Review: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

I don't know why I requested this book - I hate zombies! I guess I was probably swayed by all of the black girl kicking zombie butt action. I got that. I got that and so much more.

The great thing about going into a book with no idea what to expect is that it is so easy to be impressed and that is what Dread Nation did for me. We get kick ass characters - Jane and Katherine - but we also get narration that feels authentic, we get atmospheric horror and we also get that whole southern gothic historical feel and it all just hit the bullseye for me. 

It took me a little while to get into this book, so much that I put it down one day and didn't pick it back up for a week, still though when I eventually got into it I was into it and the pacing stayed up from that point on.

This book isn't just superficial though. There are racial undertones that in this day and age must be commented on. Look, I'm a white women, I'm not sure how much I am allowed to speak about representation for a whole-ass culture and race that I am not part of. I will say though that I loved what Ireland created just in the main character. Jane kicked booty, she was strong, stubborn and flawed and it made her so much more real. Even in an alternative history book with zombies, a realistic character makes it so much better. I also think that the lack of a humongous romantic subplot definitely made the characters stand out on their own.

There are some parts that missed the mark a little for me. Mainly that there are references to real events from the American civil war etc which I am not knowledgable in. Still, that's not exactly the author or the book's problem, mainly mine.

Overall, Dread Nation was a really fun book to read, but at the same time it was important culturally and socially. 

Book released  3rd April 2018 by Balzer + Bray

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Three Truths and a Lie by Brent Hartinger

Deep in the forest, four friends gather for a weekend of fun.

Truth #1: Rob is thrilled about the weekend trip. It’s the perfect time for him to break out of his shell…to be the person he really, really wants to be.

Truth #2: Liam, Rob’s boyfriend, is nothing short of perfect. He’s everything Rob could have wanted. They’re perfect together. Perfect.

Truth #3: Mia has been Liam’s best friend for years…long before Rob came along. They get each other in a way Rob could never, will never, understand.

Truth #4: Galen, Mia’s boyfriend, is sweet, handsome, and incredibly charming. He’s the definition of a Golden Boy…even with the secrets up his sleeve.

One of these truths is a lie…and not everyone will live to find out which one it is.

This isn't usually the type of book I would read, it sounds okay from the blurb but I'm not a massive horror fan. Considering that I really enjoyed The Elephant of Surprise a few years ago when Hartinger contacted me for review, I decided to give it a go.

The first thing that I have to say is that Three Truths and a Lie kept my interest from start until finish - from the first scene in the tattoo parlor to the absolutely final scene, I was hooked. I was hooked on Mia and Galen and Rob and Liam and the dynamics of their friendship, and from when the book started to get more atmospheric, I expected the characters too as well. I just don't feel like they developed as well as I had hoped and it's hard to care about a characters wellbeing when you don't really care.

That being said, I was still completely absorbed into the mystery of this book and the storyline.  I had no idea where it was going but that didn't stop me from guessing, however I do have to mention that the ending whilst shocking didn't really have as much impact as I had been hoping. Personally, I know that Hartinger can write extremely well, but I don't think this book shows the best of him - I think the ending seemed a bit knocked on and gimmicky and it would have done better if it showed through a bit more.

All being said, I still enjoyed this book and I was still hooked from start to finish. I think some bits could have been executed better and some characters developed more, but I still would recommend this to someone wanting something atmospheric and dark to read.

Book released 2nd August 2016 by Simon Pulse

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

Part-psychological thriller, part-urban legend, this is an unsettling narrative made up of diary entries, interview transcripts, film footage transcripts and medical notes. Twenty-five years ago, Elmbridge High burned down. Three people were killed and one pupil, Carly Johnson, disappeared. Now a diary has been found in the ruins of the school. The diary belongs to Kaitlyn Johnson, Carly’s identical twin sister. But Carly didn’t have a twin . . .

Re-opened police records, psychiatric reports, transcripts of video footage and fragments of diary reveal a web of deceit and intrigue, violence and murder, raising a whole lot more questions than it answers.

