Cute easy to read book. Pictures were very adorable and kid friendly. As an adult, the storyline was jumpy and odd, but it is perfect for little kids.

The Spicy Ghost is a cute book with a unique twist. The illustrations are bright and eye-catching. I feel that this book would be a good fit for Pre-K through Kindergarten readers, although I might also use this book as a seasonal read-aloud for first graders during the fall. The concept of a ghost who loves spicy foods is very cute, and I loved the central message that we are unique and it’s great to just be yourself!

The rhyming was fun, although it did feel like at times the sentences were a little wordy in an effort to make them rhyme, which may be a little difficult for emerging readers. I would have enjoyed a little backstory on why liking spicy foods made Blandon different (Do ghosts not typically like spicy foods? Or is it because Blandon is a young ghost and young kids often do not like spicy foods?) While the story itself seems like it’s geared to a much younger audience, I feel like this book would be best used as a read-aloud as some of the vocabulary would be difficult for new readers in the target age group.

Overall, I felt like this was a fun book that would be great to share with your favorite little monster around Halloween!

The Spicy Ghost is an interesting book. The cover is cute and really caught my son’s attention, but he quickly lost interest as I started to read the story. The plot was a total hodgepodge forced by the author’s need to rhyme the words. I did love the name Blandon for the ghost. I thought it was very cute for a ghost who loves spicy food!

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
I really wanted to like this book. First of all, the name Blandon is so perfect for a ghost that is all about trying spicy foods and had me laughing from the start. This was hard to read though. There was no rhythm or flow to the lines of the story and the plot seemed forced by what the author could make rhyme. This was SUCH a cute starting idea and the pictures were colorful and enjoyable. I’d suggest maybe in the future just writing the story and not worrying about making it rhyme. Extra star for the fantastic name of the ghost!

The art was really amazing and really engaging. I liked the rhyming and the concept was really cute. As a Preschool Teacher I think my students would like a story like this one. It was a little confusing at some points. For example, why did liking spicy food make Blandon different? Was it because no one else liked it? I also couldn’t pick out the overall theme or lesson that the readers are supposed to learn. Overall, a cute read, but the plot was a little confusing.

The Spicy Ghost is about a spicy food-loving ghost named Blandon. He and his friends go on a little adventure but unfortunately there isn't much to the plot. It was rhyming and fun but it also seemed a little confusing. My kids enjoyed the illustrations.

It would be a good book for new readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for allowing me to be an early reader. All opinions are my own.

The Spicy Ghost is a cute book with a fun premise that would be entertaining to a lot of children and the illustrations are fun. But being more technical about it, there was no lesson to be learned and the plot is basically nonexistent. It's basically just a series of random events all strung together. Blandon (which is a great name by the way, it made me laugh) never even ended up giving flowers to the tourist. Also...there's no lesson to be learned and the ending isn't memorable. I don't know what the takeaway from this book is supposed to be- spicy food is good?

While this book was original and the art work was beautiful, the story seemed to lack direction. The plot seemed to jump around and wasn't very cohesive. I liked the general idea behind the book and thought overall that it was cute, however from a child's perspective I believe some of the words and phrasing could be a bit confusing. I also think some of the rhymes were a bit of a stretch.

I love that the ghost is called Blandon. I was laughing so hard. The picture of him inhaling chilis was adorable.
Do what you need to little ghost friend!

I SO wanted to like this book because I write about food on my blog and also read books to children online. The description sounded perfect for both audiences. Sadly, I will not be recommending this book on any of my platforms and I'm actually surprised that this book is traditionally published and not self-published, as it had many of the awkward and clunky elements often present in a book that has not been in the hands of a good editor. The word choices, sentence structures, and rhyming rhythm (or lack of consistent rhythm) make for a truly bad read-aloud book. (Example: The monsters and creatures yelled, 'Poor soul has a bad virus!' As they left, Blandon said, "Please don't run so quickly by us!")

The overall story and theme were also inconsistent or lacking in proper explanation. For example, why does the protagonist need to be a ghost? It seems to add no interesting or special elements to the story. If this is just set in a monster world (Ms. Monster, Ghost) then how and why is a Koala his best friend? Why an owl to calm Ms. Monster? If Blandon loves spicy food so much why is his name "Bland-on?" and why can he seemingly NOT handle spicy food if that's all he eats? Why does the "tourist" look more like a park ranger? Why would Ms. Monster be surprised at their reactions to her spicy popsicles (she must know they are hot)? Is this book supposed to get kids to like or try spicy foods? If so, it's missing its target as all of the spicy food is shown to cause distress or pain in even the protagonist, who is said to love spicy food. The ending makes ZERO sense, trying to wrap it all in a "be-yourself" message is a bit kooky when Blandon is lying to himself the whole book through, he doesn't love spice. He chokes and sputters and turns red. He never seems to have one ounce of joy from eating spicy foods. In fact, it's his bad reactions to spicy foods that are the root cause of all his calamities and resultant feelings of being "misunderstood." For Blandon to be himself, he would have to finally admit that he doesn't really like spicy food because he doesn't tolerate them well. (*We'd also have to see a reason why he was faking and forcing himself to try and like it — it wasn't to be well-liked or accepted by peers, so why does he torture himself?) I've been reading to children for years and I don't know a single kid that would even make it through to the end of this book. It needs a LOT of work.

The Spicy Ghost by Vy Lien.
The Spicy Ghost is a rhyming adventure about sweet friendships and fiery foods. Blandon is no ordinary ghost.
He loves eating spicy food! His reaction to food is something to behold and it often leads to messy misunderstandings.
Follow Blandon on a fun rhyming adventure filled with a variety of foods and true friendships.
Really fun read. Loved the illustrations. 5*.