Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 09/26/2025 Gr 5 Up—It's 1921 in Blight Harbor, the bucolic home of slightly magical folk, including 12-year-old Mae Von Rathe and her besties Lark, Claret, and Brigid. Doors to other worlds open in town, and the girls find a new one near their secret fort. Meanwhile, townspeople keep disappearing, most recently Brigid's cousin Emilia. Suspecting her suitor Johnny, the girls follow their door to the Dark Side Sun world with an eerie mix of unusual foliage and light. Caught by Johnny and his compatriot, they explore in hopes of locating Emilia before villainy overtakes them. Mae, who wants to be an adventurer; fearless Lark; elegant half-vampire Claret; and pink-haired, ruffly witch Brigid work together and are described with different skin tones. Pen-and-ink line drawings add to the ominous mood. Mae's first-person narration and loyal friends will connect with readers in this prequel to The Clackity. Senf's settings are imaginative, creating an equally terrifying and alluring world. The pacing mirrors the high-stakes situation where four girls match wits with a serial killer. Some authorial choices work less well. The girls' age, the grisly (off-stage) acts, and the target audience are not a perfect match. The book introduces many townsfolk and backstories, expansively suggesting a series but also rapidly providing a lot of story strands. Finally, Mae's feelings of inadequacy, a crucial factor in the denouement, are not well supported throughout. VERDICT The Coraline vibe is strong in this taut yet flawed horror fantasy for stoic middle schoolers. Despite those flaws, recommended where girl-power horror sells.—Caitlin Augusta - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 10/01/2025 *Starred Review* The people of Blight Harbor are no strangers to strange happenings. As residents of the seventh-most haunted town in America, they’re used to the sight of ghosts and having vampires for neighbors. They’re even fine with the occasional appearance of portals to a perilous underworld—where a dark sun hangs in a bruise-colored sky—so long as those doors are quickly sealed shut by the ever-vigilant townspeople. But a recent string of disappearances has everyone on edge, and when friends Mae, Lark, Brigid, and Claret stumble upon a door that none of the adults seem to see, they can’t shake the feeling it’s somehow connected. Then Brigid’s cousin, Emilia, goes missing, and the group suspects that Johnny Pope, the local miscreant, may have used the door to hide her away in the Dark Sun Side. The girls venture through the door, hoping to find their friend before something terrible happens, and they quickly discover that the worst kind of monsters often wear a human face. Senf returns to the world of The Clackity (2022) in this imaginative prequel set 100 years prior, telling a story that beautifully balances fantastical and frightening elements with a wonderfully nuanced and heartfelt portrayal of friendship. Alive with atmosphere and character, this creepy, captivating read will appeal to both longtime fans of the established series and newcomers alike. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.