The league of beastly dreadfuls

Name: The league of beastly dreadfuls
Author: Holly Grant
ISBN: 9780385370073

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Holly Grant

Illustrated by Josie Portillo

Reading Level 4-5 ME · Moderate · Emotional Ages 9-12 Matched

The text is written at a 4th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes. Its HootRating code, ME, means moderate content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

Anastasia seems like a normal kid—until her parents vanish in a bizarre accident and she’s whisked away to a spooky Victorian house that’s actually an asylum for the criminally insane! But her great-aunts have secrets darker than the shadows in the halls, and with two mysterious brothers, Anastasia must outsmart them all to escape. What strange adventures await in this twisted, hilarious world? It’s a wild ride you won’t forget!

Themes

OrphansMystery Adventure Humor Family Friendship

Quick Assessment

This middle-grade novel follows Anastasia, an almost-eleven-year-old orphan sent to live with her mysterious great-aunts in a Victorian asylum that’s far from ordinary. Combining humor, mystery, and quirky characters, the story explores themes of loss, kidnapping, and resilience with a darkly whimsical tone. Suitable for ages 9-12, it contains suspenseful moments and mildly creepy settings but handles them with wit and charm.

Why we rated The league of beastly dreadfuls ME (Moderate)

The league of beastly dreadfuls is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 294 pages. Reading-wise, most kids in grade 6 and up can manage The league of beastly dreadfuls on their own; younger readers can enjoy it with a parent or teacher reading along.

We rate The league of beastly dreadfuls as ME (Moderate, mostly emotional) because the content sits in the "Moderate" range — moderate conflict that may involve loss, scary scenes, or interpersonal stakes. The strongest signals come from emotional weight, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

No specific content flags were raised by community reviewers, which is consistent with the moderate intensity score.

Thematically, The league of beastly dreadfuls explores orphans, mystery, adventure, humor, and family — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.

Good fit for

✓ Children in the Ages 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about orphans, mystery, adventure.

Maybe not for

! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.

For Parents

Content Intensity

ME · Moderate · Emotional

Emotional

Moderate ←

Physical

Mild

Social

Mild

Thematic

Moderate

Reading the HootRating code: the first letter is the content intensity (C = Gentle · L = Mild · M = Moderate · I = Intense · V = Very Intense); the second, when there is one, is the kind of content that drives it (E = Emotional · P = Physical · S = Social · T = Thematic). Reading level and age range are rated separately. How we rate

Real stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.

Data confidence: high

Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?