Scarecrow

Author: Danny Weston

Genre: YA, Horror, Fantasy

Publisher: Anderson Press

Publication Date: October 5th 2017

Format: ARC (288 pages)

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Synopsis:

Jack and his dad are runaways. Jack’s father recently turned whistleblower, revealing the truth about the illicit dealings of some powerful people. Realising that he and Jack might be in danger, Dad drives them to a remote shooting lodge in the Scottish Highlands, where they intend to lay low.

In the cornfield beside the lodge stands a scarecrow. When Jack witnesses something incredible, he begins to realise that it is no ordinary scarecrow – it is alive, hungry and fuelled by rage. And when Dad’s enemies begin to converge on the lodge, the scarecrow might just turn out to be Jack’s best hope of survival.

My Rating: ★★★

Scarecrow is a book that I very kindly received a copy of for review, I’m not sure if I ever would have come across it otherwise. It wasn’t as scary as I had hoped it would be but I did enjoy it. The cover is also gorgeous and super creepy!

Jack and his Dad are on the run, Jack doesn’t really know why but one morning his Dad puts him in the car, tells him to leave his phone behind and drives them to Scotland, to a remote village where they cannot be found. It doesn’t take long before Jack notices something strange about the old scarecrow in the field near their cottage and from there things take many twists and turns.

I’m going to split this review into what I really liked about the book and what I didn’t love so much.

I liked…

• The relationship between Jack and his Dad. It had its ups and downs but it felt like a real relationship between a teenage boy and his Dad. Also VERY nice to read a story where the parents have split but the child has stayed with their father.
• Rhona – I thought she was fab and although I can’t put my finger on it there was just something I liked about her.
• The story was interesting enough and the characters as a whole were great.
• Philbert – badass.

What was okay…

• The book doesn’t shy away from the fact that Jack has to take medication for some kind of illness but it doesn’t really say exactly what it is other than alluding to it being a mental illness. I’d have really liked this to be more specific.
• This book is NOT scary (maybe to younger readers it will be though). Once Jack peels back a few layers of Philbert he really isn’t at all the scary scarecrow I had hoped would terrify me.
• I thought there were some bits towards the end where the plot just seemed a bit much for the book. The reason they had to run away was quite complicated and towards the end it just took over the excitement of the plot to me.

Overall I liked this book and would recommend to younger readers. Jack is a fantastic MC and I really warmed to him.

A big thank you to the lovely Harriet at Anderson Press for my copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Have you read Scarecrow?

What YA horror books do you recommend?

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