Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre

Published: 2014
Publisher: Audible/Macmillan Audio
Author's Website
Format: Audiobook, Unabridged
Series: Immortal Game
Narration by: Susan Hanfield

Introduction

Edie Kramer has been pushed into despair by her cruel classmates. On a bridge, a mysterious young man makes a deal with her: three wishes, which she will then repay later with three favours. There's a game afoot around her, played by the immortals in the mortal world. While Edie craves revenge on her classmates, the people around her are tormented by unexplainable events. The paranormal threatens Edie and those she cares about. The mysterious and beautiful man who made the deal with her seems to want to help her, but he is also a pawn in the game. Can Edie trust him? Is there a way out of the game after she made the deal? Luckily, Edie is exceptionally intelligent.

Bullying and Revenge

The set us is that Edie was severely bullied the year before, and she's out for revenge this year. The revenge plot quickly falls apart, though, and it was disappointing. I wanted to see her either rise above the bullies or get any kind of revenge! So, the book blurb isn't really true. It's more about different immortal factions playing a game, and us humans are pawns to be controlled and moved.

Emily is not impressed at Edie's amateur attempts. 

Essay Ideas

Faustian deals with the devil? I can only think of The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. Bullying, revenge, the paranormal, privilege? Hell vs Wedderburn, Mawer & Graf? Urban myths and mythology in contemporary fiction? Relationships with parents (I once wrote an essay regarding a protagonist's agency in conjunction to if their parents were alive or not (Harry Potter, Lyra Belacqua, etc.) and once you read this book to the end, it fits PERFECTLY).

Length

Plot gets bogged down with the paranormal aspects. There are a few characters I'd cut for wordcount/character count. The book dragged on far too long. I tried to listen to this audiobook years ago and I couldn't finish it. I'm glad I did, but I wouldn't call this a short read.

Horror Aspect

There are some horror elements that I appreciated, but I've never seen this recommended for anyone looking for horror. There are creepy "monsters" wreaking havoc and bodily harm, and some body horror.

Final Thoughts

Personally, I thought it was a great book, though the book blurb doesn't serve the actual plot.

Looking into the book, it seems that a lot of people have problems with the concept of beauty fixing all the world's problems, and that this book promotes the wrong idea of beauty. I don't agree -- I think Edie chose to be transformed because she wanted to be pretty, not because the author/Edie thinks being pretty is above intelligence. (And I thought it was great that she is still recognizable, not moulded into a movie star.) I think she did it for herself, and second to that, she could get close to the popular kids at school and get her revenge. Plus, all through the book, we hear about Edie being exceptionally intelligent, so it's not saying that Edie has no other qualities. She is also empathetic towards people who have done her wrong. So, other readers might not like the message about beauty.

I don't believe in trigger warnings, and I don't believe in censorship, but this does deal with suicide, depression, bullying, death, etc., which some readers might dislike.

Perhaps some people might not like the idea of dealing with otherwordly beings.

In conclusion, if your library has a strong collection development policy, I'd include it in a library.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Blood of Eden

The Immortal Rules * The Eternity Cure * The Forever Song 

Dawn of Eden

Published: 2012
Publisher: Audible
Author's Website 
Format: Audiobook, Unabridged
Series: Blood of Eden
Narration by: Thérèse Plummer

Introduction 

In a dystopian future, a disease called "Red Lung" wiped out most of the humans. Now, vampires reign and humans are used for their blood. Cities are walled and humans who do not feed the vampires--unregistereds--are unsupported and starving. Allie is unregistered, hating the vampires to her core, living with her small group of fringe scavengers to survive. In addition to vampires, there are rabids--crazed monsters that didn't quite become vampires in the turning process. During a scavenging outing gone terribly wrong, Allie has to make a terrible decision.

Eventually, all alone in the world, she tries to find a purpose. From a band of humans, she learns of Eden, a place free from vampires.