Who was Kaitlyn and why did she only appear at night? Did she really exist or was she a figment of a disturbed mind? What were the illicit rituals taking place at the school? And just what did happen at Elmbridge in the events leading up to ‘the Johnson Incident’?

I was pretty confused throughout this book, and not in a good way. I really like books that try to use original writing devices but for me this one just didn't work at all. It seemed disjointed, not in the way intended, and it dragged on for too long before things started happening.

The characters never seemed to really work for me, none of the girl characters: Carly, Kaitlyn, Naida really worked for me and the male characters were flat and boring and utterly forgettable. For a long book like this which really needed the development of the characters it fell really flat and that was one of the main problems that I had.

Really, I just didn't connect with this book. It was probably a good idea, but it felt contrived and complicated and flat and didn;t have any sort of dynamic that kept me interested.

Book released 6th August by Orion Children's Books

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: A Drop of Night by Stefan Bachmann

Seventeen-year-old Anouk has finally caught the break she’s been looking for—she's been selected out of hundreds of other candidates to fly to France and help with the excavation of a vast, underground palace buried a hundred feet below the suburbs of Paris. Built in the 1780's to hide an aristocratic family and a mad duke during the French Revolution, the palace has lain hidden and forgotten ever since. Anouk, along with several other gifted teenagers, will be the first to set foot in it in over two centuries.

Or so she thought.

But nothing is as it seems, and the teens soon find themselves embroiled in a game far more sinister, and dangerous, than they could possibly have imagined. An evil spanning centuries is waiting for them in the depths. . .

This was absolutely nothing like anything that I was expecting and for that, this book get points. 

I was absorbed into the book from the very start. Before we even start guessing about the mystery behind the Butterfly Palace we have other mysteries put on us, like why Anouk is the way she is and what happened in her past to make her that way. We're then introduced to the menacing Dorf and the big mystery of the book. Then things change direction in a reeling way and the book changes from atmospheric mystery to some sort of crazy survival sci-i type thing - think the Triwizard Cup maze in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, just a lot more terrifying. 

So the whole thing is pretty fast paced with new things being thrown in at every turn. The only thing is, despite the mystery and all of the new dangers, I was thoroughly bored halfway through the books. Of course, there were parts where my interest peaked a little again, but the book failed to hold my attention which surprises me because of how high-stakes the whole thing was.

I think the mixture of characters was very interesting, and the whole background story was terrifying and great, but I think the writing style just didn't work for me, and this book hasn't really stuck in my mind since.

Book released 15th March by Greenwillow Books

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review: Behold the Bones by Natalie C. Parker

Candace “Candy” Pickens has been obsessed with the swamp lore of her tiny Louisiana town for . . . forever. Name any ghostly swamp figure and Candy will recite the entire tale in a way that will curl your toes and send chills up your spine.

That doesn’t mean Candy’s a believer, however. Even though she and her friends entered the swamp at the start of summer and left it changed, Candy’s the only one who can’t see or feel the magical swamp Shine. She’s also the only one who can’t see the ghosts that have been showing up and spooking everyone in town ever since. So Candy concentrates on other things—real things. Like fighting with her mother and plotting her escape from her crazy town.

But ghosts aren’t the only newcomers in Sticks, Louisiana. The King family arrives like a hurricane: in a blur and unwanted—at least by Candy. Mr. King is intent on filming the rumored ghostly activity for his hit TV show, Local Haunts. And while Candy can’t ignore how attracted she is to eighteen-year-old Gage King and how much his sister, Nova, wants to be friends, she’s still suspicious of the King family.

As Candy tries to figure out why the Kings are really in town and why the swamp that had previously cast her aside now seems to be invading every crack in her logical, cynical mind, she stumbles across the one piece of swamp lore she didn’t know. It’s a tale that’s more truth than myth, and may have all the answers . . . and its roots are in Candy’s own family tree.

I never read Beware The Wild and I wasn't aware that Behold the Bones was a sequel to it. I still enjoyed it, but sort of wish I had read Beware the Wild first as it sounds brilliant now I basically know the whole storyline. 

