Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted here. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! Don’t forget to link back here and feel free to add your links to the comments so that others can see what you picked! 

Hey everyone! I hope that 2018 is treating you good so far. I am having a terrible start to the year reading wise! I am in the biggest slump and I really don’t feel motivated to do anything bookish :-(. I do have a review I need to write and I have picked up a book in the hopes of reading my way through it, but we shall see how that goes!

Anyway, this weeks pick for me (for when I finally get out of this slump) is a book that I saw reviewed on Beth’s @ Reading Every Night blog. It definitely looks like something I will enjoy and I am really excited to get to it…

The Sacrifice Box by Martin Stewart

Published: January 11th 2018 by Penguin Random House

Sep, Arkle, Mack, Lamb and Hadley: five friends thrown together one hot, sultry summer. When they discover an ancient stone box hidden in the forest, they decide to each make a sacrifice: something special to them, committed to the box for ever. And they make a pact: they will never return to the box at night; they’ll never visit it alone; and they’ll never take back their offerings.

Four years later, the gang have drifted apart. Then a series of strange and terrifying events take place, and Sep and his friends understand that one of them has broken the pact.

As their sacrifices haunt them with increased violence and hunger, they realise that they are not the first children to have found the box in their town’s history. And ultimately, the box may want the greatest sacrifice of all: one of them.

Release Day Spotlight: Alone by Cyn Balog

Alone by Cyn Balog

Published: November 7th 2017 by Sourcebooks Fire

When her mom inherits an old, crumbling mansion, Seda’s almost excited to spend the summer there. The grounds are beautiful and it’s fun to explore the sprawling house with its creepy rooms and secret passages. Except now her mom wants to renovate, rather than sell the estate—which means they’re not going back to the city…or Seda’s friends and school.

As the days grow shorter, Seda is filled with dread. They’re about to be cut off from the outside world, and she’s not sure she can handle the solitude or the darkness it brings out in her.

Then a group of teens get stranded near the mansion during a blizzard. Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter, even though she knows danger lurks in the dilapidated mansion—and in herself. And as the snow continues to fall, what Seda fears most is about to become her reality…

I just want to start out by saying Happy Book Birthday to Cyn Balog! I received an ARC of this book a couple of months ago via Netgalley and I absolutely LOVED it! There was a creepy vibe from the very beginning of the book and there were twists and turns that I didn’t see coming! The ending – do not even get me started on that amazing ending. This is definitely must read! Cyn Balog is easily becoming one of my favourite authors in the horror genre and I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next! There will be a Rafflecopter giveaway link at the bottom of this post for residents of America and Canada!

Excerpt:

 Sometimes I dream I am drowning.

Sometimes I dream of bloated faces, bobbing on the surface of misty waters.

And then I wake up, often screaming, heart racing, hands clenching fistfuls of my sheets.

I’m in my bed at the top of Bug House. The murky daylight casts dull prisms from my snow globes onto the attic floor. My mom started collecting those pretty winter scenes for me when I was a baby. I gaze at them, lined neatly on the shelf in front of my window. My first order of business every day is hoping they’ll give me a trace of the joy they did when I was a kid.

But either they don’t work that way anymore, or I don’t.

Who am I kidding? It’s definitely me.

I’m insane. Batshit. Nuttier than a fruitcake. Of course, that’s not an official diagnosis. The official word from Dr. Batton, whose swank Copley Square office I visited only once when I was ten, was that I was bright and intelligent and a wonderful young person. He said it’s normal for kids to have imaginary playmates.

But it gets a little sketchy when that young person grows up, and her imaginary friend decides to move in and make himself comfortable.

Not that anyone knows about that. No, these days, I’m good about keeping up appearances.

My second order of business each day is hoping that he won’t leak into my head. That maybe I can go back to being a normal sixteen–year–old girl.

But he always comes.

He’s a part of me, after all. And he’s been coming more and more, invading my thoughts. Of course I’m here, stupid.

Sawyer. His voice in my mind is so loud that it drowns out the moaning and creaking of the walls around me.

“Seda, honey?” my mother calls cheerily. She shifts her weight on the bottom step, making the house creak more. “Up and at ’em, buckaroo!”

I force my brother’s taunts away and call down the spiral staircase, “I am up.” My short temper is because of him, but it ends up directed at her.

She doesn’t notice though. My mother has only one mood now: ecstatically happy. She says it’s the air up here, which always has her taking big, deep, monster breaths as if she’s trying to inhale the entire world into her lungs. But maybe it’s because this is her element; after all, she made a profession out of her love for all things horror. Or maybe she really is better off without my dad, as she always claims she is.