Protagonist

Allie is a rough scavenger. She talks back, is sarcastic, and wields a katana. She does have a nice side; teaching others to read, making sure Stick doesn't starve, and going out of her way to help even the people that hate her. She is definitely not passive and it is refreshing.

The Love Interest

I wasn't too attached to him. Everyone hates vampires without question, kind of like how everyone hates the pixies in Carrie Jone's Need series. You love someone, they hate what you are. At what point do you throw up your hands, call them a bigot, and tell them to save themselves? And Allie isn't a damsel in distress in this book. She has a sword and will kick butt. She does more than her share of saving others, all while hiding what she is.

Essay Topics

Discrimination (humans vs vampires OR vampires vs humans) would be a very easy one, and it can be paired with Wicked, Need, or pretty much any other YA paranormal book. You could also look at vampire depictions across different genres/publication dates/marketed audience. These vampires are ruthless monsters. Twilight, not so much. Interview with a vampire, they can be, but they are very Romanticized. Depending on the story, vampires represent many different types of real-life fears, and you can tie in some film clips, if you have to present the argument (the film rights have been sold, but we will probably have to wait a while before it is released).

Worst character award goes to:

Stick.

Morgan has his stick.

Rafiki has his stick.

This Stick, is not good.

Second to Stick in the worst character award:

Ruth.

Final Thoughts

An interesting mix of paranormal and dystopian fiction with a female protagonist that can hold her own and vampires that don't suck (har-har). Julie Kagawa is a popular YA author, so I see no reason to exclude this book from a YA section. I hope to alternate between this series and the Immortal Game series by Ann Aguirre.

Secrets in the Attic by Virginia Andrews / Andrew Neiderman

Virginia Andrews also published under V.C. Andrews
This was actually written by ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman

Published: 1979/1997? Conflicting dates.
Publisher: Pocket Books
Author's Goodreads Page
Ghostwriter's Website

Quick Review

Karen and Zipporah are best friends, hanging out in Zipporah's attic, making fun of their classmates and talking about boys. When Karen's life seems to unravel, Zipporah is concerned and tries to get to the truth.

But Karen's story isn't so black and white. 

Young Adult Literature?

Goodreads has this listed as YA, which is why I am including it here. I don't know how this was marketed back when it was published. Just because you have two main characters who are teens does not mean that it is a good example of YA literature. Why do I say this? Because these teens do not act nor speak like teens. They speak like my grandmother would write or describe formally, which is not how young people speak, even in 1979 or 1997. This is sad. None of the teens described are really good depictions of young adults. It reads more like how an adult, who doesn't know any better, would say teens act. Times do change, and I wasn't around in 1979, but the writing is awful either way (in a fight, would you say someone "embraced" your legs, or someone "grabbed" your legs?), and I suspect some actual teens might find it off-putting. 

And about the writing: say KAREN one more time, I swear.

Library Inclusion

I wouldn't buy this for a library, unless, for some reason, Virginia Andrews (of Flowers in the Attic fame) becomes popular again (and you want even the books she didn't actually write but has her name on the cover). The slow unravelling of deceit was alright, but the poor characterization of two teens doesn't make it worthwhile to me.

Below I have a spoiler for something that bothered me in the epilogue, if anyone is interested. Aside from that, this review is done, so you can stop reading it now if you don't want to spoil anything.

  










The Epilogue

Everyone figures out Karen is a manipulator and liar. Why doesn't Zipporah bring up that Karen SAID she slept with two other men, instead of letting her brother's name be dragged through the mud? Karen's mom may be right about who the father is, but we're just not going to bring up any other names in this? No? Anyone? Ok. I don't know if they had paternity tests whenever this is supposed to take place (and I don't care too much to research it), so they'd never really know the truth. I just found the absurdity of the ending to be lazy writing so Karen can be reborn "into the family".  

The Siren by Kiera Cass

Published: January 26th 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Author's Website

Introduction

The Ocean calls them to ships or the sites of disasters to bring a mass of people into their watery graves by singing to them. Kahlen was one of those who heard the sirens' song, and the Ocean decided to keep her, making her siren for 100 years. Along with her siren sisters, she serves Her, the Ocean, through the decades. Kahlen struggles to do what she must, but she obeys because once her sentence is over, she can have a normal life. Fall in love, have a family, go to school, use her voice to communicate. And then a boy stumbles (or perhaps jitterbugs) into her life, and he throws her plans--and the Ocean's--into disorder. 

Genre/Demographic

This book was an interesting mix. It definitely was fantasy (sirens), romance, and it has mass death in it, plus the emotions of being part of that.

While this does fall into the category of  YA on Goodreads, I'd say this is more for an older YA audience, but not quite new adult. There's implied physical relationships, alcohol consumption (but only a bit from the narrator), and most of all, the scenes of shipwrecks. Cass doesn't describe drowning, but you get the horror of a huge ship capsizing with no survivors. The MC, Kahlen, fills in the blanks for the reader by relating the huge amount of guilt she carries, and how she'd rather look away. I think the way the author wrote this so delicately really lets the reader's imagination do its job, and it's so much better than describing it in detail.

It was also a fast read--I was able to read most of it in one day when I was volunteering at a reception desk. I appreciated that the book doesn't dwell on details like the houses they live in, clothes they wear, partying, etc., which I believe are some complaints that Cass gets for her other series, The Selection (the film rights were sold for a film for this in 2015, if you are interested). Each of Kahlen's sisters is unique with their hobbies and mannerisms, and I enjoyed reading about all of them. We get just enough of everything to fill in ourselves and continue on.

Insta-Love

10 days.

That's how long they knew each other for.

10.

Days.

No. 

This is from page 160 of the 2016 paperback (I blacked out the love-interest's name). I got serious Edward Cullen vibes. What's with people thinking this is endearing?

Essay Ideas

An easy idea is to compare this to other mermaid/siren stories, such as the Han's Christian Andersen fable, Amanda Hocking's Watersong Series (which I reviewed some of), Forgive My Fins, and...that's all I can think of. But Goodreads has these two lists: YA Mermaid Novels and Best Mermaid Books.  

Some more ideas can be an exploration of the Enthralling Siren trope and the Femme Fatale trope, as I don't necessarily think they fit the bill for it (reluctant femme fatales?). A paper can probably be written about the subversion of these tropes.   

A bigger topic can be exploring nature personified (the Ocean, which is so motherly She gets unbearable sometimes). 

Upcoming Mermaid Films

Like Mermaid films?

Three "Little Mermaid" Movies are in the Works

2018 film (Wikipedia)

Final Thoughts

It is the most mature book on sirens/mermaids I have read thus far. I recommend it for an older YA audience. I suspect that a younger audience might become bored. Cass is a popular author, so I think including this in the YA section of a library is an easy yes. 

The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

Published: February 6th 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen
Author's Website

Introduction

Brienna's grandfather has placed her in Magnalia House, a boarding house to intensively study one of the five passions: art, music, wit, theatre, or knowledge. The problem is, at 10 years old, she doesn't have an innate ability in any of the passions. Her grandfather convinces the Dowager (headmistress) to take her, even when they were already full. All she knows is that it has something to do with her mysterious father. Ardens (students) live and learn at Magnalia House for 7 years, and Brienna must master a talent and secure a patron (an employer). Obtaining a patron doesn't go as planned, but she does become entangled in politics from the neighbouring country, Maevana. Maevana was once ruled by queens, and is now ruled by a ruthless king. The queen is rising, and Brienna finds herself part of the uprising.  

IF YOU'RE READING A PRINT COPY, DON'T READ THE FAMILY TREE IN THE FIRST FEW PAGES. Seriously, it's like putting Luke Skywalker's family tree before the scrolling wall of text.

Similar Stories/Essay Ideas

The easiest thing to compare this to is Divergent. Brienna doesn't have more than one talent, but I think she benefits from knowing a bit about each one. There also isn't much on the line for her if she fails to passion (become a master), other than being embarrassed and going home, not like in Divergent. Harry Potter comes to mind as well, as Houses are separated by personality. I don't tend to read many stories that separate their people like this, so this is all I have.

Feminist matriarchies come to mind as well, as Maevana has always had queens, and they highly respect their women. An essay can easily be written about feminism or matriarchies. 

Romance

There is a romance that is a bit problematic. The romance of Brienna's story doesn't take up much space, but it's there. This part of the story might bother some people.  

SPOILERS AHEAD!

I have a problem with who Brienna ends up with. He seems to be a fine young man, but the issue is that he IS A YOUNG MAN. At the end, Brienna is 18. He is 26. If that was it, I don't have much of an issue with it. But he was her teacher. There's a major power imbalance. He doesn't act on his feelings until she's about to leave. Ok... but he knew her when she was 10, and he was a teacher. Something about this is so skeevy. It didn't seem that he was grooming her, and he only taught her for her last two to three years. It also didn't help that the audiobook makes him sound like an old man. Anakin and Padme is so close to this. At least she wasn't his teacher. 

End of Spoilers 

Final Thoughts

It was a great book! The author has stated on Goodreads that there is a second book coming out next year. There's action, school drama (at the beginning), a tiny sprinkling of romance, some mystery, a tiny bit of magic, and a bit of simple politics. I liked how it wasn't a YOU'RE THE CHOSEN ONE, BRIENNA, story. A queen is rising, she's not the queen. It makes the rest of us pleebs feel good. I see no reason to keep this from a library collection. 

A Monster Calls Film, Book to Film Adaption

A Monster Calls book review

This 2016 adaption of Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls was alright. I'll make this quick review based on my thoughts about it being shown in a library or having it in the collection. 

Library Showing

I think the problem with this film is similar to what I also believe is an issue with the book (perhaps): most adults can enjoy it, because adults can theoretically relate to dying before their children. Teens, though, I think the book might not connect with everyone unless they are dealing with a parent that is ill. Honestly, I don't think I would have connected with the book at all when I was the target demographic. I'm fairly certain I would have found it childish. Like the film, there's something childish about Conor that I found off-putting. But as an adult, I can appreciate what he's going through. 

Ultimately, I don't think it would hold the interest of teens, unless you can find a group of them that WANT to see it together.

Library Collection 

Why not? I suppose someone might be upset by the bullying. It wouldn't go in the children's department, and I never hear of teens' sections having AV materials. There shouldn't be too much trouble putting it in the regular film collection. 

Other Thoughts

The three stories are animated instead of live action. I think the animation is good, but it's jarring. I get why they did it for the narrative, though. 

The monster was interesting. I suppose it is like most films where you get to see the monster up close and regularly: it becomes familiar and no longer frightening. 

There's a lot of scenes that adults get how good they were filmed.

I felt that it was an ok film, and I'm a little disappointed, but it did convey the story nicely. No reason not to include it in your collection, though it is a few years old now. I'm waiting on the Chaos Walking Trilogy to be filmed. 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

A Monster Calls film review 

Published: August 27th 2013
Publisher: Candlewick Press

Author's Website

Introduction

Every night at 12:07, a monster comes to13-year-old Conor. It wants stories, to tell them, and to hear them. The ancient creature wants Conor's story, a truth that the boy refuses to acknowledge. The monster began coming after Conor's mother started another round of treatments at the hospital. He has become That Kid, and he despises how other people treat him differently. Without his father in his life, he is left with his maternal grandmother, a woman detached from her grandson. And the monster continues to call, demanding to be heard.

Male Protagonist

I originally found Ness years ago when I was looking for books that have believable male main characters, preferably written by male authors. In this regard, this book doesn't disappoint. I appreciated that Conor, as a boy, handles his grief, and bullying, and family issues, differently compared to a girl. I suspect there's more literature with girl MCs in this genre. I find that sometimes male characters are written like tom-boy girls or the author's lay on the masculinity THICK. I recommend this for male readers who really don't want to read books with female leads. 

Essay Ideas/Grief and Mourning books

Without directly saying it in the novel, Conor's mom is going through cancer treatments. This may put this book on the "sick lit" category, but Ness handles this very delicately, and it is not the MC that is ill. Another book that it can be compared/contrasted to is Shoulder the Sky. I see that it is often on the same lists as The Fault in Our Stars, but Monster Calls is about when a parent has an illness. I think it would still be an excellent candidate for an essay discussion. 

Book Riot has a list of 6 YA Novels About Grief and Mourning that should be helpful. Aside from Fault, I haven't read them (though they are now on my Goodreads list). 

Other topics could be fear (about the future, mortality), family, and magical realism. An essay I would love to see would be looking at monsters in literature and their psychological symbolism (Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, dragons, dementors, Cthulhu, Mr. Hyde, zombies, etc.). 

Film

Update: I reviewed it here. For now, have a Gif from the film!

It's ok, it's just a giant hand.

Final Thoughts 

This is a very touching book about a very difficult, but real situation a young person (or anyone) can find themselves in. I don't see a reason why this shouldn't be in a library collection. Not only is Ness a gifted writer (The Chaos Walking trilogy is one of my favourite sets of books), it's a book that may be helpful to someone, or they may relate to it. It's also a tear-jerker, if you feel like you haven't had a good cry lately. 

Keeper by Kim Chance

Published: January 30, 2018
Publisher: Flux Books/Northern Star Editions
Author's Youtube

Introduction

Lainey thought the SATs were the worst thing in her life. Then, a 200-year-old witch attacks her in a parking lot. The witch shows up, bleeding, scaring the bejesus out of her. She also meets a handsome new boy. Then, everything she thought she knew about her life gets blown out of the water -- the world of the magical rises up and threatens everything she has known. To avoid the evil that is pursuing her, she will have to: 1. Believe in the unbelievable, and 2. Be stronger than she ever thought possible.

Beginning 

The beginning was boring, I'll say it here. I'm surprised, with all the beta readers she has listed, that this is what was published. I really had to make myself keep reading. The ending was a huge payoff for my efforts, but seriously, the beginning and most of the middle was a slog to get through. I considered abandoning the book. I had been watching Chance's Youtube channel for a while now, and I know she's better than this lousy beginning.

Atmosphere/Overall Feel

This book is mostly a Buffy the Vampire Slayer kind of romp. Which isn't bad, but it's predictable. I was hoping for a bit more horror. We get a bit of that in the beginning, with the bloody witch following Lainey around. But where does this happen? In a parking lot of a comic book store. That's terribly mundane. Most of the novel takes place in familiar settings such as: parking lots, cars, and home. Sometimes they go to a bookstore, and hey, they go to the cemetery a couple of times.

There is also a lot of comic book and general nerd references from best friend Maggie all the time. I didn't mind the references, but Maggie's catchphrase got old real fast.

Insta-Love 

Although the term "love" isn't thrown around much until the latter half of the book, here is another pot of instant love/love at first sight. I'm sick of this. I get that younger people tend to be smitten, but how naive do we all think young adults are?

The Good Parts

I know I'm throwing this book to the wolves. There were some great parts. Unfortunately, I don't want to spoil the entire latter portion of the book. However, the pace picks up, the stakes are raised, and Lainey stops being so bloody mopy/dramatic. There are many moments where my cold, frozen heart started to melt with the sad turn of events--and there are many!

At the end, there's a major betrayal. On par with the movie Frozen. All I'm going to say is that someone needs to get revenge in the next book.

Final Thoughts

I'm glad I made it to the end. I'm sure her sequel will be better, as the world building and set up are done. Would I recommend it for a library purchase? Sure. Librarians don't need to adore every book in their collection. There isn't anything subjectively offensive (blood happens, and that's all I can recall), and a few mild swears. I'd say if someone asks for it, buy a copy and put it in your collection. When the sequel is released, read that, and maybe the series will begin to sway you.

I did, however, notice two mistakes in the writing. Why does this happen? Self-published books that are put out way too soon, I see why it happens (still not saying it's ok, btw). Keeper has a traditional publication, with an editor!

WHYYYYY?

Lilo basically sums up my thoughts for this book. Great premise, boring beginning, two writing mistakes, but a great ending, and a desire to read more of the good writing.

The Ravenous by Amy Lukavics

Published: September 26, 2017
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Introduction

The Cranes are a family of five sisters that look picture-perfect from the outside. What the world doesn’t know is that their home life is less than ideal. When tragedy strikes, it threatens to rip their world apart, but their mother steps in with a mysterious fix that has disastrous consequences. The dead don’t have to stay dead, for a price.

NB: If you don’t want spoilers, don’t read the book blurb! I know the jacket blurb isn’t up to the author, so she gets a pass. It’s a poor decision on the publisher’s part to spoil the entire plot if you read the dust jacket. I’m very glad I didn’t read the whole thing before I read the book.

Family Dynamics/Characters

The Cranes are so dysfunctional it’s hard to read at times. If you’re looking for a book to compare and/or contrast family life in literature, this is a good pick as there is lots of evidence. The mother is mentally ill and an addict, and not equipped to be a caregiver. The maternal responsibilities fall to the eldest daughter, Juliet, which causes resentment. Next in line is Taylor, who cannot separate herself from Juliet, and she really doesn’t have any other outstanding character traits. Anya uses...illicit substances, but is otherwise fine. Mona, the main character, has her own problems. The youngest, Rose, is too young to have any real problems, yet, and she is loved by the family. Their father is in the military and is deployed or otherwise engaged outside of the house.

What I did like about this family is how each of the characters has their own personalities. Have you ever read a book that has many characters but they are all flat? Where you could easily cut 50% of the characters because they don’t add anything? It is not the case for this book, as all of the characters add something and move the plot forward.

Writing

Just as with The Women in the Walls, the horror scenes were fantastic. They elicited a visceral reaction that you don’t always get with horror novels. Unlike The Women in the Walls, the other writing was mostly improved. When there wasn’t guts and gore being thrown around, the story was just as engaging. My only point of contention here is the swearing. Yes, young people swear. It’s true! But it’s inserted in here so much it’s awkward. It’s a part of speech that needs to flow, but it’s jarring here and disrupts the regular patterns of speech.

I do have to say, the inciting incident was poorly written. It is reminiscent of a main character’s death in Sever. I stopped and asked, what actually happened? I can’t envision it. It’s also unbelievable. I can think of a few ways to at least make it more believable, but we got what we got, and it’s disappointing.

Military Aspect

I had written A LOT on this, and ultimately, I took off a star from my review. I have chosen to remove the critical bits because the last thing we need is the military calling my husband because they don't like what I wrote on the internet. I'll only give my briefest comments, but it is something that really took the novel down a peg for me.

The Cranes live on a military base, but it is evident that the author doesn’t have substantial knowledge of the military. Maybe don’t rely on only one person to give you info for the setting of a book. There are many parts of this novel that I cringed so hard because it was wrong by varying degrees. Every gif is at least a paragraph that I removed.

The end. I rolled my eyes so hard it’s a miracle I can still see. The military police would have been involved MUCH more than the regular police. You live on base, that’s it. And in all probability, their dad wouldn't have his job anymore. That's all I say.

The dad being deployed/posted, considering their family situation. Unlikely. All this information is readily available on the internet, btw.

Yeah, there was more. This whole page would be gifs if I kept going. So, below are some spoilers. Feel free to go to the Final Thoughts.

Other Issues

I expected THEM to drive the convertible to their mom and Harlow to see what was keeping their mom/get the cure themselves. To me, this is the obvious course of action that just isn’t taken. I don’t recall it ever being suggested, either.

