Read at Your Own Risk by Remy Lai

Title: Read at Your Own Risk

Author: Remy Lai

Genre: Horror/Graphic Novel

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 30^th July 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 160

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: A darkly funny illustrated novel from the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award-winning creator of Ghost Book about a young girl who is being haunted by an evil spirit. For fans of Goosebumps.

‘Frightfully fun. A masterpiece of storytelling.’ Andrew McDonald and Ben Wood, bestselling creators of the Real Pigeons series

Once upon a time, I skipped assembly, snuck into the attic, awakened an evil and now I’m h(a)unted.

When Hannah and her friends play the game Spirit of the Coin, they don’t really expect to unleash something evil. But now Hannah is experiencing unfortunate ‘accidents’ and her journal is talking to her. Is there any way to escape the curse?

~*~

Remy Lai’s graphic novels often have involved ghosts, or ghostly themes, and her latest, Read at Your Own Risk, is no exception. In her latest book, Hannah and her friends have been playing a spooky game, trying to call a spirit into their world. But, things go wrong during a game of Spirit of the Coin, and they unleash an evil spirit who starts speaking to Hannah through her journal – and tells Hannah she has eight days to live. It’s when Hannah starts having all sorts of accidents that shouldn’t be happening that she tries to find a way to reverse the curse – and she’s starting to think maybe she should never have skipped assembly after all.

Remy Lai’s latest book is chillingly perfect for young fans of horror, working with the tried-and-true tropes of a series like Goosebumps to create something freshly scary, using graphic novel elements in a journal format to draw readers into the story – and the journal stye allows the story to play out in real time as Hannah races to break the curse so she doesn’t die…like the players before her did. This story captures a sense of wanting to be scared, and confronting death, and what it can mean to be cursed through dark humour. As the novel goes on, things get a touch creepier as Hannah’s journal starts talking to her – it’s a sentient being that also speaks to the reader at the same time. Sentient journals often appear in fantasy, horror, and science fiction, and it is the way they are used within the story that is what makes it an interesting aspect to explore.

In this case, the journal acts as a taunt throughout, warning Hannah when things are about to go wrong, yet taking pleasure in her young owner’s untimely demise. I felt that this gave the novel the creepiness, and a sense of mystery – at first, it did feel like someone else might be taunting Hannah, writing responses to what she wrote. Anyone – one of her friends, a teacher – Hannah wasn’t sure who. This added layer of mystery evoked a sense of unease, because you were never really sure who Hannah could trust. Everyone just thought she was more accident-prone than usual. The curse permeates the book as more unexplained things happen, particularly towards the end. Everything in this book is carefully placed to fit the timeline and create a sense of unease as you read – an unsettling feeling that makes the reader question what is going on. It is an interesting way to tell the story, because it shows a different way to tell a horror story, making it scary but also a little funny – the things that happen do feel like they are overdone, practical jokes even with the sinister undertones within the novel playing with the dark humour used throughout.

Using dark humour to tell this story has worked – as a reader, I wasn’t sure what was meant to be real for Hannah at times. If this was Remy’s intention, it worked well, as it left me questioning a few things at the end. I wondered about the fate of the characters and throughout, kept trying to piece together the mystery of Hannah’s ghostly correspondent as well. Overall, this is darkly funny and intriguing novel for those who love Goosebumps or want a taste of the genre. Read at Your Own Risk uses an interesting concept and plot to tell the story to engage with its audience in a fun and dark way.