Read This Book…

Cory, Maz, and Sam were the best of friends until the age of 12, when Sam disappeared, and Cory and Maz fell apart. Part of the reason for their friendship deteriorating? Maz was convinced that Sam wasn’t missing but that a pinball machine at the corner store sucked him in. Cory doesn’t believe them, and now it’s 1992, and they’re 17, going to different schools and not talking anymore. But one night, Sam comes back…only, he’s still 12. Maz and Cory must now face the unbelievable truth that Sam really did spend the last five years trapped in a nefarious pinball machine and hide Sam from their friends and family, all the while figuring out what to do about the pinball machine, which isn’t done with them yet.

Going by the cover alone, this book is clearly trying to evoke a Stranger Things vibe, and while it’s not a one-for-one comparison, there are definitely similarities. If you want a late ’80s/early ’90s setting (the book moves back and forth between before and after Sam goes missing and when he returns), and you like books that look at the various social groups in high school and how they deal with supernatural happenings, this book scratches that itch. It’s also more diverse than Stranger Things in its central characters — Cory is a closeted lesbian who is dealing with a crush on her best friend, Janet, and Maz is Iranian American.

Like I said at the outset, this book isn’t super scary, but it has some really good suspense and intrigue, and there’s a nice mystery wrapped up in the questions about the pinball machine and why it works the way it does. Without giving anything away, Farizan really ratchets up the tension and the danger alongside the emotional stakes for the characters, and I was definitely glued to the pages to see what would happen next! Come for the possessed pinball machine, stay for the nuanced take on friendships and how they change over time!