Haunted Mansion: Storm & Shade by Claudia Gray

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Spooky fun!
Audrey Perez, her brother and their parents are moving to New Orleans and she will be attending a girls only private high school. Audrey doesn’t want to leave her old house or her boyfriend Chase behind but her family is hoping that the move will help her anxiety.
Audrey accidentally finds a haunted mansion and thinks she hears her boyfriend’s voice calling to her from inside, so she goes in. Once she enters, she’s enthralled by the atmosphere and the library. Audrey gets possessed by three spirits, one at a time, a guitarist, a ship captain, a jazz loving evil man and each spirit helps her find a key. Once she starts collecting the keys, she sees and feels an ominous fog coming for her.

Likes/dislikes: I like the spookiness level of the book. I found the possessive spirits interesting because they were each unique. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the story.
Language: PG-13 for 10 swears, no f-words.
Mature Content: G for holding hands.
Violence: PG for danger.
Ethnicity: Audrey Perez is of Spanish descent. Tatum Stewart is Scottish. Iris Boone is African American.

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons

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Japanese mythology in a YA horror tale!

17yo Madeline is swimming laps in the empty pool when she sees a boy that shouldn’t be there. The boy looks like an emaciated Ian, her friend who died four years ago. Emerson lives for video gaming and when she sees a sickly Ian trying to get to her, she panics. Dax takes a break from playing his guitar at the coffee shop and while he’s in the bathroom, a ghost creeps out of the toilet and beckons him to gather The Foxtail Five. As Owen acts on stage, he sees Ian, so he runs after him and realizes that it’s not Ian. It’s actually a demon. The four friends meet up and learn they have to defeat seven challenges presented by Japanese Shinigami and receive a stone for each one before they can reach Ian and save him from the demonic spirits.

Likes/dislikes: I like the concept of the characters going on a quest to save their friend from the Japanese underworld. The book didn’t keep my interest like I thought it would. The creepiness made the story more fun.
Mature Content: PG for kissing.
Language: R for 32 swears and 5 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: Madeline is Black. Ian and Emerson are white. Dax has brown skin. Owen is Japanese American.

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

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Retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death!
18yo Seraphina lives trapped in Eldridge Hall with the Royal Family, servants and courtiers since the plague began three years ago. Seraphina masquerades as Princess Imogen after the real princess died four years ago. The Royal sisters were terrified of how the king would react if he discovered Imogen’s death so the sisters found a look alike Jewish girl, Seraphina, and took her away from her family. She’s been Imogen ever since. 19yo Nico goes to Eldridge Hall to see if there are any survivors. He soon discovers that the man who saved him from the mori roja plague years ago, and who claims to be helping plague survivors, is really a monster. Now Nico is compelled to save everyone he can in and around Eldridge Hall.

Likes/dislikes: I love retellings and this is based on Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death with added supernatural and historical elements. The author shares her background and reasoning for creating this story and I’m impressed with her forethought and hindsight. Wonderful characters bring the book to life.
Mature Content: PG for kissing
Language: R for 43 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for deaths.
Ethnicity: Royal family falls to white. Jewish descendants Seraphina and Dalia have olive skin. Lord Greymont has bronze skin. Elisabeth has olive skin. A dark skinned man is mentioned. Colin has brown skin.

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Chilling twist!
Two survivors of a murder spree, 18yo Sloan and 18yo Cherry were the only ones left alive after a group of masked killers arrived in the summer camp where they worked and ended everyone’s lives except those of the two young women. Sloan leans heavily on Cherry to keep her afloat but when possible secrets come to light, Sloan feels the need to find the truth about the reasons behind the murders on her own. She reaches out to the sister of the lead killer, the only other person alive after the murders. She reaches out to the imprisoned killer himself too. What Sloan discovers is beyond her comprehension.

Likes/dislikes: I like the complexity of the cult guilty of the crimes and their backstory. The story has a good twist. I enjoyed the author’s writing in portraying feelings of betrayal and manipulation by others.
Language: R for 97 swears and 71 f-words.
Mature content: PG-13 for implied sex and underage drinking.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Rahul is Indian. Beckett , Kevin, Sloan, Dahlia and Anise are white. Cherry has peach skin. Hannah is Korean American. Shane and Ronnie are Black. Connor has brown skin.

What Happened on Hicks Road by Hannah Jayne

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Creepy read!

A group of friends drives to Hicks Road one dark night for some spooky fun. When 17yo Lennox sees a blonde girl dart in front of her car and she feels the thump of a hit, she stops the car to look for the girl. Her friends reassure her that it must have been a deer and that they didn’t see anything. Lennox is worried that she’s becoming schizophrenic like her mother and starting to hallucinate. Being new in town, Lennox doesn’t know her friends well at all and when they tell her over and over that she didn’t hit a person, she believes them.