I hear her whistling “My Darlin’ Clementine” as her slippered feet happily scuffle off toward the kitchen. I put on the first clothing I find in my drawer—-sweatpants and my mom’s old Boston College sweatshirt—-then scrape my hair into a ponytail on the top of my head as I look around the room. Mannequin body parts and other macabre props are stored up here. It’s been my bedroom for only a month. I slept in the nursery with the A and Z twins when we first got here because they were afraid of ghosts and our creepy old house. But maybe they—-like Mom—-are getting used to this place?

The thought makes me shudder. I like my attic room because of the privacy. Plus, it’s the only room that isn’t ice cold, since all the heat rises up to me. But I don’t like much else about this old prison of a mansion.

One of the props, Silly Sally, is sitting in the rocker by the door as I leave. She’d be perfect for the ladies’ department at Macy’s if it weren’t for the gaping chest wound in her frilly pink blouse. “I hate you,” I tell her, batting at the other mannequin body parts descending from the rafters like some odd canopy. She smiles as if the feeling is mutual. I give her a kick on the way out.

Despite the morbid stories about this place, I don’t ever worry about ghosts. After all, I have Sawyer, and he is worse.

As I climb down the stairs, listening to the kids chattering in the nursery, I notice the money, accompanied by a slip of paper, on the banister’s square newel post. The car keys sit atop the pile. Before I can ask, Mom calls, “I need you to go to the store for us. OK, Seda, my little kumquat?”

I blink, startled, and it’s not because of the stupid nickname. I don’t have a license, just a learner’s permit. My mom had me driving all over the place when we first came here, but that was back then. Back when this was a simple two–week jaunt to get an old house she’d inherited ready for sale. There wasn’t another car in sight, so she figured, why not? She’s all about giving us kids experiences, about making sure we aren’t slaves to our iPhones, like so many of my friends back home. My mother’s always marching to her own drummer, general consensus be damned, usually to my horror. But back then, I had that thrilling, invincible, first–days–of–summer–vacation feeling that made anything seemed possible. Too bad that was short lived.

We’ve been nestled at Bug House like hermits for months. Well, that’s not totally true. Mom has made weekly trips down the mountain, alone, to get the mail and a gallon of milk and make phone calls to civilization. We were supposed to go back to Boston before school started, but that time came and went, and there’s no way we’re getting off this mountain before the first snow.

Snow.

I peer out the window. The first dainty flakes are falling from the sky.

Snow. Oh God. Snow.

Buy Links:

Amazon | B&N | BAM | Indigo | IndieBound 

About the Author: 

Cyn Balog is the author of a number of young adult novels. She lives outside Allentown, Pennsylvania with her husband and daughters. Visit her online at http://www.cynbalog.com.

Rafflecopter giveaway:

This giveaway is for members of the U.S and Canada and will be running until November 17th. Enter to win a copy of Alone.

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I hope you all enjoy this book as much as I did and I cannot wait to see what Cyn Balog does next!

Find Me Here: 

Instagram/Twitter/Goodreads/Litsy @ Lauren’s Page Turners

Reviews:

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Megan @ Under the Book Cover

 

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Published: April 16th 2016 by Tor (English Translation)

Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay ’til death. Whoever settles, never leaves.

Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a 17th century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters your homes at will. She stands next to your bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened.

The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town’s teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting, but in so doing send the town spiraling into the dark, medieval practices of the past.

I saw this book on a list of Horror books to read during the month of October and the premise had me hooked instantly. I absolutely had to know what was going on with this town and why! However, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I was going to and I ended up DNFing it.

I’m not sure if it is due to the translation of the book or just the way in which it is written, but I often felt confused as to what was going on and from who’s perspective we were actually reading. The events themselves didn’t particularly flow very well and there was no real explanation happening as to why the Black Rock Witch haunted the town and the people. I felt pretty lost throughout most of what I read, which led to me putting the book down to do something else.

The book is told from various POV’s – ranging from people who live in the town to the people who are tasked with controlling the town and making sure that no one moves there (other than the people who already live there) and making sure that the witch remains a secret from the rest of the world. I didn’t feel like the various POV’s had their own voices, but rather blended together, which made it difficult to differentiate between the various characters. It was easy to forget who was who and where they belonged within the story.

