Childhood is full of terrors as everyone knows. The world we have to understand doesn’t make sense and can often be dangerous. Arguably stories are one way of allowing those fears to be understood and faced and perhaps also were authors too get to put their own fears too. In R L Boyle’s ambitious The Book of Baku a young teenager has to face fears real and possibly supernatural, but the overall result didn’t pay off as much as I was hoping for.

Teenager Sean after an unspecified incident at home is now mute and about to start living with his Grandfather in the posher part of town from the estate that he has grown up on all his life. He is ignoring his therapists’ efforts to get him to talk and he cuts himself off from all his old friends. He initially enjoys life with his Grandfather but then finds a book that his Grandfather wrote The Book of Baku about a mythical creature that eats kid’s bad dreams but then had a price to be paid. Sean starts having dreams based on one book that start to creep into waking life. The Baku appears to be after him.

Boyle is a talented author and can create individual scenes of horror, warmth (I love the scenes of Sean and his friends for sounding like real teenagers) and suspense particularly where we get book excerpts, Sean’s dreams and the moments bleed into Seans’s world are really effective and pulled me into the story. The relationship with Sean and his Grandad is also really interesting firstly full of warmth but then life gets shadowy possibly due to the Baku or possibly each other’s demons coming back to haunt them and there is a fascinating thread of the Grandfather’s pristine garden becoming ever more ruined and rotten mirroring the deteriorating relationships between them. Boyle can also give us scenes of the joy and terror of living in a rough working class area where drug gangs operate and fight but also neighbours look out for the vulnerable. All these scenes individually for me where quite effective.

The downside was it did feel either it needed less plot strands or a few more pages to properly explore some of the many plot strands it sets up. Is this tale about art helping people move on; how life is like in tougher parts of a city or a horror story focused on one child and his own demons haunting him. A tale of a young man under attack from drug gangs or one who is learning through caring for other creatures to care for himself? It was very readable but felt a little frenetic moving from story line to storyline and then trying to explain all of Sean’s secrets from the main plot in a few pages at the end. A little more breathing space or less plots and I think this would have really engrossed me into exploring social issues and delivering great horror but for me slightly missed on delivering both consistently – it is rare though I think this book needed to be a bit longer!

Boyle is a very engaging writer and one I will be very interested to see what they have for us in the future. Ambition in a first novel is something I wish we got more of than playing it safe but in this instance The Book of Baku is a decent YA horror and a writer with a lot of potential to keep an eye on.

The Book of the Baku is more than a horror story. Within its pages, I found terror and infectious sorrow. Its author R.L Boyle runs the entire gamut on what it means to be human and experience deep grief.

While just shy of turning fourteen, Sean is no stranger to suffering. Growing up on the violent streets of Dulwood aged him. It made him cynical and more perceptive of the world. I immediately became fond of his character. Despite his upbringing, there is a sincerity that radiates from him. Something horrible happened to Sean. An event so traumatic, it robbed him of his ability to speak.

The Book of the Baku could have easily been a book about a disabled child, instead it does something better. Sean’s disability is always the first thing people notice about him, but not to readers. R.L Boyle took particular care to introduce Sean as an individual first and always.

The Book of the Baku begins roughly when Sean is taken into the care of his Grandad. Eager to help, his Grandad reintroduces art as a form of healing and a new way to communicate. Unlike Sean’s mom, his Grandad does not discourage Sean’s interest for horror and darker art. His Grandad understands the odd comfort that darkness brings.

As their relationship develops, it becomes clear that his Grandad is hiding something. There is a secret lingering, not so dormant, within the ominous shed on his Grandad’s property. A mystery that threatens to break everyone’s sanity. The horrors present in The Book of the Baku are not only paranormal, but what also remains unspoken among Sean’s family.

When Sean finds his Grandad’s collection of novels, one instantly captures his interest; a story based on a Chinese and Japanese mythical creature. When called upon by a child, the Baku devours their nightmares. It must be summoned sparingly because the Baku’s appetite is not easily satisfied. Left hungry, it will consume that child’s hopes and spirit. This legendary being now haunts Sean.

Some of the best horror stories have involved monsters plaguing children with their own nightmares, stories such as Freddy Krueger and Stephen King’s It. The Book of the Baku renovated this concept and gave it a refreshing modern vibe.

