Name: Leah Diaz 's review of Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Disney Books
Item: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen
Rating: 5
Author: Leah Diaz

Disney Books

Shea Ernshaw

Jack and Sally are "truly meant to be" ... or are they? Sally Skellington is the official, newly-minted Pumpkin Queen after a whirlwind courtship with her true love, Jack, who Sally adores with every inch of her fabric seams -- if only she could say the same for her new role as Queen of Halloween Town. Cast into the spotlight and tasked with all sorts of queenly duties, Sally can't help but wonder if all she's done is trade her captivity under Dr. FInkelstein for a different -- albeit gilded -- cage. But when Sally and Zero accidentally uncover a long-hidden doorway to an ancient realm called Dream Town in the forest Hinterlands, she'll unknowingly set into motion a chain of sinister events that put her future as Pumpkin Queen, and the future of Halloween Town itself, into jeopardy. Can Sally discover what it means to be true to herself and save the town she's learned to call home, or will her future turn into her worst... well, nightmare?

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen

Agust Harris

Emma Wolfe

In Halloween Town, we’ve even opened a Haunted Bed and Breakfast, where visitors from other holidays can come and renta room-inspired by the cottages where Jack and I stayed during our honeymoon. 

 Yet I'm certain that not every princess or duchess or queen has felt like they belonged. Not every crown worn inside this library, this castle, has felt steady or sure on the heads where they sat. 

Every wall is lined with bookshelves and dozens of couches and settees are scattered throughout the main floor. The entire library is lit purely by candlelight, giving it a shimmery, lost- in-a-labyrinth-of-books qualit

How they lost the girl they once were? Certain that they are more than a puppet, strings yanked this way and that, pulling them apart?

Aroa Puerta

Sally’s adventures to find herself after becoming the Pumpkin Queen. Builds on her backstory too. Super cute read for a Disney lover.  

Leah Diaz 

Hannah Russo

ok…gonna be honest not entirely 100% sure how i feel about this. this book is labeled as YA and i disagree. this is definitely more of a middle schooler book. some of the descriptive writing (specifically the parts involving both sally and jack) were beautiful, heartwarming, and well written. the plot was good and i wasn’t totally against it until my least favorite trope was introduced (wont be saying what bc of spoilers.) i genuinely feel like this trope is brought into the picture when the author can’t think of anything else good to use, and just wants to give a cheap shock to their readers. reading that one line immediately ruined the whole book for me. the last few chapters felt out of place. characters weren’t acting like themselves and i didn’t like it one bit. i like to stick to tradition and reading about a halloween monster daintily sipping tea at a cafe kinda ticked me off. i hated how the antagonist got away with a little “oops sorry my bad” and then the conflict was over- like bro tf u mean😭 also i just didn’t recognize sally up until the near end. in the movie she was clever and sneaky like escaping the Dr’s lab and using the fog potion to stop jack from taking over christmas- but throughout majority of this book she was just helpless and CONSTANTLY CRYING- like that’s not the badass i knew from the movie. going back to the ending, i found it to be POORLY paced. it went way too fast for me. also the authors repetitiveness was excessive and i’m ngl, annoying. i swear i was constantly reading the same lines, phrases, analogies, etc OVER AND OVER AGAIN. it was a hard read. aside from the first few adorable chapters and the very last few adorable lines (both mainly revolving around jack and sally) i didn’t enjoy this book and i’m disappointed :(

It was... Interesting. I had a lot of hope for this book being a fan of the movie and that might have tinged my view reading it.

It started off really well. With a focus on Sally, we get a very soft take on Halloween town and the stresses of being thrust into a public role. 

It is after she finds the door that things take a downward spiral for me. There are changes made from the source material (I assume in an attempt to expand the universe) that fundamentally and thematically felt wrong.

There are people that Sally meets that pull things that aren't okay. She even confronts them about it. And then immediately is okay with them the next time she sees them. It feels wrong. 

Also the villain gets Winter Wizard-ed hard which felt like a cop out. What I mean is the bad guy gets turned into a good guy or at least "fixed" and forgiven basically immediately at the end. It just felt so off putting from the rest of the book.

Overall, the writing was good, but I just don't jive with a lot of the choices that were made. So maybe as a collector piece of you collect Nightmare before Christmas things, but otherwise... Just a kind of meh book.

Alex Landau

It was... Interesting. I had a lot of hope for this book being a fan of the movie and that might have tinged my view reading it.

It started off really well. With a focus on Sally, we get a very soft take on Halloween town and the stresses of being thrust into a public role. 

It is after she finds the door that things take a downward spiral for me. There are changes made from the source material (I assume in an attempt to expand the universe) that fundamentally and thematically felt wrong.

Spoiler Alert:

There are people that Sally meets that pull things that aren't okay. She even confronts them about it. And then immediately is okay with them the next time she sees them. It feels wrong. 

Also the villain gets Winter Wizard-ed hard which felt like a cop out. What I mean is the bad guy gets turned into a good guy or at least "fixed" and forgiven basically immediately at the end. It just felt so off putting from the rest of the book.

End Spoilers

Overall, the writing was good, but I just don't jive with a lot of the choices that were made. So maybe as a collector piece of you collect Nightmare before Christmas things, but otherwise... Just a kind of meh book.