I’m not sure if I just didn’t read far enough or whether it was just me, but the creep factor of this book was basically non existent (it may also have something to do with the fact that I had no idea what was going on). I went into this book expecting to be so scared that I didn’t want to go to sleep, but that just didn’t happen. Even the description of the witch didn’t really creep me out…

All in all, I was left feeling pretty confused throughout this book – whether because of the translation to english or the writing itself, I’m not sure. I wasn’t particularly creeped out, which is a shame because this book sounded so promising! I gave this book 1/5 stars.

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

Published: September 26th 2017 by Dutton Books for Young Readers

Scream meets YA in this hotly-anticipated new novel from the bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss.

One-by-one, the students of Osborne High are dying in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, the dark secrets among them must finally be confronted.

International bestselling author Stephanie Perkins returns with a fresh take on the classic teen slasher story that’s fun, quick-witted, and completely impossible to put down.

I absolutely loved the Anna and the French Kiss series. So, when I heard that this author was going to be tackling a horror story, I was excited to see how it was going to pan out, but at the same time, I was worried about it not being very good because the author is an amazing romance writer. Whilst I enjoyed the concept and aspects of this book, I felt like there were certain things that let it down in a huge way.

The books starts off relatively creepy. The start of this book definitely had me hooked because it was the beginning of the slayings and it got right to the mystery of things. I loved the way the scene was set up with the egg timer and the way in which the character was thinking about it because it gave it that creepy factor that I think a book like this needs.

However, having said that, I feel like this book went off on a tangent after that first hooking chapter. To me, it felt extremely unrealistic because a classmate had just been brutally murdered and mutilated, but our MC was focusing on her love life. I feel like the romance aspect of this book played too much of a role and it took away from the murder mystery aspect of this book. It dragged in certain places and I feel like the MC should have been more concerned about what was going on in the bigger picture rather than focusing on her and what her relationship was with Ollie.

The murder aspect of this book was extremely interesting. I loved the way in which the scenes were written from the victims’ perspectives and we read exactly what happened to them. The author definitely didn’t hold back on the way in which the murders were carried out – to the point in which I sent a snippet of a murder through to my brother because it was pretty gruesome. I do feel like we needed more of the psychology behind the murderer’s actions and why he did the things he did before committing the murder.

I would have also liked to have known more about the murderer as a whole by the end of the book. I felt like his identity was lacking and the reasoning behind it was very well thought out or fleshed out as a whole. I was actually confused as to who the murderer was because we had read very little about him and he seemed like the unlikely choice. I felt like things with him were definitely rushed toward the end of the book and I also feel like certain things would not have happened because he would have gone down sooner considering the description we are given about his appearance.

I was also pretty disappointed about the big reveal of our MC’s past and just why she was sent to Osbourne to begin with – I don’t feel like it was particularly shocking enough and it was rather anti climatic after that way in which it is described as a secret that has to stay secret throughout the book.

Overall, whilst I enjoyed certain aspects of this book, there were others that I was relatively disappointed in. The ending was rushed and not fleshed out enough and I feel like our MC needed to sort her priorities out! I gave this a 3/5 stars.

Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted here. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! Don’t forget to link back here and feel free to add your link to the comments section.

Hey guys! I hope you are all well and that you all had a great weekend! I just realised that I never posted a GRM last week :-O So, I am so sorry for that. So, since we are nearing October and Halloween, I definitely want to step up my horror/murder mystery game (after I have finished TOD). With that in mind, this weeks GRM is:

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Published: April 26th 2016 by Tor

Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay ’til death. Whoever settles, never leaves.

Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a 17th century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters your homes at will. She stands next to your bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened.

The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town’s teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting, but in so doing send the town spiraling into the dark, medieval practices of the past.

Alone by Cyn Balog

Alone by Cyn Balog

Expected Publication: November 1st 2017 by Sourcebooks Fire

When her mom inherits an old, crumbling mansion, Seda’s almost excited to spend the summer there. The grounds are beautiful and it’s fun to explore the sprawling house with its creepy rooms and secret passages. Except now her mom wants to renovate, rather than sell the estate—which means they’re not going back to the city…or Seda’s friends and school.

As the days grow shorter, Seda is filled with dread. They’re about to be cut off from the outside world, and she’s not sure she can handle the solitude or the darkness it brings out in her.

Then a group of teens get stranded near the mansion during a blizzard. Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter, even though she knows danger lurks in the dilapidated mansion—and in herself. And as the snow continues to fall, what Seda fears most is about to become her reality…

Note: I received an ARC copy of this book from Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley. This in no way influences my opinion.

