"Being different was its own kind of bravery.”
If you know me enough online, you’ll know that I have a lot of fictional characters that I claim as my children. Prosper Redding is now one of them.
The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding follows 12-year-old Prosper who has to deal with a demon living inside of him. Said demon - who goes by the name Alastor - holds a grudge against the Redding family because he was betrayed by Prosper’s ancestor over a contract that was not followed through. I make it sound like it was No Big Deal but the betrayal pretty much caused Alastor to lose all his magic and powers, so basically he went from this big bad wolf to some nobody who had to go in hiding.
So, okay, I get it. I mean I’ve never had supernatural powers or anything, but I can imagine how demeaning that must have been for Alastor and his superiority complex. Let’s just agree that a betrayal is a betrayal whether you’re a sly demon from another realm or otherwise.
Back to Prosper. He’s a precious bean who loves his parents and his twin sister Prue, no matter how much he is overshadowed by the latter’s achievements and popularity. What I gathered early on was that Prosper doesn’t think much of himself, and this mindset is further perpetuated by the bullying he has to deal with at school. This experience makes Prosper very empathetic towards others who are made fun of, and while he struggles to stand up for himself, he definitely doesn’t back down from defending others, especially when they’re family.
Not only does this book delve into bullying and how important it is to stand up for both yourself and the people you care for, it also explores themes of self-acceptance (it’s really, really okay to be different, kids), challenging gender stereotypes, and simply celebrating who you are, no matter how much other people might try and bring you down. These are such important lessons anyone of any age can benefit from, but I think it’s especially crucial to the book’s middle grade target audience.
A big highlight of Prosper Redding is for sure the dynamic between Prosper and Alastor. The relationship these two share is essentially parasitic in nature, but their banter is very much entertaining and it somehow gives Alastor more depth. It definitely reminded me a lot of the dynamic between Naruto Uzumaki and the Kyuubi, or perhaps the one between Eddie Brock and Venom. I loved all the quips these two threw at one another; they added a touches of humor throughout the story.
Another strength of this book is how atmospheric it felt. I don’t live in a place that has an autumn season, but reading Prosper Redding made me feel like I was surrounded by fall leaves and pumpkins - just in time for Halloween! That said, given the premise of this book, the story does feel a little creepy at times, but it’s mostly in its ambience if anything. (The grandmother at the beginning definitely freaked me out a bit, though.)
I felt like the bits set in school took me away a bit from the story, but on the other hand, I feel like it was also there to show another side to Prosper: the side that shows what he’s like around other people his age and generally what he’s like as a regular boy, regardless of the fact that there’s a demon inhibiting his body and mind. It was also during these sections do we get to see Alastor’s perspective on other facets of everyday humanity and how his more aggressive, get-what-I-want personality pushes Prosper to break out of his shell.
Prosper Redding doesn’t dilly-dally and gets the ball rolling right off the bat. As this book is a bit of an urban fantasy, it benefitted from not having much world-building, which in turn allowed it to dive straight into the plot after some minor introductions to Prosper and his life. I do think the plot could have been stronger with just a liiiittle more meat in its backstory, but as this is a duology, I’m assuming more details are provided in the second book (which I’m currently in the middle of as of writing this).
I’ve heard a lot of people recommend Prosper Redding as a ~*~fall~*~ and/or ~*~Halloweentime~*~ read, and honestly, I have to agree. As I mentioned, the book is very atmospheric, so I can imagine how the season/time of the year could totally add to someone’s reading experience and overall enjoyment of the story.
This is my first Alexandra Bracken book, and though I’m pretty much indifferent towards her writing style, I absolutely love how she develops the friendships between her characters. I'd definitely recommend this to fans of middle grade books that have a bit of darkness to them but aren’t too heavy on the fantasy aspect.
Also, just read it for our boy Prosper.