Behold the Bones is a really special book in that it didn't feel like I was reading a YA book - I felt like I was reading something super special and different. Maybe it's the setting - this rich, atmospheric southern swamp setting with it's peculiar characters and lore really made this book stand out. Maybe it was the romance, because it doesn't go a typical direction and despite the fact that we don't get to know the guy Candace ends up with that well, I still loved the way it went.

Candace was such a fantastic character - she's sarcastic and tough and a bit of a cow sometimes, but her voice was such a delight to read. I loved her friends, Sterling and Abigail, and I loved her cousins. I even really liked getting to know Nova and Gage and their father, and all of Candace's family. Parker has a brilliant way of making every single character stand out.

This book was tense and creepy, but not quite as spooky as I had been hoping when I picked it up. The climax was fast paced and I loved getting absorbed in the mystery behind Candace and her family, but at times the pace did slow quite substantially and I found myself losing interest a little.

Overall, Behold the Bones was such an engaging, well written book and I only wish I had read Beware the Wild earlier. Despite some pacing issues, I really enjoyed this book!

Book released 23rd February by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review: Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace

When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

Holy smokes... Shallow Graves was not at all what I was expecting, but it was something completely different and brilliant. Shallow Graves was fast paced from the start, throwing the reader into the action and making you chase to catch up to the goings on. Never did this seem like a bad thing, instead, it meant that the pace was fast and the book was addictive. Yes, there were parts where the pace did drop, but it never seemed slow.

I spent much of this book happily confused, and by the end I still had to ask myself what had happened for the last 300+ pages. This book was equal parts humor, paranormal and mystery, with a little horror thrown in for good measure (this is, after all, a thrilling zombie book). Yes, there were things that could have been better explored, but I think that exploring things better would have made this book drag so I'd like to think this was a conscious decision on Wallace's part.

Breezy as a character was brilliant, she was calm and cool, not at all like a lot of hysterical YA protagonists. Her internal monologue was entertaining with a dry, sarcastic humour you totally wouldn't expect from a zombie. She's well adapted to her situation, which seemed unrealistic but it worked.

The supporting characters, though they were few, were great - Zeke and Jake and their brownie under the stairs - seriously, these two were amazing. I want a book just about the two of them and their life!

Overall, Shallow Graves was a comedic, dry horror that kept a good pace and was written in such an entertaining voice. Plot wise, I wasn't completely blown away but every other aspect of this book made it more than worth a read. 

Book released 26th January 2016 by Katherine Tegen Books

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics

Sometimes I believe the baby will never stop crying. Sixteen-year-old Amanda Verner fears she is losing her mind. When her family move from their small mountain cabin to the vast prairie, Amanda hopes she can leave her haunting memories behind: of her sickly Ma giving birth to a terribly afflicted baby; of the cabin fever that claimed Amanda's sanity; of the boy who she has been meeting in secret...But the Verners arrive on the prairie to find their new home soaked in blood. So much blood. And Amanda has heard stories - about men becoming unhinged and killing their families, about the land being tainted by wickedness. With guilty secrets weighing down on her, Amanda can't be sure if the true evil lies in the land, or within her soul ...

I am a complete and utter wimp. I hate anything vaguely scary, yet I still subject myself to scary books - I have absolutely no idea why though. Daughters Unto Devils was actually an extremely good read, it was also rather terrifying.

Let me set a scene: Me, 22 years old, reading this book. I started it when it was light out, but days in England are getting short again, by the time I finished it the sky was dark. I'm home alone and feel strangely exposed and vulnerable, I look at the clock - 9pm, but it's a Saturday night, my boyfriend works in hospitality! He won't be home for like four hours. I want a bath, but I'm scared of leaving my bedroom. I need to pee, but I'm terrified. All because I read a freaking horror book! Thanks a lot Amy Lukavics, not like I wanted to sleep this year anyway... 

Yes, this book was scary. I digress though, because Daughters Unto Devils was a well written read. It's historical, and sort of had the feel of a suspense horror by Stephen King or the Paranormal Activity movies - you know something terrifying is going to happen, but it builds up until it reaches it's peak in the absolutely terrifying final part of the book. Horrifying, I tell you! I have to give it to this author - she really knows how to build the atmosphere. This was a tense read!

