by Shea Ernshaw
Book: Stand Alone
Publisher: Disney Press
Pub Date: August 2, 2022
Genre: Young Adult
Format: Print
Source: Bought
Book Links: Goodreads Amazon
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
My Review: This is a sweet, fun and overall great book for anyone who is a Nightmare Before Christmas fan.
It's always been just Jack or Jack with Sally, but now it's finally all about Sally.
Sally has finally married Jack and now she is the Pumpkin Queen. She is just happy to finally be with Jack forever, the Queen part is just a bonus. But for now, let them go off and enjoy their honeymoon in Valentine's Day Town. They have a wonderful time there, however, Sally keeps having these nagging thoughts about being Queen. Especially after meeting the Valentine's Day Queen.
So they return home and things get moving fast, after all, Halloween is just around the corner, so there are many things to be done! Quickly, Sally is taken aside to be fitted for a dress made for a Queen, a crown, and so on. But all of that just stresses Sally out. She doesn't want a fancy dress or a crown. All she wants right now is Jack and to not feel overwhelmed right now.
Sally ends up upset and goes into the forest and opens a door that has seen better days. What she didn't know, was she let in a not so great being into the other towns, including her own.
Now that everyone is asleep, except for her and Zero, she must figure out how to wake up everyone and stop the one they call the Sandman.
I LOVED this, it was just a nice different read and this gave Sally a great backstory.
