Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   For today’s blog post, I will be sharing my review of the book Hour of the Pumpkin Queen by Megan Shepherd.   This is the second in the Pumpkin Queen book series, which serves as a continuation of The Nightmare Before Christmas.   The series is about Sally after she married Jack Skellington and became the Pumpkin Queen of Halloweentown!

I actually received this book as a birthday present from my amazing husband, Andrew, back at the beginning of September, so I want to begin by thanking him for the thoughtful gift!   Now that I have the chance to review this book, I am excited to share my thoughts.   I purposely waited until a little way into the month of October to share my review here (although I finished reading the book at the end of September) because I wanted to post a review of a very Halloween-centric book in October.    

Hour of the Pumpkin Queen picks up about a year after the events of the previous book ended.   Over that year, Sally had really thrived in her role as Pumpkin Queen and worked to build a community amongst the many realms.    That is what inspired her to host a gathering with representatives from various realms to encourage peace and share the enchantment of Halloween with them all!

Of course, this is only the basic set-up for a book that goes to some very magical places and on some wondrous adventures, as the gathering does not work out how Sally expected.    Sally and another rag doll friend have to fight against time in hopes of returning to Halloweentown, which is why the book is titled Hour of the Pumpkin Queen, as a reference to the importance of time in the story!

As for my spoiler-free thoughts on this book, it is a very sweet read.   I love to see Sally’s character development through the course of her books.   She is still very much the Sally we met in the original film, but she gains so much confidence and many experiences in the two books!   I liked that this time Sally had friends with her along the way, giving it a sort of Wizard of Oz structure, picking up friends along the journey to help her complete her mission.   The new characters introduced for this book were very lovable, making them a joy to root for.   Just like the first book, Jack is sidelined for a large part of the plot, allowing Sally to truly shine!   While I would have loved to see Jack in the thick of the action, I understand the need to have him sidelined, as it allows Sally to prove to herself that she is truly capable and to fight for her and Jack’s future.   Once again, as with the first book, we get to see even more realms and towns, making for an intriguing read, as most of us who grew up with the movie always wanted to get to see all of the different holiday towns! 

Overall, I think it was a great sequel that was a truly delightful early Autumn read.   I would definitely recommend it to all The Nightmare Before Christmas fans, especially if you have read the first book.   The new author, as the sequel was written by a different author, does a great job of continuing the story.  She even left the plot open-ended enough for another potential sequel, while still completing the story arc of this novel!   I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts on this novel.   Have you read Hour of the Pumpkin Queen?   Is it on your to-read list now?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the book cover.   I found the picture on https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Pumpkin-Queen-Nightmare-Christmas/dp/1368089305.

Further Watching/Reading

• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
• Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw
• Hour of the Pumpkin Queen by Megan Shepherd  

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries