Review: The Creeping by Alexandra Sirowy

Summary:

Twelve years ago Stella and Jeanie vanished while picking strawberries. Stella returned minutes later, with no memory of what happened. Jeanie was never seen or heard from again.

Now Stella is seventeen, and she's over it. She's the lucky one who survived, and sure, the case is still cloaked in mystery—and it's her small town's ugly legacy—but Stella is focused on the coming summer. She's got a great best friend, a hookup with an irresistibly crooked smile, and two months of beach days stretching out before her.

Then along comes a corpse, a little girl who washes up in an ancient cemetery after a mudslide, and who has red hair just like Jeanie did. Suddenly memories of that haunting day begin to return, and when Stella discovers that other red-headed girls have gone missing as well, she begins to suspect that something sinister is at work.

And before the summer ends, Stella will learn the hard way that if you hunt for monsters, you will find them.

Publication Date: August 18, 2015

In the end, I liked The Creeping much more than I expected to. This is a book where I would tell readers to keep reading because the plot gets so much better as the story goes on. By mid-point, I felt myself getting super spooked by the plot.

The Creeping is unique because I liked not knowing exactly if the evil lurking in Stella’s town was real or imaginary. Even by the end, I wasn’t one hundred percent certain who the true monsters were. The pace felt a little slow in the first few chapters, but picked up tremendously as the mysteries started unraveling.

Stella grew on me as the story progressed. Her and her friends were a little annoying at first, but Stella eventually becomes a character I could root for. I think my feelings for her changed once the romance between her and Sam blossomed. I loved the two of them as a couple.

Although the romance was sweet, I definitely was more into the mystery of Janie. I thought I had it all figured out, but the author threw a curveball at the end. I love when an author surprises the reader completely.

Fans of YA mysteries with a touch of horror will definitely like The Creeping.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

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

Review: The Bargaining by Carly Anne West

Summary: 

The fact that neither of her parents wants to deal with her is nothing new to Penny. She’s used to being discussed like a problem, a problem her mother has finally passed on to her father. What she hasn’t gotten used to is her stepmother…especially when she finds out that she’ll have to spend the summer with April in the remote woods of Washington to restore a broken-down old house.

Set deep in a dense forest, the old Carver House is filled with abandoned antique furniture, rich architectural details, and its own chilling past. The only respite Penny can find away from April’s renovations is in Miller, the young guy who runs the local general store. He’s her only chance at a normal, and enjoyable, summer.

But Miller has his own connection to the Carver House, and it’s one that goes beyond the mysterious tapping Penny hears at her window, the handprints she finds smudging the glass panes, and the visions of children who beckon Penny to follow them into the dark woods. Miller’s past just might threaten to become the terror of Penny’s future….

Publication Date: February 17, 2015

The Bargaining was a much scarier book than I anticipated! Something about ghostly children always gives me the heebie jeebies. There was also a good central mystery that kept me turning the pages in order to find out what had happened to the kids in town who went missing in the North Woods.

Penny was a hard character to like. She eventually grew on me, but it took a really long time. I think her flawed character actually worked well for the horror story. I also liked watching her relationships with her dad, stepmother and stepbrother grow as the story progressed. From the description, I thought she’d have a romance with local boy Miller, but there wasn’t a romantic element in the story.

The story was definitely creepy. There were a few really frightening scenes and I found it crazy how well Penny handled the horrors she found inside the Carver House. I thought the strongest part of the book was during the dreamlike sequences where the missing kids of the North Woods would reach out to Penny for help.

What I didn’t like about The Bargaining was how confusing the story became. The details were too vague and the resolution wasn’t what I hoped for. I don’t mind being left with unanswered questions, but the conclusion was way too open-ended.

Overall, if you’re looking for a YA horror novel for a rainy day, then The Bargaining is a solid choice.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

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

Review: Creed by Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie

Summary:

Three went in. Three came out. None even a shadow of who they once were.

When their car breaks down, Dee, her boyfriend Luke, and his brother Mike walk through a winter storm to take refuge in a nearby town called Purity Springs. When they arrive, the emergency sirens are blaring and the small farming town seems abandoned. With no other shelter, they spend the night in an empty house.


But they soon discover that not everything in Purity Springs is as it seems. When the town's inhabitants suddenly appear the next morning, Dee, Luke, and Mike find themselves at the mercy of the charismatic leader, Elijah Hawkins, who plans to make Dee his new wife. Elijah's son, Joseph, offers to help them escape . . . but the price of his help may be more than Dee and her friends can bear.

Publication Date: November 8, 2014

Horror is a tough genre for me. Sometimes I feel completely freaked out by a book while other times I’m unfazed. Creed had me scared in the beginning, but once the baddie came into the picture, I didn’t feel as creeped out as much.

Creed grabbed me from the beginning. I liked the classic horror movie set-up of three teens stranded in the middle of nowhere. As Dee and her friends travel into town, I got chills as they explored the abandoned buildings. As they learn more about the inhabitants of the town, things go from bad to worse for the trio.

I didn’t read the summary before starting the book and I liked not knowing what direction the book was going in. However, once I realized the bad guy of the book was the leader of a religious cult, I didn’t totally love the story. The gore level made me queasy and some of the things the leader was getting away with made the plot questionable. But the novel is YA horror, so I just went with it.

The ending was shocking and my heart broke at some of the things that transpired during the climax. I think the author did a good job of adding a few fresh twists on typical horror fare. Overall, I’d recommend the novel to readers who enjoy books like Ten by Gretch McNeil.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

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

Review: MARY: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan

Goodreads Summary:

There is a right way and a wrong way to summon her.

Jess had done the research. Success requires precision: a dark room, a mirror, a candle, salt, and four teenage girls. Each of them--Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna--must link hands, follow the rules . . . and never let go.

A thrilling fear spins around the room the first time Jess calls her name: "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. BLOODY MARY." A ripple of terror follows when a shadowy silhouette emerges through the fog, a specter trapped behind the mirror.

Once is not enough, though--at least not for Jess. Mary is called again. And again. But when their summoning circle is broken, Bloody Mary slips through the glass with a taste for revenge on her lips. As the girls struggle to escape Mary's wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships are torn apart, and lives are forever altered.

A haunting trail of clues leads Shauna on a desperate search to uncover the legacy of Mary Worth. What she finds will change everything, but will it be enough to stop Mary--and Jess--before it's too late?

Publication Date: September 2, 2014

MARY was a great teen horror read! The book definitely reminded me of my days reading R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike. I wasn’t the target audience for the book, but I certainly still enjoyed the novel.

Bloody Mary was always an urban legend that interested me. I remember being in middle school and definitely too chickened to go into the bathroom and say Bloody Mary three times with the lights out. I thought the author did a great job of bringing back Mary into modern times.

Besides the mysteries surrounding Bloody Mary, I enjoyed the dynamic of the four friends. The girls have four very distinct personalities and there was plenty of backstabbing and drama among the friends. The girlfriends weren’t cardboard cutouts and I did appreciate the author taking the time to fully develop them.

The climax was exciting and most of all scary! I am very easily frightened, but I still thought the imagery was creepy and gory enough to give anyone nightmares. I wasn’t thrilled that the book wasn’t a standalone, but I’m hooked now and I’ll have to see how the story of Bloody Mary and Shawna and her friends conclude.

4/5 Stars

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