Review: Amity by Micol Ostow

Goodreads Summary:

For fans of Stephen King and American Horror Story, a gruesome thriller suggested by the events of the Amityville Horror.

Connor's family moves to Amity to escape shady business deals. Ten years later, Gwen's family moves to Amity for a fresh start after she's recovered from a psychotic break.

But something is not right about this secluded house. Connor's nights are plagued with gore-filled dreams of demons and destruction. Dreams he kind of likes. Gwen has lurid visions of corpses that aren't there and bleeding blisters that disappear in the blink of an eye. She knows Amity is evil and she must get her family out, but who would ever believe her?

Amity isn't just a house. She is a living force, bent on manipulating her inhabitants to her twisted will. She will use Connor and Gwen to bring about a bloody end as she's done before. As she'll do again.

Alternating between parallel narratives, Amity is a tense and terrifying tale suggested by true-crime events that will satisfy even the most demanding horror fan.

Publication Date: August 26, 2014

Amity was a lot different than I expected. I thought the novel was a retelling of The Amityville Horror, but instead the original tale is the inspiration behind the book. I hadn’t watched the movie in a very long time, so some of the references were lost on me until I looked them up. Readers will likely enjoy the tale much more if you read (or watch) the origin story.

The story is told from two separate points of view: Gwen, a current resident of Amity and Connor, a boy who lived in the house ten years prior. Both teens start to witness strange occurrences during their stay in the presumed haunted house. Connor was a very dark character and his point of view was pretty twisted. His thoughts definitely screamed “serial killer.” Gwen was a little harder to understand and I found myself a little lost during her sections of the novel.

I thought the way the author tied in certain aspects of the original story was cool. The main characters wake up at the same time every night at 3:15, both discover the “red room,” and there is a freaky boathouse that plays a part in the book. I didn’t care for the gorier parts of the novel (especially the scenes of animal mutilation) but I am a huge wuss when it comes to those things.

The ending was very confusing and felt rushed. There was a lot of build-up to the conclusion and I felt like there was some wasted potential. The writing was also very repetitive at times which became a little annoying.

I was creeped out by Amity, so I think the author did a good job conjuring up a few twisted scares. If you’re a fan of books featuring haunted houses, you will likely enjoy Amity.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!