While The Book of the Baku is a mature story with adult themes, its darkness is balanced by pop culture references, turning it into an equally fun read. This book has the brilliance of The Babadook with the charm of Stranger Things. I highly recommend it and will be keeping an eye out for Boyle’s future work.

Review first posted in Grimdark Magazine

Where can I start? This one was a strange one. It definitely fits within the horror genre that its touted as being, but it also doesn’t read like a classic horror type novel (or doesn’t compared to the ones I typically read). From the get-go, the reader gets a sense that something is not right with Sean or his chipper as hell Grandfather. But it doesn’t become particularly apparent until Sean gets a few stories into the collection his grandfather published following the death of his beloved wife, The Book of Baku.

If you are familiar with mythology and culture of Pan Asian countries, you may be familiar with the notion of the Baku – this creature enters the bedrooms of those who called having woken from a nightmare and eats it in order to give someone a better night sleep. But if your nightmare doesn’t fill the Baku, they will also take your hopes and dreams. Utilising the pre-existing mythology, Boyle has spun it into a modern day, brooding masterpiece. I am still confused however as to whether the Baku was actually supposed to be present or if Sean is having a psychotic break the entire time.

I will say, if you are after a novel that is fast and punchy, this is kind of not it. In the beginning, the pace is great as Sean’s world starts to fall apart. But then it becomes repetitive with his flashbacks occurring more often but also not seeming to get any creepier or twisty. In fact, what began as a creepy and sinister feeling, just kind of faded because it didn’t give me anything new. I was however surprised as to the death in family that really got the ball rolling and how it all went down for Sean to be at The Paddock.

Overall, while maintaining a slight sense of something sinister, Book of Baku is a good one for new readers of horror – think Cass Khaw with training wheels. The pace, while gradually slowing, eventually picked up for the final reveal with revelations that surprised me for the most part. I really enjoyed the utilisation of the Baku to tell a story of psychosis, denial, and tragedy as it provided a unique viewpoint for the type of horror that this novel is.

Firstly, a huge thanks to Titan Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

CW: disturbing horror, child death, drug abuse, animal death, animal abuse

As we’re rapidly moving into the ‘spooky season’, I thought I would delve into a horror that I have been excited to read since I heard about it. I have come across the Japanese myth of the ‘Baku’ a few times and I was curious to see how it would be presented in this novel.

This novel gripped me straight away. Personally, I love it when novels open up with the present day and then take us back to see how our protagonist has got to that particular moment. We are thrown straight into the depths of fear and despair as Sean, our protagonist, is being chased and locks himself away. I found myself quickly endeared to Sean as we’re introduced to him, a troubled and traumatised disabled teen who can’t bring himself to speak following being put into care. Despite there not being a conversation between himself and his estranged Grandfather, I really enjoyed the way their awkward relationship was portrayed and how they seemed to have an understanding.

With this novel, nothing is quite what it seems from the setting to the characters and I loved that gradual reveal of how dark the situation truly is as the novel progresses. From the subtle (and not so subtle) changes in his Grandfather’s behaviour to the perfect garden hiding something rotten beneath it and, of course, the darkest aspect of them all: The Book of the Baku. This is a collection of short stories written by Sean’s Grandfather shortly after his wife died, however it’s so much more than a book. I loved seeing how invested, almost obsessed, with the book Sean became when he first stumbled across it and how passages of it are included in the novel rather than just Sean explaining what he had read. Boyle masterfully puts you on edge, only allowing you to glance away from the page to check that the Mirror-Eyed Man or The Doctor or the Baku himself isn’t behind you.

The creeping horror, captivating writing and the short chapter lengths this is a novel that is made to be devoured in a night (if you’re brave enough). The way Sean’s disability was incorporated into the story was really well done and you could see there was careful consideration on how to go about it. There were moments where his leg and mobility didn’t seem to bother or impact Sean, however there were also moments where there would be lingering pain which seemed to heighten the tension (what if something happened and he couldn’t get away?), as well as moments where he was willing all of his strength to continue because something was after him or he needed to get somewhere. At no point in this novel did his disability, or his inability to speak, feel like an afterthought, it was always present either just as part of Sean or as a way to develop a sense of urgency.

