Sean hasn’t spoken since the incident. When he’s sent from care to live with his retired grandfather, he’s able to devote his free time to doing what he loves: creating art. At first, his grandad’s home is a safe haven compared to Sean’s old life and he begins to really enjoy his time there. That is, until he snoops around his grandad’s old collections of works and stumbles on The Book of the Baku. As Sean reads through the different stories within the book, strange things start to happen. Eventually, his new house morphs from a place of refuge to a danger zone, his grandfather turning cold and essentially acting like a zombie. Sean has to figure out how to stop the Baku from sucking all of their life force, before it’s too late.

The Book of the Baku is an emotionally charged read. I was overwhelmed with empathy towards Sean, so many terrible things for a young boy to suffer. The relationship with his grandfather was endearing, with both characters trying to navigate a new relationship they desperately want to flourish. His experiences paired with the Baku’s nature made for a perfect storm, without the reader realizing it until all is revealed. Normally when a read saves the bombshell for the VERY end and hints at said bombshell throughout, I feel a lag, and the other details become less important as I’m focused on THE THING. That wasn’t the case here, the Baku and its (victims? worshippers?) were engaging to read about and I enjoyed the detail poured into each child’s backstory. When the shoe did finally drop, Boyle hit HARD, my empathy for Sean increasing tenfold. Although Sean endured horrible things, the reader is left with the message that with the help of others, perseverance is possible.