From Goodreads: Corinne La Mer isn’t afraid of anything. Not scorpions, not the boys who tease her, and certainly not jumbies. They’re just tricksters parents make up to frighten their children. Then one night Corinne chases an agouti all the way into the forbidden forest. Those shining yellow eyes that followed her to the edge of the trees, they couldn’t belong to a jumbie. Or could they?

When Corinne spots a beautiful stranger speaking to the town witch at the market the next day, she knows something unexpected is about to happen. And when this same beauty, called Severine, turns up at Corinne’s house, cooking dinner for Corinne’s father, Corinne is sure that danger is in the air. She soon finds out that bewitching her father, Pierre, is only the first step in Severine’s plan to claim the entire island for the jumbies. Corinne must call on her courage and her friends and learn to use ancient magic she didn’t know she possessed to stop Severine and save her island home.

This book is perfect for the fall/Halloween season coming up. Or really any season in which you like to read spooky stories. Baptiste does an incredible job setting the tone in the book, contrasting the dark forest with the bright sunny towns and beaches of the island. There’s plenty of action and suspense too.

Corinne is a fun heroine to follow even if her independence gets her into some tight spots both with the jumbies and with her friends. I particularly liked the sweet relationship she had with her father. Her mother died many years earlier and, unlike many books, her father doesn’t retreat into himself or stop parenting. He steps up and fosters a close, loving relationship with Corinne. A relationship she treasures and knows she needs to fight for when Severine, the disguised jumbie pushes her way into their home.

I also enjoyed the addition of Malik and Bouki. They were great comic relief, but they were also clearly more. Not only did they make excellent friends and allies for Corinne, but they had a backstory that made them unique. Corinne’s other new friend, Dru, I just found exasperating. She was so afraid of everything and had no convictions. But my objection really was me looking at her as an adult, not as an intended reader, so I don’t think it detracts from the book at all.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m a huge chicken when it comes to horror and while I was creeped out by the book it wasn’t so scary I was thinking about it days later at night. Give this book to kids who want something for Halloween or want to try out scary stories, but aren’t sure they want to be terrified. I think this is technically a sixth through eighth grade book, I would certainly give it to a strong fourth or fifth grade reader. It’s got mostly short chapters and is exciting and suspenseful enough that the pages will keep turning.