I also loved the concept of the Baku, a mythological creature known to aid a peaceful night’s sleep by eating the nightmares of children, becoming consumed by the nightmares and spreading them, instead, to others as if the fears are their own. I had many of my own theories to explain what was going on, however, Boyle deftly evaded every single one of them. Even though the Baku was the main dominating figure always in the background of Sean’s mind, or watching him in the shadows. Each of the nightmares we are introduced to are all just as terrifying. I could very clearly see the disturbing image of the Mirror-Eyed Man in my mind whilst reading this novel, and after I had finished it. There is also a moment with the Mirror-Eyed Man that felt so cinematic, almost as if it was a jumpscare on the page, that I found particularly unnerving.

Overall, I loved this novel and there is so much more I could say about this novel from the flashbacks into Sean’s past or his art that doesn’t always stay as he left it, however I must end this review before I say too much. This is definitely a must read for any fans of horror, however, if you are prone to nightmares or easily disturbed… be careful, because “sleepless nights will take their toll, / They whip your body, break your soul.”

I am amazed, this is the second YA horror that I have adored (I say this as I’m not a big fan generally) but this was fantastic. It's eerie and creepy at times, sad and heartbreaking. It covers the whole range of subjects disability, friendships, grief, and hope. The writing is wonderful and so good for a debut,
an addictive read that will be sure to have your heartbreaking at points. I’m surprised that this isn’t being raved about from rooftops, I’ve seen it compared with A Monster Calls and I can see why, it’s the same power within these pages. Fantastic and thoroughly recommended

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

It's a great horror story but it's also heartbreaking and thought provoking.
I couldn't stop reading, feeling for Sean and being spooked by the plot and the growing tension.
The author is a talented storyteller and delivers a great story, a page turner i couldn't put down.
Great world building and character development, an enthralling plot and great atmosphere.
It's strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I am stunned this book isn't being talked about more. It's creepy when it needs to be, desolate and heartbreaking. It's just brilliant. It has everything- horror, disability, friendships, grief, and those brief glimpses of beauty that life can throw your way while you feel life's purpose sinking from you. An amazing debut horror. I hope R.L Boyle continues to produce horror because I will happily read what comes next.
The writing is tremendous and absorbing, with all the characters well drawn, it was so easy to build them in your mind. Sean's daily log of everything getting worse and worse until the final chapter. This was a five star read from beginning to end for me.
The nightmares in this book are so jarring that I think every reader will find something that unsettles them too. For me it was the third one! I didn't enjoy that taking shape in my mind at all. Thanks Rebecca - not!
Absorbing read that will be sure to have your heartbreaking for Sean and his life.

Here, RL Boyle creates a deep and complex mythology based on the Japanese myth of the baku, and makes it entirely her own. The concept of an elephant headed god who is steadily moving closer and closer to Sean across the pages of the book, made me think of that old saying, 'an elephant never forgets', which is entirely apt for this startling and original book.

Sean appears to be mute, removed from care on the request of his grandfather, a Roald Dahl-esque figure who spends hours, even days in his shed, writing. One of his books, written after the death of his wife, the grandmother Sean never knew, attracts Sean's attention and, without thinking, he takes 'The Book Of The Baku' off the library shelf and begins to read.

Each tale is a child's nightmare, related in horrific detail , enough to make the skin crawl. The children call to the Baku to come and eat their nightmares, to give them a night's sleep. They write their nightmare down and feed it to the Baku, but when their fears are no longer satisfying the hunger, he comes for their hopes and dreams instead...

Woven into this horror are Sean's 'Before' chapters, where he and his friends ran loose across an estate called the Dulwood(appropriately named, the children there are seen as 'dead wood', no point in putting anything into them as they are born lost causes). In the days 'After' there is the sinister implication that something terrible has happened, something so bad it has struck Sean mute. His grandfather seems well intentioned but uniquely unable to cope with his grandson as he takes him home to the Paddock-another well named place, where freedom to roam is implied, but, despite the obvious wealth, this is a prison of another kind.

The book is full of motifs and contradictions, as Sean before created graffiti art of him and his 4 friends, and was the hopeful one of the gang ('we all escape or none do'), he names his art 'The Escapists'. In his grandfather's house, he uses the most expensive implements at his fingers,to create Michaelangelo's 'Prisoners, which express his feelings about fear, anxiety, and being out of place.

As he spends more time in the Paddock, the beautiful garden and the garden ornaments turn from serene to sinister, tendrils start to come out from under the writing shed, Grandfather becomes undone and is either drunk or writing. The flowers and trees rot, and the corruption comes closer with each night Sean spends there. As the nightmares of other children seep into his dreams, he awakens to find the Baku has left him notes under his pillow , on his chair, and in his bed.