I also really like that historical aspect that I mentioned before I went off on one - the setting at the start of the book read a little like an old Virginia Andrews book (I love those books), back before everything went a little of hilter - I also liked the things that Lukavics threw in - Amanda's pregnancy and the alienation from her sister. It was brilliant.

If there is one - one - problem that I had with book (aside from the fact that I am now living without sleep), it's that Lukavics mentions Amanda's history and how she went a little but insane the previous winter but doesn't elaborate much. I think it would have really helped to set a scene if there was more of that, but maybe that is just me.

Overall though, I think we can say that Daughters Unto Devils is one of the best horror books I have ever read. It had the atmosphere, the suspense, the isolation and the terrifying climax that really worked together, and I would read anything from this author again - though maybe making sure I stock up on sleep before I do so!

Book released 1st October by Simon and Schuster UK

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.

This book seriously has the creep factor down, seriously now I wince every time I think of razors because I keep imagining having my heart cut out by one and all the blood and... wow this book is so dark and creepy and if you aren't a fan of imagining waves of blood every time you close your eyes, stay away from this book. What makes this book even more creepy is the overlapping mystery and paranormal elements that make this book so unique.

It's important to note that this book is a paranormal, I didn't know that when I requested it from Edelweiss so I was quite confused for a while, still I came to love it for what it is however if you're not a fan of creepy paranormal novels this is probably not the book for you. Just a warning. I for one loved it though, I loved how beautiful Quinn's writing was, how subtle she is in revealing the secrets of Annaliese's past and how steadily this book moves forward. There isn't much in the way of great pacing BUT the mystery and suspense kept me pushing the pages all the way through.

I also really liked the romance in this book. Dex was a fantastic character and the romance isn't all cookie cut like in a lot of YA, you have Annaliese who is a very flawed character and Dex who is not the perfect hero, and yet put them together and the make a deliciously flawed couple. I adored it. However, Logan and Gwen just didn't do it for me as supporting characters, Logan was... sweet but weird and Gwen was just too peppy and did nothing except serve as a plot mover in a flashback and annoy me in the 'present'.

There is just one thing that really bothered me; This book seems quite disjointed at times when the narration suddenly jumped into the past and this was sometimes in the middle of a really important moment, this honestly made me feel very distracted from the 'main' plot and I think that these flashbacks could have been better placed.

Overall,  Another Little Piece was a perfectly savage debut with full creepiness. I loved the authors writing and would read anything by her again, the mystery was great and the writing was amazing. I struggled with some characters and the flashbacks though.

Book released 11th June 2013 by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Edelweiss)

Review: The End Games by T. Michael Martin

Seventeen-year-old Michael and his five-year-old brother, Patrick, have been battling monsters in The Game for weeks.

In the rural mountains of West Virginia, armed with only their rifle and their love for each other, the brothers follow Instructions from the mysterious Game Master. They spend their days searching for survivors, their nights fighting endless hordes of “Bellows”—creatures that roam the dark, roaring for flesh. And at this Game, Michael and Patrick are very good.

But The Game is changing.

The Bellows are evolving.

The Game Master is leading Michael and Patrick to other survivors—survivors who don’t play by the rules.

And the brothers will never be the same.

I didn't read The End Games at night time just because I knew that I was going to get nightmares... I was definitely not wrong. Geez, I don't usually get freaked out by books but I had this creepy feeling all the way through this one, it gave me the jibilies! It wasn't because this book was all creepy action and brains and gore, but because Martin has an amazing skill at building up the right tone and atmosphere; even in the parts where a little romance was happening, there was still this chill-at-the-back-of-your-spine feeling that it takes a lot of talent to pull of, so I seriously applaud Martin for that.

This book wasn't at all what I was actually expecting and that's how it's meant to be. A revelation about the game comes pretty early in the book and it was a big shock but also really kept the book going. There were only a few points where I actually felt like I could put the book down and the end was absolutely gripping! I loved how the book ended - it's a happy ending, but it's not quite closed, so I still know that anything could happen to the characters from here on out.

