The Devouring by Simon Holt Book Review by Miranda Fraser (Moses) ISBN: 9780316035736 So far this has been my FAVORITE novel in the Halloween Book Review Series for 2018. It is such a good story! I purchased this book three years ago at a Half Price Books and KNEW it was going to be amazing but never found time to read it until now. This is the first book in a trilogy and believe me they want you to go from one book right into the other! Buuuuuut that wasn't an option for me just yet so I can't confirm if the rest of the series is as amazing as the first one. This is also Holt's first novel and I really hope he continues writing in this genre. The story revolves around a young girl named Regina and her family. Regina and her best friend, Aaron, are horror nerds from movies to books. Aaron prefers real horror and Regina, the fictional kind. She works at a book store called, "Something Wicked", which carries various genres but heavily focuses on Gothic literature, gruesome topics, and horror stories. The owner Eben is a wise, intelligent, friendly old man whom Reggie enjoys conversing with. Reggie's family is already dealing with a lot since their mother left them out of the blue. Her father is depressed and dealing poorly with this and Regina has had to play mom for her little brother. It's already hell being a teenager, imagine having to deal with this on top of it. One day a mysterious journal came into the store and Reggie brought it home to read it. She was fascinated by this unpublished horror she couldn't find anywhere. Her and her best friend decide to attempt the ritual at the beginning of the story, expecting it to be nothing more than a Bloody Mary type hoax. Something silly to do on 'Sorry Night'. In the days to come they discover that they unleashed a creature into their home that night. The Vour is a smokey non-physical being who enters a person's body and takes over their lives. These creatures feed on fear and pain- making an 8 year old little boy the perfect Target. Reggie's life has already been turned upside down but now she must find out what these creatures truly are, how to stop them, and if she can save her brother and her family before it's too late. With the help of Eben and Aaron she sets out to discover who wrote this journal and what options she has left to save Henry. Finally, this story is relatively fast paced. You'll find yourself turning pages trying to find out what happens next. I felt like I had only started the story when suddenly we were in the climactic final chapters racing against time itself. And I was really pleased to see the plot twists added by the author. Looking back at some of the beginning sections I suppose tiny nuggets of clues were laid out subtly, but it's truly one of those hind-sights-twenty-twenty type situations. I highly recommend this series to anyone who's looking for a fairly original horror story that you won't be able to put down. And as always link to the authors page can be found below.
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Unbroken by Paula Morris Book Review by Miranda Fraser (Moses) ISBN: 978-0-545-41642-9 Unbroken is the sequel to the novel Ruined, one of the novels I covered in last years Halloween Book Review Series. This one is also a ghost novel mixed with a mystery. I was actually really excited to have a sequel because of how well the first book was written. These novels revolve around a girl named Rebecca and her encounters with ghosts. They take place in New Orleans and the author has made a point to have as much historical accuracy as she can, which I really appreciate. To being with, if you didn't read the first novel I highly recommend it. Just to recap the previous novel Rebecca is sent to live with her eccentric aunt in New Orleans for a year while her father is handling business in China. Whilst there Rebecca meets a homeless girl who she discovers is actually a ghost. This is already a shocking twist to her life but on top of it Rebecca is surrounded by Old Families. Aka "Old Money" who run the show and insist on putting Rebecca down. As the story goes on mysteries as unraveled and Rebecca does her best to aid Lessite (the ghost) in crossing over. The ending was VERY shocking, Morris did an excellent job writing this mystery out. But what Rebecca discovered in the previous novel is that ghosts pick and choose who to make themselves visible to. So in this novel, when another ghost appears, she knows what she has to do. For spring break Rebecca, her father, and her best friend go to New Orleans for a visit. This allows Rebecca to see her aunt and cousin, and her handsome sort-of-boyfriend Anton. The gangs all here! Oh and three ghosts Frank (pleading for Rebecca's help), Delphine (friend of Frank, mostly keeps to herself), and Gideon Mason (ghost Trouble with a capital T). In 1873 Frank was entrusted to bring a locket to a wealthy family in New Orleans, but on his way there he is mugged and murdered for all he has on him. Just before dying Frank hides the locket and has since spent the rest of his ghost life walking the Earthly plane wondering how to return it to its rightful family. Seeing Lessite with Rebecca he knew she could help him and he turned to her for aid. But Rebecca's visit is already clouded with the horrifying events of the previous novel. Events involving the living more than the dead, and a deranged maniac out for vengeance. I was very happy with the ending. I love the way Morris writes these stories and intertwines everything JUST right. I seriously was having anxiety problems reading this because there were so many people and mysteries and plot twists! It was amazing to see how it all played out. If you love mysteries then you won't be disappointed. The saddest part to me is that there don't appear to be anymore stories with Rebecca and her crew. But I sure would love to see more of them! Morris does however have another story like this that takes place in England so I am excited to read that one! Read on my fellow bookworms may we one day have belle's library. as always links to the authors pages can be found down below. |
YA Fiction Reviews |