Zora is a teen living in a small Indiana town and she’s, essentially, an outcast. This is because her father is in prison for swindling a majority of the townspeople, but also because everyone thinks she’s the one setting fires all over town, when really it’s the Firestarter she’s hunting down, a demon-like creature that possesses human bodies and feeds off ghost energy. The ability to see those ghosts helps her hunting skills, but not her outsideriness, and her prickly nature probably doesn’t help matters, either. When the school janitor dies in a house fire, though, things really, um, heat up, and Zora teams up with another Firestarter – whose motives are suspect but his jaw is chiseled so we’ll give him the benefit – to track down the real culprit before it’s all too late.

I enjoyed this one a great deal. Zora is a cool character: her prickly nature is excellent, and I love that she’s sort of into the Love Interest but it’s definitely a sidebar for her after the mission at hand. There are a couple of nice little twists in the plot, too. ( )

This wasn’t at all what I had expected. I went into this book thinking there would be more interaction with ghosts and like able characters. I found neither of those things. The main character, Zora, sees ghosts but can’t hear them or really speak to them besides asking very simple questions. Zora was awful. I had so much trouble feeling bad for her. Additionally, it felt like the author thought of every way possible to make her characters weird/unique and threw it into the story. It felt like a mess. None of the characters were relatable whatsoever. ( )

I'm not a fan of horror books, but I loved Zappia's Eliza and Her Monsters so I wanted to read something else by her and I wound up enjoying this book. If you like ghost stories or horror I imagine you'd like it a lot more then me. ( )

Addamsville, Indiana is a town like no other. It's inhabitants include not only people but also ghosts and firestarters. The firestarters have made Zora's life difficult. Not only has she been accused of starting fires they have set, but her self-appointed job is that of firestarter hunter. Zora is able to see ghosts and uses them at times to help her find the "entrances" where firestarters have come into our world and where they must be sent to get them out. With Zora's father being released from prison in a few days, this isn't the time for her to get involved in a hunt for another firestarter, but Ludwig, the firestarter that took her fingers, is back and she must find him before he destroys the town.
Now Entering Addamsville incorporates so many different story elements in such a clever way that it is continuously moving forward at a fast pace. Zora is an interesting protagonist that deals with a difficult life in ways that make her sympathetic and relatable. A fun, very well-written story with a variety of twists and turns and ambiguous characters that keep the reader guessing right up until the end. I would love to read a sequel to this book. ( )

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Once again The Novel Neighbor comes through with a fantastic recommendation! I’ve been reading a lot of LGBTQIA+ books lately, especially books with ace characters, and this was one of many recommended by my favorite indie bookstore. Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia is a wonderful story that will draw you in, with a spunky and rebellious ace protagonist!

Addamsville is haunted, in fact it is a tourist trap for that very reason, but Zora Novak knows this better than anyone else. Why, you ask? Because she can see the ghosts that haunt her small town. Zora’s mother had the same ability, and not only taught her about the ghosts, but about dangerous creatures she called firestarters, that start fires in order to kill people, so they can feed off their souls. When a new firestarter comes to Addamsville, Zora believes it is up to her to stop it since her mother disappeared years ago. But when Zora is blamed for starting some of the fires, she is not so sure that she can stop this firestarter without becoming an enemy of her beloved town.

This was such a unique and wonderful book! While the protagonist, Zora, is ace, the story does not focus on that, which is nice because I think it’s important to not only have stories centering on asexuality as an identity, but also stories that show asexual people simply living their lives. Additionally, I absolutely loved Zora’s rebelliousness, independence, and overall vibe. She is depicted in a way that comes close to being a cliché, but not in an annoying or overdone way.

Furthermore, I think this book really stands out because it’s not only a ghost story, but a ghost story with a unique spin. Zora and her family’s history with firestarters really added depth to the novel and made it more compelling to read. I enjoyed the fact that Zora’s mother and aunt had their own background with firestarters, and also that Zora herself has some bad blood with the dreaded creatures as well.

On top of that, I think the other characters in the novel add more to the story without taking the focus away from Zora’s experiences. The other characters were well-developed, original, and didn’t overshadow Zora herself.

There was only one issue I really had with the book: IS THERE NOT A SEQUEL?!?!?! The book does leave some open endings, but nothing too major. In my opinion, there are enough loose ends that Zappia could write a sequel, but not too many that it takes away from this book as a standalone. I will warn you that the ending will leave you shocked! I think I probably read that last sentence at least 10 times, flipping back and forth between the ending and the map at the beginning!

Overall, this book is fun, mysterious, and compelling, and I would highly recommend it for any reader, regardless of genre preference. I don’t think you need to like most paranormal books to enjoy this one. It also has interesting and original features, and memorable characters. If you’re looking for a spooky story to pull you in, this is the book for you! ( )