The relationship between Michael and his little brother Patrick was the center point of this book, and it was extremely well done. I read that the book was inspired by Martin's real life younger brother Patrick which would probably explain why every aspect of that relationship seemed authentic. The amount of love that Michael had for Patrick was so touching - they both got each other through the apocalypse and learned things about themselves as they did it. The zombie apocalypse is only the setting for this book, what it actually is is the story of Michael's growth and it worked so well.

I honestly thought that all of the characters were well constructed, except that at times Michael seemed inconsistent - at the start he's an action man, able to keep Patrick safe so easily however when they reach the capital he becomes a wet blanket, and it isn't until near the end when he actually grows a pair again.

Overall, a thrilling and emotional story about a teenager's growth against an apocalyptic setting. Definitely something fresh and adequately creepy for all the zombie fans out there.

Book released 7th May 2013 by HarperCollins

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Edelweiss)

Review: Velveteen by Daniel Marks

Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days.

It’ll be brutal... and awesome.

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules... or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.

With a gothic looking cover and this blurb which promises me a story of pure brutal revenge I went into this book expecting something amazing and actually I was quite disappointed in the end. This book was not the brutal revenge story I expected, the parts with Bonesaw were my favorite bits but all of the stuff about trouble in purgatory was actually very boring for me. It was so fluffy and predictable and not at all what I was expecting.

As well as that, this book has all the frustrations of a typical cliche YA romance. We have loads of stuff happening. Nick was an intriguing character to start with but I soon realised that he was put there as a love interest after the first ten times of Velvet describing just how hot or smoldering he was. It got annoying, I also didn't care for any of the other characters and to be honest I can barely remember any of their names. 

I did really enjoy the creepy bits where Velveteen was talking about her past with Bonesaw, it was chilling and I really looked forward to these bits but unfortunately the rest of the book seriously disappointed me. I would have loved it if it was all the Bonesaw stuff because to be honest the purgatory stuff was boring and confusing. 

Book released 9th October 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (eBook)

Review: Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts

Aries, Clementine, Michael, and Mason have survived the first wave of the apocalypse that wiped out most of the world’s population and turned many of the rest into murderous Baggers. Now they’re hiding out in an abandoned house in Vancouver with a ragtag group of fellow teen survivors, trying to figure out their next move.

Aries is trying to lead, but it’s hard to be a leader when there are no easy answers and every move feels wrong. Clementine is desperate to find her brother Heath, but it’s impossible to know where he’d be, assuming he’s alive. Michael is haunted by the memories of his actions during his harrowing struggle to survive. And Mason is struggling with something far worse: the fear that he may be a danger to his friends.

As the Baggers begin to create a new world order, these four teens will have to trust and rely on each other in order to survive.

There's something to be said for a book that can make you feel as utterly desperate and afraid as I did, reading this book. I was so terrified that I stopped reading when it started to get dark outside and started reading again the next day, even though I had to force myself to put it down. This book is gripping, terrifying and total on-edge-of-seat thrilling. 

I really enjoyed Dark Inside when I read it last year and Rage Within did not let me down. From page one of this book I was gripped and by the time I finished it - in the pure daylight of the next day's afternoon - I was still gripped, this book did not let go of me, even when I wasn't reading it I was thinking about it. Even now i'm a little bit terrified, good terrified though, the kind of terrified you get when a book has grabbed you so much that you enter that world and become the characters and feel how they feel and go through what they're going through. I felt elation when the characters escaped a tricky situation and fear when the Baggers got too close for comfort. I am praying for a third book because I am just so not ready to let these characters go yet, there are so many ends that need to be tied up - Mason? Joy? Daniel? What's going to happen next?!

I have nothing bad to say about this book except from that the split narrative meant that we never really get to see every part of any one character's story. I still felt a little out of the loop at times, but once again this is a teeny little complaint and it barely affected my enjoyment.

Overall, I adored this book. It had my heart racing and my fingernails have been chewed down to nothing. Bring on book three!

