Amy Lukavics

I don't read a ton of horror, but to me THIS is what I want from YA Horror- atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere. I want creepiness, history, paranormal elements, and SURPRISES. That stuff was all there. I don't think this is going to be something I'll be remembering forever, but it was super entertaining while I was reading it.

Lucy is growing up in a huge, creepy, old house. She lives there, gets tutored there, attends parties there. Everything happens in the house to the point where she's totally isolated from the outside. Her whole world is her aunt (who is more like a mom to her) and her cousin/best friend. One day, her aunt walks into the woods and doesn't come back. Everything changes from there. Margaret starts acting crazy, and her father is carrying on business as usual-- as if his commitments to the "club" are more important than their family.

There were moments that were a tad graphic. Maybe I'm a baby (maybe that's why I don't read a lot of horror??), but I have limits on what I can take when it comes to blood and guts. This didn't cross that line, but it came close.

I was wishing that the characters were a bit more developed. There's a cook and her daughter that move into the house at one point, and I really thought the daughter was going to become a bigger part of the story. This was just one of the many missed opportunities to really take this book to the next level.

I love an ending that doesn't tie every last thing together, but this ending had me turning the last page and looking around like "that's it??!!". I was really engulfed in the story and felt some type of way about the way the ending rushed along. There were THINGS about the house and it's history that could have been explored and explained. There were THINGS about the Acosta family that could have been looked into. The story started to go that way and then BOOM, here's the grand finale.

OVERALL: I feel like this book IS YA Horror. Is it the most memorable book in the world? No. Does it go as deep as I would like it to? No. But it's creepy and addicting and truly embodies the genre it represents. I definitely recommend reading this in anticipation of Halloween, or just for a fun creep-out.

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