m
After Sally and Jack get married, Sally quickly realizes she isn’t prepared to be queen and doesn’t like how her role has changed. She struggles with the attention that comes with being queen. When Sally and Zero uncover a long lost doorway to Dream Town, she sets into motion a chain of sinister events for all the realms.
While this sounded like it would be a good book, I found it to be a bit disappointing. In the beginning I found Sally grating and whiny. She gets upset at people now seeing her as queen and struggles with all the pressure that is placed on her. But you would think she would have expected it since she knew she was getting married to the pumpkin king and she saw how in demand his time was over the many years she lived in town.
After the new doorway was opened, Sally got less whiny and so I decided to continue the story to see how this would play out. The Sandman and Dream Town were interesting but nothing mind blowing. The reveal about Sally’s heritage was a surprise and not necessarily a good one. I think I prefer her original origin story with Dr. Finklestein.
Overall, this story was a bit disappointing for me and felt a bit flat compared to the original Nightmare Before Christmas storyline. Also I didn’t really love the narrator and how she did Sally’s voice, or anyone else’s voice really.
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Red-Haired Ash Reads 