Likes/dislikes: I like how the author created the uncertainty of whether or not the main character is reliable. The setting is wonderfully spooky. The unstable family life of the main character is an interesting part of the story.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied drug use; kissing.
Language: R for 27 swears and 2 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for hit and run.
Ethnicity: Allison has tanned skin. Falls to white.

The Woods are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins

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A creepy thriller!
18yo Josie and 18yo Neena are going on a hiking trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian Trail. They want to make this last trip together before they head different directions when college starts. The two best friends start off excited about the hike until they become unsure of the trail. When Josie falls in a sinkhole and Neena leaves to get help, they’re both visited by men that may or may not want to help them. Their friendship, determination and perseverance are put to the test and they have to rely on their intuition to get back home.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed reading about the description of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I like how the strength of friendship is portrayed. A creepy thriller that gave me chills.
Language: R for 104 swears and 30 f-words.
Mature Content: R for implied masturbating, “It took a moment to process what was in his hand, pink and fat and wormlike.”
Violence: R for bloody shootings, bloody murder, implied rape and murder, kidnapping, bear attack.
Ethnicity: The ethnicity falls to white but includes East Asian hikers, Josie is white and Neena is Indian American.

Missing Dead Girls by Sara Walters

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Twisted mean girl behavior turns into deadly deception!
The book opens with a text accusation and a photo of a dead body that states, “Tillie Gray killed Madison Frank”. Time moves back to when 17yo Tillie moves to Willow Creek and she’s trying to find her place in this new town. For some reason that Tillie can’t comprehend, Madison befriends her and they become more than friends. Both girls have secrets that they’re keeping that could destroy their lives. Little by little, the secrets are revealed and they’ll need to decide how far they will go to keep their secrets hidden.

Likes/dislikes: A very ominous ending left me with a feeling of mean girls to the core in this book. The premise is creepy and disturbing. I like the author’s notes that state how important each of us are, and our experiences are valid, and we’re all deserving of respect and love.
Mature Content: R for detailed sex (violates Utah legislation HB-374), underage drinking, drug use.
Language: R for 77 swears and 79 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death and murder suicide.
Ethnicity: Sienna has brown skin , Emma is white, Madison is white, Gigi is Korean American.

Holly Horror by Michelle Jabes Corpora

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Ghoulish Ghosts!
16yo Evie and 10yo Stan just moved into Hobbie House in Ravenglass, Massachusetts with their divorced mother. The locals call it Horror House because of a death and disappearance happening to its residents. The story alludes to something that happened to Evie in the past and one of the reasons the family of three moved to have a better life. Evie sees a shadow, hears voices and sees creepy things that make her feel that the house is haunted. When the hauntings start taking over her life, danger comes for Evie and Stan. When Stan goes missing, Evie does everything in her power to find him.
Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the spookiness of the story. I like how the author portrayed each family member as individuals with different personalities and issues. I like the evolution of the mystery.
Language: PG for 22 swears and no f-words.
Mature Content: PG for brief kiss.
Violence: PG for mention of death by shotgun wound, no details.
Ethnicity: Evie is white. Desmond is black. Tina is Latina and Birdie is Korean.

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Another great book with a twist!
Mariana reminisces about her late husband and their memories as she tries to hang onto him a little longer. She’s a group therapist and has one patient she and the group struggle with, Henry. Henry has anger issues and was overcoming the extreme childhood abuse inflicted by his father until he began college. Then college overwhelmed him. Marina has a niece, Zoe, who’s attending Cambridge and calls Mariana when her friend Tara goes missing. As Mariana is traveling on a train to meet Zoe, she encounters Fred, a young man who kindly insists that they will meet again. After Mariana arrives at the college, she’s pulled into a belief that a professor is a murderer and she wants to prove it and goes to great lengths to do so as young women are murdered. The story alternates with the background of an abused victim and eventually the reader learns who it is. Another great book with a twist from Alex Michaelides, 5 stars!

You Won’t Believe Me by Cyn Balog

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Interesting ending!
17yo Willow wakes up chained to a bed in a house she doesn’t recognize. She doesn’t understand her circumstances or surroundings but her memories come back a little at a time. Her captor tells her the pandemic has gotten worse and created zombies and the only way they can stay safe is to stay away from the rest of civilization, if there’s anyone else alive. Willow goes along with it all until things don’t seem to be adding up. When Willow makes a few discoveries of her own, she becomes determined and desperate to escape.
Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the details about the Everglades. This is a quick read book. The storyline is interesting, especially the ending.
Language: R for 62 swears and 1 f-word.
Mature Content: PG for kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for abduction, gaslighting, catfishing, bloody deaths, electric shock.