End of Spoilers

Final Thoughts

Despite all the gripes I have against the setting, and some of the holes I found, I really did like this book. Could it be better? Yes. (Instead of the military setting, he could travel internationally for business.) Aside from the compare and contrast with this dysfunctional family, I can’t think of other ways to utilize this for academic work. The military aspect should have been axed-Lukavics needs to stick with what she knows if she can’t be bothered to research properly. But for a horror story with a dysfunctional family, it was great. If your library is alright with horror for a YA audience, such as Lukavic's other book, Women in The Walls, I recommend this book.

The Women in the Walls by Amy Lukavics

Published: 2016

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Author’s Website: http://www.amylukavics.com
On Goodreads
My Review on Goodreads

Setting

The book is set in a Victorian mansion in contemporary times. It is a great setup for a horror story: lots of space (dark halls, empty rooms, attics, repetitive wallpaper, fireplaces in the rooms), no neighbours (particularly isolated), and surrounded by woods. There is a hint of female madness, men trying to keep control, ghosts, disappearances, all the good stuff.

Essay prompt: Gothic tropes in literature - compare the classic Bran Stoker’s Dracula (1897) or any literary gothic horror (this whole list is available from Goodreads and has great suggestions) with The Women in the Walls (a “then vs now” comparison for gothic themes would be great).

However, I feel like this book could have been set 100 years ago, and it would have been more dynamic because of gender roles. But you can’t conveniently boot up the computer and Google your house LIKE YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE THAT BEFORE.

Essay prompt: The Women in the Walls vs The Yellow Wallpaper or Jane Eyre and madness with gender (women’s power vs the infantilization of women).

Characters 

Overall, the book did have some memorable characters. The further you go away from the protagonist, Lucy, the better the characters are developed. 

To begin with, the book doesn’t take enough time to set up the characters and bonds before those characters begin to be plucked off. Why do I care if a character goes missing in the first few pages of the book? I feel like I am supposed to care, but I can’t. More time should have been given to conveying them to the reader. 

The main character, Lucy, doesn’t have a consistent character. I know at 17 you are still figuring that out, but what are her hobbies, her fears, her hopes, her manner of speaking, etc.? She self-mutilates, but that really shouldn’t be the only thing we know about her. (Plus, please don’t think that someone who cuts is this simple and flat. People who genuinely start cutting do so for very complex reasons.) She’s entrenched in the Acosta’s legacy. She seems unreasonable to her father (even though, yes, a lot of what is going on needs to be questioned) and that’s the only consistencies I could find. She mostly lets the plot happen to her, which gets old. 

Her father seems to have more of a defined character than Lucy. Margaret was an unlikable character, but she had more character than Lucy. Perhaps Lucy is a Mary Sue, which is an avatar for the author. The country club’s wives, their husbands, the new cook, the supernatural presence, all have more character than the main character. 

Writing

When the author isn’t writing about something scary, the writing isn’t the best. The sentences could be tighter and clearer. I found as I was reading them, my brain was automatically correcting the sentences. However, I have read that her latest book, The Ravenous, is a much better example of good writing, and I look forward to reading it (I actually own all three of her currently published books already). I want to stress that when Lukavics does write the “scary” passages, they are genuinely unsettling. Because those passages are so engaging, the book was a quick read that didn’t make me want to skim. 

Final Verdict 

The main character’s lack of individuality and inability to move the plot herself is frustrating, it may turn off some readers. With the addition of the non-horror sections not being especially well-crafted, I can see this be disappointing to some readers. However, I do recommend it for its horror qualities. Plus, it is a fast, engaging read. If your library isn’t squeamish about horror, non-suicidal self-injury, and gore, I recommend this. This book can be very versatile for high school essays (if you’re a teacher who is adamant about pushing the classics, pair this book with a literary classic). I also think Lukavics is an author to watch, if the reviews for The Ravenous are to be believed (and I will be starting that book tomorrow). Overall, I enjoyed my time with this book and I will be keeping it on my shelf.