The Baku is creeping closer, in vividly described scenes that chill your very marrow, Sean seems trapped and imprisoned by fear, unable to speak, to use his voice. His entire life has been stolen away from him, his future now financially possible, but his heart pulling him back to his roots.

In essence, 'The Book Of The Baku' is about the process of creating art, and how we use it to express our feelings of rage, grief and use it as a gateway to another realm. Reminding me of 'The Tommyknockers' and of 'The Thief Of Always', yet entirely it's own beast, this book has a loud and resonant heart in the shape of Sean, the bravest boy I have yet to encounter in the pages of a book.

His resilience and ownership of his mutism and physical deformation is incredible, his voice, his words have been stolen by adult oriented trauma, and he will not, cannot speak. But the way he cares for the abandoned hoglets that he finds, and tries to feed himself and bring his grandfather back from an all consuming grief honestly broke me. I was reduced to tears, this was poverty and lack of life chances by irresponsible adults which is seen all too often , yet rarely conveyed with such authenticity. It is a simply stunning novel, and I cannot say anymore than that as my throat is sore with tears and my words are just not elegant enough to explain.

The Book of the Baku follows Sean, a teen who's having to move in with a grandfather he's never met before following a family tragedy that's forced him to leave his home, and caused him to become mute. His social workers tell him that he needs to confront his trauma in order to move on, to get his voice back, and that he can't just hide away from what happened to him; but Sean's having trouble facing up to what happened. He's blocking out his friends, and retreating into his art.

Luckily for Sean, his grandfather seems to understand that Sean needs his own time and space, and converts his home conservatory into a bright new art studio for his grandson. He buys Sean stacks of art supplies, and encourages him to pursue his passions. At first, everything seems to be going well between the two of them, despite them struggling to get to know each other for the first time.

Things change, however, when Sean discovers a collection of horror stories in his granddads library, 'The Book of the Baku'; which Sean's grandfather wrote himself years ago. The stories tell of children haunted by awful nightmare, and how they give these nightmares over to the mythic Baku, a statue that can eat their bad dreams. But when Sean starts to have these nightmares himself, and starts to see the Baku he begins to fear that the creature might be real, and that it's coming for him. Now he has to try to avoid dreaming, avoid letting the Baku in closer to him whilst his grandfather retreats back into his writing shed, zombie like, and the house begins to decay around them both.

At first I thought The Book of the Baku was going to be a pure horror story, a book about monsters and nightmares. It ticks a lot of those boxes, and the nightmares and short stories that fill the pages of the novel are incredibly chilling at times; but it soon became apparent that the book was going to be a lot more than watching this boy struggle against supernatural forces. The book is as much about trauma and loss than it is anything else; and I'm not entirely convinced that the Baku itself isn't just a manifestation of the grief Sean's living with. Though the book refuses to give clear answers one way or another, and the monster could very well be real.

Throughout the book we learn more and more about Sean through flashbacks scattered across the narrative. These moments take us back to a time before Sean moves in with his grandfather, before he fell mute, when is life was somewhat happy. Having grown up in a poor neighbourhood, Sean has had to struggle most of his life, and has had to mature quickly. Yes, he and his close friends still play childish games, but they live a life where drink, drugs, and gang violence are a constant part of their lives. Sean has had to struggle and fight for what he has, and it shows that he was a very strong young man, and raises the question of what would have been so awful as to traumatise him so much.

R.L. Boyle is very clever at giving you enough hints at what this could be through these flashbacks, enough possible scenarios that you're constantly trying to work out what it might have been. There are a few possibilities I came up with throughout the flashbacks, and they were not only all wrong, but all so much better than what really happened to Sean. I'm not going to say what happened to him, as it would completely ruin the book, but when I found out it broke me. I'm not ashamed to say that I genuinely wept, that the book brought out floods of tears and all I wanted to do was to give Sean a huge hug and tell him everything was going to be okay.

Even though the book is about monsters, ghosts, and horror stories on a surface level it's so much deeper than that, and it deals with grief and trauma so beautifully, and made it one of the most emotionally affecting books I've ever read. I've seen the book being compared to A Monster Calls, and that's an incredibly apt comparison. I can see the people who loved that book loving this one, and it deserves to be as loved, recognised, and awarded as it was. The Book of Baku is not only the best book I've read this year, but perhaps one of the best I've ever read, and it needs to be read by everyone.