Overall Rating: A

Book released August 30th 2012 by Panmacmillan in the UK and September 4th by Simon and Schuster in the US. I am reviewing the UK edition.
Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Buy this book:

Amazon UK/Amazon US

The Book Depository

Barnes and Noble

Other books from this author:

Dark Inside

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

---

I am not somebody who gets easily scared when I read books, unless they're zombie books. They scare me a lot. Ghost books, however, do not really scare me. That being said I would not recommend reading this book before you go to sleep because it may start out slow and seem like it isn't scary, but by the end of this book Anna and the bad guy had me shaking with fear. So yeah, this is pretty terrifying at times. Don't let that put you off though, Anna Dressed in Blood was one of the best paranormal YAs I have read in a very long time.

This book is so original because despite being a paranormal love story between a living guy and a dead girl it has the added bonus of the dead girl being tied down by a curse that makes her want to brutally murder anything that moves. Yes, pretty cool. I loved Anna as a character because she was so evil and wrathful but underneath it all you can see her as the innocent girl that she was before everything kicked off. I also loved Cas and his superstitious mother, Cas was such a strong character, I adored him! The backing characters were also good, Cas and his team of 'ghostbusters' Carmel and Thomas were so funny. I loved watching things develop between Carmel and Thomas and that's part of the reason I will be reading Girl of Nightmares.

I have been dying to read this book for a long time and when I read it I was not dissapointed. this book had amazing writing, fantastic pacing, amazing action and a sweet and kind of messed-up romance. The ending blew me away and I cannot wait to read the sequel.

Wow. That just about sums this book up. Wow.

Overall Rating: A+

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Book released August 30th 2011 by Tor Teen (US) 
The edition I read was released July 5th 2012 by Orchard books (UK)
Book received via a swap.

Review: Hell's Game by Teresa Lo

On Halloween night in Deer Creek, Kansas, Jake Victor, Ashley and Ashton Gemini, and Kristin Grace convince Ronnie Smalls to meet them at the town cemetery, which local folklore has always rumored to be the Gateway to Hell. Their intention was only to scare him, but soon the wicked prank becomes actual horror as the group learns the Gateway is all too real. After demons snatch Ronnie and drag him to Hell, the terrified foursome vow to keep what they had seen a secret. 

Two years later, the group receives a mysterious letter, an invite to play a high-stakes game in Hell. If they win, they release Ronnie’s soul as well as their own from eternal damnation. If they lose, they are stuck in Hell forever. Choosing to play, they face nightmare after nightmare as each level escalates in intensity and forces them to face the seven deadly sins.

---

I really regret reading this book at night time, there's some pretty creepy scenes and after finishing it at like four in the morning I was not able to sleep. I should have guessed a book called Hell's Game may be a bit scary, so I seriously should have thought before reading it at night. The cover even says "A young adult horror novel" so I should have known... GAH!


Overall, the book was pretty awesome but at some points it started to lose my attention. I kind of split it into thirds; the first part was my favorite part, it grabbed me quickly, kept me on my toes with suspense and introduces us to the characters quickly, there were some pretty scary bits and I love that this part had the supernatural horror aspect about it but it also demonstrates how horrible teens can be and the desperation of outcasts to get into the 'in group'. The second bit was quite slow for me because there wasn't that much aspect, here the group are reintroduced to us as changed characters but because we don't really see this change happen gradually some of the characters just seemed like completely new people, we also see the characters get their invitations to Hell's Game and this bit is where it picked up again.


The third part of the book is Hell's Game, this was a bit of a mix for me. we get to learn what made the characters the people that they are. Some parts of this bit were full of action and suspense and kept me absolutely gripped but some parts really lost me, I guess I was expecting Hell's Game to be much more scary and pacy but for me some bits let the rest down.


As I said above, I really liked the characters, but the fact that we go from seeing them at 17/18 to 19/20 and don't follow them during this gap means that some of the more changed characters like Jake and Kristin didn't seem like the same character as in the high school years. I didn't really like Kristin in the first part but loved her spunky older version, Jake bored me a little to be honest. Ashley was my favorite character, despite me disliking her so much at the start simply because she grows so much as a person in the book.


Overall, a good book with a great storyline and some good characters. The downfalls are the inconsistent characters and pacing.


Overall Rating: C+

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Book released 2012 by Stull Publishing
Book received from the author in exchange for an honest review