This is a hopeful and adventurous read!

I will admit I did not realize this was the second in a series and did not read the first one but it’s totally not necessary to enjoy the book.

Flip Little comes from a family of Light Keepers and the light has gone out. His spider friend Simon is stolen and so Flip and his ghost friend Corpse need to go find him.

This book is full of fun surprises, family secrets and adventure. It evoked memories of my own in finding out how things you see aren’t as they seem within your family.

Great read for adults and kids!

I want to tell you everything and nothing about this book!

As an adult I thoroughly enjoyed this spooky and magical adventure. My younger self would have read this book over and over again.

The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright is a fantastic story for those readers who love ghosts, spookiness, lighthouses and wonderfully imaginative characters! This story will keep you in the book and have the story play out in your mind. I wouldn’t “use” this book in the schoolroom, but rather read it for pure enjoyment/entertainment.

Alongside the entertainment value of this book, the story includes friendship and understanding, grief, morals, realising people aren’t always who they seem, and the weight of family secrets.

Read the book or listen to the audio (I’ve done both), you’ll enjoy it either way.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio copy.

A adored the first book and loved the second as much. Fantastic middle grade novel with fantastic themes and characters. Highly recommend.

This was a cute book I wish I had known it was book 2 in a series because I wish I knew more background on all these interesting characters. I do plan to go back and find book one and look forward to book 3.

I enjoyed this story it was quite the adventure.

Narrated by, Gabriella Russo her accent took me a little bit to get used to but by the end I really enjoyed the narration.

I would recommend this series!

3 1/2 stars

I received this book from the publisher Bolinda Audio and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

After saving herself from the witches you'd think Corpse could relax, but there's even worse coming to Elston-Fright! Corpse has another adventure but this time she has Girl and Flip to help, as well as her best buddy Simon the spider. Good thing too as the Poltergusts are a terrifying enemy for the gang to fight against. I liked the friendship between all 4 of them and it was great to find out more about Corpse's life.
I didn't remember much about the first book but luckily this one works quite well as a standalone too.

A fun ghostly story of uncovering secrets. The book is written to engage the readers and keep them invested in the plot. I have always loved the epilogue of any book and this one's did really make me want to know what's happening next.

Recommend it !

Firstly, thank you to both #netgalley and #bolindaaudio for providing an arc of the Audiobook.
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We return to Elston-Fright to a new adventure with Corpse, Girl, and Simon. In this second book, we also see more of Flip whom we met in book one. We learn more about the history of the Lightkeepers and Flips Family while the group of friends battles a new supernatural threat to their home.
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This series is one I would highly recommend the audio for. Gabriella Russo was the narrator for both the first and second book, she brings the characters to life and makes their individual personalities shine.
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This is a well-written, ghostly, and action-packed adventure. Filled with magic, Creatures, secrets and ghosts.

Do you believe in magic??? In the town of Elston-Fright, most of the residents would respond with an absolute NO! But they may soon change their minds. The poltergusts are coming!!! Flip Little has an idea to keep the evil winds away, though. All it takes is getting the family's lighthouse relit, and to do that, he and his friends must adventure to find the magical light. He may be a human "fleshie", but along with his two ghost friends (Girl & Corpse) and a giant spider (Simon), Flip believes that they can restore the light and get rid of the poltergusts for good. He may get a little more than he bargained for, however, as he begins to uncover family secrets that could change everything!

The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright is book two of the Elston-Fright series. I personally have not read book one, yet I did not feel as if I was missing any information by not doing so. I would say that this book could be read as a standalone if so desired.

I did listen to this book on audio. The narrator was fantastic, and I loved that she sounds young. I think that will help middle-grade readers stay engaged and also make the story easier to relate to. I would also like to say that the narrator has the most amazing Aussie accent. I have listened to literally hundreds of audiobooks, and can probably count on one hand how many of the narrators had prominent Australian accents. It made for a very nice change of audio scenery.

Overall, I enjoyed this book! It is a fantasy novel with a little bit of a creep factor, which seems to be a HUGE trend in my area right now for young readers. I can think of several of the kiddos I work with at the library who would really like this book/series!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Bolinda Audio, and the author for providing me with the audiobook version of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The story definitely starts with a punch of activities, followed by the introduction of a group that still believes in magic, even though no one else on Elston-Fright does. I do have to mention that one of the members of this group is a ghost 👻 and there are several other fascinating creatures in the book that got me hooked.

I do feel that this book will work for a middle-grade audience, especially if they don't read that often as the magical storyline is interesting. But for avid readers, I do feel the end could be a bit disappointing as it's not that novel and appears to be an expected outcome.

Thank you @netgalley @herbnerdreece @allenandunwin and @bolindaaudio for the cute Audiobook ARC.

Genre: #middlegrade #fantasy
Rating: 3/5 ⭐️

This is a super fun and cute series...I started with the 1st book and I am so glad that I did. I can't wait to read Book 3 and see what happens. I hope the Corpse is reunited with her parents!! This was my 1st time reading books by Reece Carter but it will not be my last!

#TheLonelyLighthouseofElstonFright
#NetGalley

Elston Fright is a small coastal town with a history of magic. This history is all but forgotten, especially as the powers that be have denied it ever happened.

But one boy named Flip knows there is still plenty of mystical things happening around them. After all, his three best friends are Girl (a ghost that can’t be seen except when she’s wearing the gloves and cape he gave her,) Corpse (another ghost who has made herself a body out of stolen wax, shells, teeth and seaweed) and Simon (a giant spider who can understand them but talks in clicks).

Flip Little lives in the town lighthouse with his grandmother. This lighthouse was once extremely important to Elston Fright, as the light it emitted was particularly special. It didn’t just serve the ships of the region, it repelled bad magic. But this light has long gone, way back in Flip’s grandfather’s day of being the town lightkeeper. He was from a long line of lightkeepers in their family.

One day Flip notices something strange in the air around the lighthouse. It isn’t a thing or a someone, it’s a wrongness that is hard to explain. After past adventures with his ghost and spider friends and terrible magic, he knows he must report this phenomenon to them immediately. Rowing out to their home on a rock not far from shore, the full horror of this wrongness reveals itself – and kidnaps Simon.

Flip, Corpse, Girl and with a little help from Girl’s octopus friend, Mr McKraken; they begin looking for clues to help unravel the strange air currents and get their furry friend back.

Along the way with Girl and Mr McKraken at hand, Flip discovers terrible truths about his family’s legacy of light, and Corpse learns more about her lost parents. The weird wind gusts are Poltergusts, greedy for magic. They will do anything and hurt anyone in their desire to collect it. Using Flip’s grandad’s diary, meeting new creatures small but mighty, and relying on each others’ love and loyalty, they fight back to reclaim their friend.

It seems even more adults in their lives have kept secrets and told lies about the history of their town. Will Corpse, Flip and Girl ever get to the bottom of it all?


The second in this ghostly but fun trilogy, the story is told in the two viewpoints of Flip Little and Corpse. Learning more about the history of Elston Fright was intriguing and seeing the trio work together in a quest to save their furry spider friend, endearing.

A few shocks along the way kept me reading and guessing at the true history of the lighthouse and it’s lightkeepers, and the epilogue left me wondering….

If you like humour, quests, friendships, magic and mystery, this is a series for you.

I would like to thank Net Galley for my copy of the audiobook version