I absolutely loved Cyn Balog’s Unnatural Deeds, so when I saw that she was releasing a new book later this year I just had to read it. I was not disappointed! I was completely hooked on this book and read it in one sitting.

We are introduced to our MC from the very first page – along with the problems she has (I don’t want to say too much because SPOILERS!). The way in which we are introduced to her and the description had me immediately hooked – I absolutely had to know what was going to happen to this character and where certain aspects of her personality etc. were going to take us. Seda was a likeable character throughout the book despite the way we are introduced to her and I enjoyed watching her develop as a character as things progressed because it was easy to forget about certain things (again, trying not to be spoilery). She definitely came across as someone who could be a friend once she comes out of her shell. She definitely started changing with the arrival of the stranded teens and I feel like the interaction helped her to come out of her shell and to be a bit more loose.

What I also really enjoyed about this book was the family dynamic that Seda had with her mother and siblings. It was easy to empathise with Seda and the problems her parents were having and it made her more of a likeable character when watching her interact with the two sets of twins and her mother. We also learn other various aspects of her family, which become important later on in the book, which also made her easier to like and relate to.

Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the setting itself. At the beginnign of each chapter was a little chapter heading describing something about either the house/rooms in the house or the way that Seda’s Aunt and Uncle used to run it. The author cleverly wove bits of fact of certain historic people and slightly changed their stories to make it fictitious at the same time – which gave it the air of creepiness. The set up of the house with certain props etc. definitely helped to set the scene for events that happened later in the book, whilst constantly keeping an air of subtle creepiness.

The pacing of this book was just right. It starts off at a relatively normal pace and then things start to get creepier, which had me completely hooked. It also begins to speed up as events start happening later in the book and keeps readers on their toes right up until the very end!

What I most enjoyed about this book was the fact that this was not an ‘in your face’ kind of scary book, but rather took a more subtle and psychological approach, whic made the ending even more shocking. I absolutely did not see the big reveal that came at the end and was left utterly shocked when this book ended! Certain things were revealed, other things happened and it just led up to a finale that left me completely gobsmacked! I recommended it further as soon as I had finished!

All in all, I absolutely loved this book and I cannot wait to have a finished copy on my shelf! Balog is fast becoming one of my favourite authors and I cannot wait to see what she writes next. I gave this book 5/5 stars.

Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Published: August 20th 2013 by HarperTeen

Asylum is a thrilling and creepy photo-novel perfect for fans of the New York Times bestseller Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, New Hampshire College Prep is more than a summer program—it’s a lifeline. An outcast at his high school, Dan is excited to finally make some friends in his last summer before college. But when he arrives at the program, Dan learns that his dorm for the summer used to be a sanatorium, more commonly known as an asylum. And not just any asylum—a last resort for the criminally insane.

As Dan and his new friends, Abby and Jordan, explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they soon discover it’s no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.

Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux’s teen debut, Asylum, is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity.

I’ve had this book on my TBR for years! I recently decided to get through my Goodreads Backlog TBR by reading at least one book per month that has been on the TBR for years now! I am a sucker for horror done well and I was really excited for this book because it looked extremely promising! However, whilst it was enjoyable in its own way, I was still left feeling vaguely underwhelmed.

I was excited about the asylum aspect of this book! I think that old asylums are morbidly fascinating and I was looking forward to having photos of real asylums and history accompanying the story. Whilst it did add a little bout of uniqueness, I felt like it didn’t flow as well as it should have with the photos and the story and I think maybe it would have been better had the photos been sharper and on a glossy paper!

I liked the mystery behind Brookline and the past surrounding it! I wanted to know more about the old warden and what made him so infamous with the residents of the town! I also liked the coincidences with Dan, Abby and Jordan and I am looking forward to finding out more about them and the way their stories/pasts interlink in the rest of the series.

I also really like the character dynamics within this story. I loved the awkwardness of starting to get to know one another and the struggles to keep the friendship with the pressure they’re facing with things that have happened in everyday life and in the past (in the sense with the asylum). They had their ups and downs and I loved the fact that they were like everyday friends that would find in normal life. They argued and didn’t always agree, but, at the end of the day, they were still there for each other.

Whilst I did enjoy the mystery and the character dynamic, I was disappointed by the fact that I wasn’t creeped out… at all. I was looking forward to reading something that would have me thinking psychologically, stuck with the lights on, but I didn’t get that from this book. I’m not sure if this is because I am not particularly easy to scare – but I definitely felt like this was missing from the book!

All in all, this was an interesting, but underwhelming book. I enjoyed the storyline and the mystery behind Brookline and what links the characters to the old asylum and I am looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of Sanctum. I gave this book 3/5 stars.

Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted here. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! Don’t forget to link back here and link up with the inlinz at the bottom so others can see what you picked too!

Hey guys! It is time for another Goodreads Monday! Is it me, or has February gone REALLY slowly? Anyway, this weeks pick for me is a book that I have heard a lot of positive things about and I can’t wait to get a copy!

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Published: November 6th 2007 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child “unwound,” whereby all of the child’s organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn’t technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state, is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

The blurb sounds absolutely amazing and unique and I can’t wait to grab a copy! Also… it’s been TEN years since it was first published!!

Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted here. To take part, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! Don’t forget to link here and link me up so I can see what you guys still need to read!

Hey guys! It is time for another Goodreads Monday! This weeks pick is an author who I love, despite the fact that her book left me creeped out, scared out of my wits, refusing to go to bed at 1:00 in the morning until my husband got home! I have had this book on my TBR for a while now and it released last month! Clearly I need to get my hands on it ASAP!

And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

Published: September 6th 2016 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Stay away from the woods…

When Silla and Nori arrive at their aunt’s home, it’s immediately clear that the manor is cursed. The endless creaking of the house at night and the eerie stillness of the woods surrounding them would be enough of a sign, but there are secrets too—questions that Silla can’t ignore: Why does it seem that, ever since they arrived, the trees have been creeping closer? Who is the beautiful boy who’s appeared from the woods? And who is the tall man with no eyes who Nori plays with in the basement at night… a man no one else can see?

I do love a good book that really does creep me out. It is so rare that it happens because I’m not easy to scare; The Dead House, however, was psychological – hence why I got creeped out! I’m hoping this will be the same!

What books are on your TBR’s? Feel free to join in and leave comments and I will check them all out! 

The Merciless by Danielle Vega

The Merciless by Danielle Vega

Published: June 12th 2014 by Razorbill

Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned

Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream.
 
Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.
 
Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . .
 
In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?

I have had this book on my TBR for absolutely ages now. I only actually remembered it being on there when I noticed that the second book in this series was going to be released at some point soon… which it has already been! So, you know, obviously I had to grab myself a copy. I had seen reviews running around mentioning just how violent this book was etc. But  me being me, I kept thinking “It cannot be that bad”… well, I was wrong!

I actually really liked Sofia at the beginning of the book. She was reliable and relatable and definitely someone who was the sort of person that could easily become friends with. I loved her wit at times because she just didn’t seem like the character who would be that witty… She is one of those, when you get to know her, she is actually much funnier than when you don’t know her! I also admired the fact that she didn’t join the crowd when they were trying to perform an exorcism on Brooklyn. She was constantly trying to help Brooklyn in secret, eve though she knew that if she was found out by anyone else(especially Riley) she would be next. She seemed brave in way that no one else was. Of course… that all came to an end when we found out what her sin was!! You think you know someone and then you don’t!

Riley came across as psycho throughout the entire book. You know those religious fanatics you see in zombie movies or wherever? Where they break under the pressure, bow to God, pray all the time, preach – go crazy… well… welcome to Riley! Her religiousness actually bugged me a little bit and I don’t understand how anyone would want to be friends with someone who was constantly preaching! I think this was probably the point the author was trying to make, but still! Plus, all the things she did to Brooklyn had me tingling all over… and not in a good way! I felt like I was watching Saw or something similar, when the violence is so much your body tingles and you start shaking the body parts that are being affected int he film/book just to make sure they are all there and nothing has happened to them? yep! My point. Riley = pyscho! Her friends (Grace and Alexis) seem like sheep with Riley. The exorcism sends Alexis over the edge and she starts ripping out her and hair and generally going a little bit mad. Grace also seems to start to change as events unfurl, but she is unreliable. One minute she is trying to help Sofia escape and the next she is with Riley trying to punish Sofia.

I think this book probably should have come with a warning about the violence! It is marketed as young adult horror, but it is pretty gory and violent and probably not something someone should read they have issues with that kind of thing. Despite the bone tingling, body shaking thing going on with me, I don’t normally have an issues with stuff like that – but I know others that might! So.. probably should have warning issued!

I was also not expecting that ending! Like, what?? I wasn’t expecting Sofia’s sin to be what it was and I was actually kinda shocked and betrayed! You get this idea in your head about someone and then you are completely wrong and it leaves you reeling. I probably should have learnt with Dangerous Girls not to trust anyone in the YA world!!

I actually pretty enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading the next instalment. I gave this book 4/5 stars.