Reviews

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh.

Gotta say that I'm really disappointed--never trust the hype! The idea of reading about a girls descent into schizophrenia and the possibility of some demonic possession is so intriguing, but this book didn't deliver that at all. It was a fun(?) read, I guess, but calling this horror or even a thriller is exaggerated. This book definitely has some shiver inducing parts, mostly at the beginning, but any suspense/creepiness/tension that is built up is immediately torn down by shifts in tone and perspective.

I generally found the book to be a mess of things the author wanted to talk about but couldn't pin down. It would have been better to keep it together as a story of a grown up with a childhood recollection of a tragedy that they couldn't comprehend instead of a possession/mental illness/TV show creation/analysis medley that it turned out to be. All the horror gets siphoned out of this book by the authors attempt to include everything and failure to do anything. Even if the book dropped the demonic possession aspect of the story, the idea of having a child witness a sisters collapse into mental illness (especially one that is so ridiculously frightening as schizophrenia) would have been terrifying. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the author spent much time researching the topic to make it a success.

Head nod to all the horror allusions and references (there's even a literary one that I saw coming miles away) but it probably wasn't a great idea to include all the sources you drew, ahem, inspiration from.

Long review short, this book reads like one of the crappier Paranormal Activity sequels (that the author even mentions in the book) with an M. Night like twist but an uncharacteristic to horror resolution. Read if you dare (to be mildly entertained and not at all scared).

PS. 13 bucks for kindle? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?