The Stuff of Nightmares - Book Review

Kyle has always been afraid of things, especially dying. But when he gets on the train that is taking him and his class on a school trip, he has no idea how close to Death he is going to come. Death enters the train and Kyle moves with him, past his friends, who are frozen in time, in life-or-death situations. Kyle finds that he can pick up on their deepest, darkest fears - real things that have happened to them, or may happen in the future, and sometimes their surreal nightmares too.

Kyle realises that he isn't the only one who has buried fears and, more importantly, he now burns with the desire to live, and to live without fear. But will Death release him?

This book was great. The plot was so original and different. I loved that the chapters told loads of separate stories from many characters due to Kyles ability to hide in their nightmares.

I found I wanted to read on with some of the characters' stories as they ended too quickly. Some of them could have been a story all by themselves as they often made me forget that Kyle was in their head. The nightmares were deep, dark and intense and definitely made me wonder what my worst nightmare would be.

The gradual reveal to Kyle's nightmare though was very gripping as it was only mentioned for a few sentences at a time; it was quite vague as to what had happened right up until the end. The climax of the book was a complete plot twist but it was an amazing one rather than one that left me feeling annoyed. It was totally unexpected and I would have never had guessed. I could say more but I don't want to spoil it.

The book wasn't as scary as the jacket made it out to be, for me it was more of an intense thriller than a horror but that didn't take away from the book at all. I loved it and can't wait to read more Malorie Blackman books in the future.

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