Narrated by: Cissy Jones. // Jack and Sally are "truly meant to be" ... or are they? Sally Skellington is the official, newly-minted Pumpkin Queen after a whirlwind courtship with her true love, Jack, who Sally adores with every inch of her fabric seams -- if only she could say the same for her new role as Queen of Halloween Town. Cast into the spotlight and tasked with all sorts of queenly duties, Sally can't help but wonder if all she's done is trade her captivity under Dr. FInkelstein for a different -- albeit gilded -- cage. But when Sally and Zero accidentally uncover a long-hidden doorway to an ancient realm called Dream Town in the forest Hinterlands, she'll unknowingly set into motion a chain of sinister events that put her future as Pumpkin Queen, and the future of Halloween Town itself, into jeopardy. Can Sally discover what it means to be true to herself and save the town she's learned to call home, or will her future turn into her worst... well, nightmare?

This was a fantastic addition to the Nightmare Before Christmas movie. It delved deeper into the different realms and explored and new adventure with Sally's POV. Highly Recommend this enjoyable and nostalgic experience. 

Naria

It’s a cute spin on the nightmare before Christmas’ story, however I felt it was rather poorly written and repeated itself many times. Was still a fun read, loved hearing about all the other towns!

Robyn Harley

It’s a cute spin on the nightmare before Christmas’ story, however I felt it was rather poorly written and repeated itself many times. Was still a fun read, loved hearing about all the other towns!



Krystyna 

I really enjoyed this book. I also highly recommend the audiobook. The narrator does a fantastic job and sounds so much like Sally. It truly feels like a sequel and brought the story back to life. The plot, the setting, the characters, everything was just perfect and this was a great story to read around Halloween, especially. If you love The Nightmare Before Christmas, I definitely recommend giving this one a try.

Good to explore the other towns in this story.

Jade Waistnidge

Good to explore the other towns in this story.

A nice ending for a young adult book.

This is a masterpiece. My body tingled.. I cried. I was happy sad and mad. This book is a must read. Absolutely amazing work Shae Earnshaw!

Morgan

Susan 

Cute book about Sally coming to grasps with being queen and have to solve a situation alone.

I honestly really liked it. Though it wasn't the most exciting, it reminded me just of Nightmare Before Christmas but with a different plot, and I loved it! 

Camila

** spoiler alert **
           decepcionante. 
Ver a Elizabeth II fue lo más random que leí en un libro. El trope de hija perdida fue demasiado clihé. 
Entiendo que el libro se centra en Sally y su camino hacia el descubrimiento de su identidad, pero me hubiera gustado ver más sobre la relación de Jack y Sally en el libro, en vez de verlo a través de los pensamientos y recuerdos de Sally. 
Necesito más contenido sobre estos personajes y este mundo así que voy a consumir lo que sea.
2,75

I enjoyed this telling of Sally after the movie ends. I had a few quarrels with it as the book makes her extremely insecure which doesn’t match her in the movie. I also was t onboard with the multiple references to things we already knew such as Jack (who is a skeleton) having bony fingers … or his hollow eye sockets… because he’s bone. Or his cold hands. Blah. But I enjoyed seeing her be the heroine of the story albeit a quirky ending. 

Jessi

This was a fun read. Certainly a great fall read. There were several twists that I didn't see coming. Loved having a story that focused on Sally and I loved the ending. Great for fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas obviously!

Emma

Whimsical. Resonating. Empowering. I’ve adored Shea’s previous books and this one is no exception. Picking up with Sally & Jack’s wedding right at the end of The Nightmare Before Christmas, LLtPQ explores the anxiety of stepping into new expectations, discovering your place in the world, and drawing on the power of dreams. LLtPQ is diverse and comforting, and is completely appropriate for younger YA readers, even upper MG, while still being enjoyable for adults.

Liz Griffin

Rebecca Raven

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw is the long-awaited sequel to the Nightmare Before Christmas from Tim Burton. Sally is married to Jack Skellington and is now the Pumpkin Queen of Halloween Town, but she doesn't feel very queenly. Thrust into duties she has no say against, Sally feels out of place. Escaping into the Hitherlands she - along with the ever faithful Zero - discovers a long-forgetten door to Dream Town. After accidentally releasing an ancient evil Sally must find it within herself to stop not only the evil, but calm the tides within. 

Well, I screamed when I saw this book announced and then I screamed again when I saw I had received an arc. The Nightmare Before Christmas is such a piece of nostalgia for me - as for many others. I can't tell you the countless times I watched the movie, sang the songs and just loved all of the Halloween Town world Tim Burton had created. Opening this book was like stepping back into my childhood. Shea Earnshaw artfully captures the tone of the Nightmare Before Christmas in Long Live the Pumpkin Queen but adds her own spin as we now see through the eyes of Sally Skellington. 

I was grinning like a fool from the first line of this book. The love between Jack and Sally is portrayed ever so beautifully and is sure to make every fan of this couple heart's soar. As we journey through this story with Sally her feelings are very prominent. It is almost heartbreaking to realize that Sally has everything she has ever wanted - Jack - but feels like she's trapped in another prison. 

Earnshaw uses imagery expertly in this book. Sally is a ragdoll filled with leaves. The leaves in her heart leap at excitement or fear, her seams feel like they will break when she is stretched too thin (figuratively or literally) and she pulls at a loose thread idily when she is nervous. These descriptions were beautifully crafted and allowed me to get further lost within the novel. I could truly and easily see a movie in my head while reading this book. 

Beautiful, captivating, and all around absolutely horrible (in the Halloween Town sense of the word) Shea Earnshaw 's Long Live the Pumpkin Queen is a triumphant sequel and a must-read for fans of the Nightmare Before Christmas and especially lovers of Sally Skellington. 


Thank you ever so much to Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for providing me with an arc of this novel. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

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Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Disney Books

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