Thank you so much to Hashtag Press and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Ari’s sister Lana has been missing for over a year, his parents and police think she ran away but Ari believes the Twig Man in the woods has her. When he starts seeing a dead eyed cat and is suddenly drawn into the woods at Lana’s voice calling him. He meets a boy named Timmy who is looking for the Twig Man too and together plan to find him and stop him for food.

This is a great horror book that I think children that like creepy eerie horror would enjoy, it has all the right elements that will draw them in and grip them from start to finish. With the eeriness of a twig like man lurking around everywhere and controlling the woods, to evil white eyed animals and critters creeping around.

I really liked the friendship that Ari and Timmy formed and that they worked together to solve everything and to end the reign of the evil twig man. It was actually fascinating reading about all the things they did together to try, and though most plans failed they tried.

I really liked the concept of this story using an already creepy place like the woods and adding in an old tale that is real of a twig like man that controls it all and sucks on the energies of children. It was a really innovative idea and it was really interesting reading how the author put it all together.

There were lots of elements of surprise within the story, some elements that I found predictable but not everyone will. Then add in the most terrifying animals and critters, twigs tapping walls and windows and you get creeped out instantly. I enjoyed reading this book and I think many others will too especially children around 8-12.

Ari’s parents think Lana ran away but Ari knows better: the Twig Man took her.

“Legend says if you wander too far into the woods, he’ll snatch you with his roots and drag you into his lair.”

Lana has been missing for a year but Ari hasn’t given up hope. Accompanied by Timmy, a new friend who also believes in the Twig Man, Ari braves the woods to save his sister.

With plenty of screaming and a creepy location, not to mention the potentially true urban legend, this book would have scared me as a kid. It wouldn’t have helped that pretty much everywhere Ari turns, he’s being watched by animals with white eyes.

I figured out Timmy’s story before it was explained but this would have blindsided me had I read this as a kid.

I absolutely loved that there was a glossary of Kurdish words after the story.

I was left with some unanswered questions, mostly relating to the people I met near the end of the book. Did the people who were missing age while they were with the Twig Man? How are they going to explain where they’ve been to the police? Given the length of time some of them have been missing, will their parents even still be alive? How are they going to adapt to a world that has changed so much in their absence?

“Beware the Twig Man, the Twig Man’s hex. Beware the Twig Man, or you’ll be NEXT!”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hashtag Press for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.

I enjoyed this book and was a super easy read. I found the premise intriguing and loved the title and cover! I would have liked the world and voice to be a little more immersive given it was middle grade. For me, I felt like there was a lot of telling and not enough showing! I guessed the twist pretty early but I don't think young readers will and this book is for them! Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an advanced copy.

Thank you to NikkI LA for the opportunity to review this book. I thought the story was cute and I would recommend this for classrooms as well as independent middle grade readers.

Spooky middle grade perfect for fall. Ari is written so well, the relationships he has with Timmy, Lana, and his parents is so well done. And the Twig Man is creepy and the animal possessions! Perfect for a rainy day read, very atmospheric.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for an eARC version of this novel! Opinions are my own.

Spooky moments are perfectly entwined with hope and cliff hangers in The Twig Man. Each chapter provided all the things I loved as a kid— reading late at night with a flashlight, desperate to learn what happened to the unlikely hero next.

Thank you again to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review and to Sana Rasoul for a story that brought me back to my love of spooky middle grade.

To all my adventure-loving middle school boys, this book is definitely for you!

A year after Ari's sister Lana goes missing, mysterious things start to happen to him. When he gets lost in the woods and meets a peculiar boy named Timmy, the two team up to save Ari's sister and destroy the evil Twig Man that inhabits the nearby woods. With help from an aging Nan and a little research, the two boys tackle a black cat, poisonous frogs, fire ants, and all sorts of other woodland creatures.

My middle school boys would LOVE this book!

I read this with my older grandchildren 9-15 and they enjoyed it. They camped it up with screams and such but really it was more creepy than terrifying. They have asked that we re-read it at Halloween so it must have gone down well !

This spooky and chilling tale was one I couldn't put down. It reminded me of the stories I used to read in SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK and brought me back to my younger years again. What a great read!

Dark, creepy and haunting, kids will love this whimsical book and definitely made it more creepy for me as my parents have a woods directly oposite their house that I have walked in many times, although never at night its far too creepy. I think kids will love this read.

This is a perfect preteen/ middle grade Halloween read. It's dark and fantastical with excellent atmosphere, an ominous plot that's intriguing, and a spooky bad guy lurking at every corner. Great read.

With Stranger Things being the tv show of the year, this debut novel by Sana Rasoul will be a delight to younger lovers of fantasy and horror. A year ago, Ari’s sister Lana vanished in Hanging Wood ; a series of strange events leads Ari to the woods to discover the truth as to what happened to his sister. In his battles he befriends Timmy who has his own secrets. As the story progresses the legend of the,Stick Man is unveiled and his terrible actions.The tension within the woodland and Ari’s confrontations with the horror that resulted in his sister vanishing become darker and more scary.This is a perfect Halloween story treat and Sana Rasoul’s descriptions hook you in to find out what happened to,Lana and will Ari survive .A great debut - ideal 10 plus readers who,like their reading a little more mysterious and darker ( with an undertone of fantasy)