Publication: July 11, 2017, by Razorbill
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Horror
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Brooklyn knows that there's no good without evil, no right without wrong. And when a helpless girl calls her teen helpline, whispering that someone is hurting her, Brooklyn knows that she needs to save her anonymous caller, even if it means doing something bad.
Her parents and friends assure her the call was probably a prank but Brooklyn has always had a tendency to take over, whether someone has asked for help or not.
She discovers the call came from Christ First Church and finds herself plunged into the cultish community of its youth group. She's especially drawn to Gavin, the angelic yet tortured pastor's son.
Torn between an unstoppable attraction to Gavin and her obsession with the truth, Brooklyn is forced to make a devastating choice to rid Christ Church of evil once and for all. . . . But the devil has plans for Brooklyn's soul.
My Thoughts:
I love reading series when I own all of the books personally. That way, I'm able to read one after the other, not forgetting what previously happened. There is also no chance of me changing my opinion of a certain genre, which, in this case, is horror. I LOVE HORROR BOOKS. Both horror books and movies, actually. There's no better way to fulfill this obsession and adoration I have than to be immersed in the gorgeous writing of Danielle Vega. Every book in this series has been amazing. When I read the first Merciless story a few years ago, I was ecstatic to read the others in the series, and I agree that it took me too long to do so. NEVERTHELESS, I did read them now, and I now feel that the reading slump I experienced a month ago is long gone. Thank you, Ms. Vega, for showing me what it is like to read an amazing story.
From the start of the novel, we are introduced to Brooklyn, who is a girl trying to help others by starting a teen helpline. On her helpline's first night of debuting, she receives a phone call where she hears a girl calling for help, stating that someone is hurting her. Automatically, Brooklyn becomes interested in helping this girl (with asking for minimal aid from the police), and discovers that the call came from Friend, Mississippi's Christ First Church. While 'investigating,' Brooklyn meets Hope and Gavin, the children of the church's pastor, and becomes immersed in the cultish community of the church, even to the extent that she begins to fall for Gavin. Then, things get insane very quickly.
This third book in the series is actually a prequel to The Merciless, and I must say that it helps us readers truly understand how everything came to be. How the world the book takes place in was able to form, and how the cultish vibes came to be. The protagonist we deal with in this story is Brooklyn, who, in the first novel, is seen as the "weirdo" evil character. Through this story, the audience definitely was able to better understand Brooklyn's character, and partially form a character-reader relationship. I actually grew to like her as a character, even though she took too many risks and did not think rationally, which led her to become involved with the Christ First Church (the cultish church that basically began this series and affected all of the characters). Although she fell heads-over-heels a little too quickly for Gavin, the son of the pastor of the church, she can definitely be classified as a kick-butt character. Kudos to her (but too bad things went SO wrong in this story).
This was one of the most well-written stories I've read in a while. The major perk that allows me to say this is that it is that it practically made me nauseous. Why nauseous, you ask? THE GORE. Every single one of these stories involve some kind of traumatic experience for a character(s) and when these events occur, they will haunt you and give you nightmares. I'm not kidding or am even close to over-exaggerating this. While reading, you'll kind of feel as if what's happening to the characters is (almost) happening to you. Yikes. I also extremely appreciate the fact that every single book in this gorgeous series involves some romance. Because if they were just focused on the horror aspect, I would have to sleep with my lights on, every single night, to help me calm down.
I don't think it's possible to recommend this book and series more. If you haven't heard of this series already, then I am very upset with you and would like to force you to head over to your local bookstore (or online bookstore, haha) and purchase all four (the fourth one just released!) of the books this instant. You will not be disappointed, and if you are, then you're an exception. *winks* Get ready to be scarred, in a good way.
From the start of the novel, we are introduced to Brooklyn, who is a girl trying to help others by starting a teen helpline. On her helpline's first night of debuting, she receives a phone call where she hears a girl calling for help, stating that someone is hurting her. Automatically, Brooklyn becomes interested in helping this girl (with asking for minimal aid from the police), and discovers that the call came from Friend, Mississippi's Christ First Church. While 'investigating,' Brooklyn meets Hope and Gavin, the children of the church's pastor, and becomes immersed in the cultish community of the church, even to the extent that she begins to fall for Gavin. Then, things get insane very quickly.
This third book in the series is actually a prequel to The Merciless, and I must say that it helps us readers truly understand how everything came to be. How the world the book takes place in was able to form, and how the cultish vibes came to be. The protagonist we deal with in this story is Brooklyn, who, in the first novel, is seen as the "weirdo" evil character. Through this story, the audience definitely was able to better understand Brooklyn's character, and partially form a character-reader relationship. I actually grew to like her as a character, even though she took too many risks and did not think rationally, which led her to become involved with the Christ First Church (the cultish church that basically began this series and affected all of the characters). Although she fell heads-over-heels a little too quickly for Gavin, the son of the pastor of the church, she can definitely be classified as a kick-butt character. Kudos to her (but too bad things went SO wrong in this story).
This was one of the most well-written stories I've read in a while. The major perk that allows me to say this is that it is that it practically made me nauseous. Why nauseous, you ask? THE GORE. Every single one of these stories involve some kind of traumatic experience for a character(s) and when these events occur, they will haunt you and give you nightmares. I'm not kidding or am even close to over-exaggerating this. While reading, you'll kind of feel as if what's happening to the characters is (almost) happening to you. Yikes. I also extremely appreciate the fact that every single book in this gorgeous series involves some romance. Because if they were just focused on the horror aspect, I would have to sleep with my lights on, every single night, to help me calm down.
I don't think it's possible to recommend this book and series more. If you haven't heard of this series already, then I am very upset with you and would like to force you to head over to your local bookstore (or online bookstore, haha) and purchase all four (the fourth one just released!) of the books this instant. You will not be disappointed, and if you are, then you're an exception. *winks* Get ready to be scarred, in a good way.
What is a YA series you've read that has been consistently good?
I've heard so many good things about this book series recently. I'm so intrigued by these books. I need to get my hands on a copy so I can give it a go. Thanks for sharing your amazing review.
ReplyDeleteYes, you should read it. :)
ReplyDelete