The Haunted by Danielle Vega is by far my favorite work from her so far. This is Vega at her best. Her previous YA horror books were insanely gory but this one is more suspenseful and creepy. The Haunted was your typical ghost story. A family moves into a house that turns out to be haunted, it doesn't really break any new ground when it comes to that. Honestly, this had the feel of an episode of Supernatural minus Sam and Dean lol.
The story follows Hendricks Becker-O’Malley, a girl with a mysterious past who moves with her parents and little brother to a town named Drearford. When Henricks starts school she learns that her new house is well known around town. They call it Steele House. Local legend claims that it's haunted but Hendricks isn't so sure.
The opening scene immediately grabbed my attention. I think my exact thoughts were, "uhm YES." It was so easy to fall into the story, and stay in it. The pacing was great, up until the ending. I kind of felt like in the final scene everything was happening too fast and there was just too much going on I almost couldn't keep track of everything. It almost felt rushed and hastily thrown together. I loved the writing though! Vega is a master when it comes to mystery and suspense. She'll always keep you guessing and won't reveal anything too early.
What I didn't like was that some things didn't make sense or weren't followed through completely. For example, there was a scene where Hendricks was injured, she most definitely broke a rib, but then the story jumps to 2 weeks later and she is completely fine??? Not even a mention of a hospital stay?? I call BS!! There were other things as well but I'd rather keep this review light on the spoilers so let's move on.
The Haunted is perfect for any YA horror lover. If you haven't heard of Danielle Vega and are a fan of YA horror then you should definitely check out this book along with her series called The Merciless. Despite the fact that I had some problems with this one I still really enjoyed it and highly recommend.
Available June 4th, 2019
4/5 Stars!
The story follows Hendricks Becker-O’Malley, a girl with a mysterious past who moves with her parents and little brother to a town named Drearford. When Henricks starts school she learns that her new house is well known around town. They call it Steele House. Local legend claims that it's haunted but Hendricks isn't so sure.
The opening scene immediately grabbed my attention. I think my exact thoughts were, "uhm YES." It was so easy to fall into the story, and stay in it. The pacing was great, up until the ending. I kind of felt like in the final scene everything was happening too fast and there was just too much going on I almost couldn't keep track of everything. It almost felt rushed and hastily thrown together. I loved the writing though! Vega is a master when it comes to mystery and suspense. She'll always keep you guessing and won't reveal anything too early.
What I didn't like was that some things didn't make sense or weren't followed through completely. For example, there was a scene where Hendricks was injured, she most definitely broke a rib, but then the story jumps to 2 weeks later and she is completely fine??? Not even a mention of a hospital stay?? I call BS!! There were other things as well but I'd rather keep this review light on the spoilers so let's move on.
The Haunted is perfect for any YA horror lover. If you haven't heard of Danielle Vega and are a fan of YA horror then you should definitely check out this book along with her series called The Merciless. Despite the fact that I had some problems with this one I still really enjoyed it and highly recommend.
Available June 4th, 2019
4/5 Stars!