“There’s only so much horror and pain any living creature can take before it loses its mind.”

Sean, unable to speak due to a trauma in his past, is going to live with his grandfather. He knows Grandad used to be a writer but that’s about the extent of his knowledge as they only met two months ago. It is at Grandad’s that Sean learns of the existence of the Baku. He’s going to wish he hadn’t.

While the Baku, a creature otherwise known as the ‘dream eater’, is not a new concept (its mythology spans centuries), the author has brought it to life in an imaginative way, imbuing it with a whole new level of creepy. I can see the appeal of what appears to be an easy way of getting rid of your nightmares but this is definitely not the incarnation of the Baku you want to feed.

“For there’s a darkness deep in me,
That feeds on pain and misery.
Give it to me, relinquish dread,
And fall asleep in peace instead.”

I felt Sean’s pain throughout the book, both physical and the pain of grief. His underdog status and innate likeability had me empathising with him even more. I wanted this kid to be okay and I hoped everything would work out in his relationship with his Grandad, who I absolutely adored from the get to.

Towards the middle of the book I began to wonder if the story was going to start feeling too repetitive but new elements and additional information about Sean’s past alleviated my concerns. There’s a growing dread as the days progress at The Paddock, something that may even be enhanced by the use of repetition, as you anticipate what’s next for the main characters. The horror is amplified by Sean’s inability to communicate what he’s experiencing to anyone.

“It is as though each unspoken sentence dries to create a thicker barrier for those behind it and now his voice is blocked behind an impenetrable concrete wall.”

I loved the inclusion of the rowan tree in Grandad’s garden. Given the themes that were explored in the book, the choice of this specific type of tree felt especially significant. Although I want to say more about this tree I won’t because spoilers. However, I will recommend you read about its mythology and symbolism once you’ve read the book so you can see for yourself how brilliantly it all lines up. I particularly like the explanations given https://treesymbolism.com/rowan-tree-symbolism-meaning.html and https://treesforlife.org.uk/into-the-forest/trees-plants-animals/trees/rowan/rowan-mythology-and-folklore/.

Content warnings include alcoholism, bullying, death by suicide, death of animals, domestic abuse, drug addiction, gun violence, mental health, physical abuse, sexual assault (off page), slavery, suicidal ideation and verbal abuse, including slurs about a physical disability (no, I didn’t like this at all but the horrible words used were consistent with what I knew of the characters who said them).

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 4.5 stars.

RL Boyle’s The Book of the Baku is one of the YA novels of the year, but even after finishing this amazing book I’m still not 100% sure it is aimed at kids? For the most part it was astonishingly bleak for a kid’s novel and although the blurb calls it “A Monster Calls meets The Shining” I would disagree and amend that to “A Monster Calls meets The Babadook” which suits it slightly better, as I could see little of The Shining in The Book of the Baku, but that is no bad thing. This highly unsettling debut novel is very much its own beast and does not lean on anything, except for the pain of broken families, isolation, guilt and tragedy. If you think this sounds bleak, do not let that put you off, Sean is a brilliant leading character who deserves your empathy. It was also fantastic to read a horror novel with a boy as a central character, these are few and far between, and one who struggles with a disability, whose cause is revealed in tragic flashback.

The Book of the Baku plays out in two ‘before’ and ‘after’ narratives, but it is enticing unclear what happened to Sean’s mother when he arrives at his estranged grandfather’s house. A family tragedy has led to him developing a Conversion Order, which means he cannot talk, he also has a serious leg disability which hampers his mobility and has been bullied because of it. In the past his grandad was a novelist who wrote a collection of short stories about a mythical creature, called the ‘Baku’, which feeds on the dreams of children. As Sean reads the terrifying collection, he begins to lose touch with reality and the stories from the book blend into his every-day world, with some real Bababook style moments. This was one of those books where you just will the main character to confront their internal demons and I was quite literally cheering when some light appeared in the darkness of the tunnel. In many ways the life Sean left behind was considerably more harrowing than anything the Baku could do to him and it was brilliantly written into the big reveals which come later in the plot. The Book of the Baku was one of the bravest and most impressive YA horror novels I have read in a good while. AGE RANGE 11-14