Reviewed by Marie Robinson for TeensReadToo.com
This is a really spooky book. The prologue had me scratching my head a bit, and I admit that I wasn't sure if I would like the rest of the novel. But it is undeniably creepy, and by the end of chapter one I was hooked.
There are no wasted scenes in this book. Even a ride that two characters take in a car is a chance for character development and flashbacks to flesh out the story. Piece by piece, the terrifying experience that these six kids shared is revealed through a well-crafted plot.
Five years ago, six kids were the only survivors of a fire that took the lives of the adult members of the brainwashing cult in which they lived. "In five years' time, your greatest fear will consume you. It will rob you of your last breath." This is the prophecy that they face today. They manage to escape the cult and try to move on with their lives, but cannot forget those ominous words spoken by their cult leader before his death.
Brought together again under mysterious circumstances, it becomes clear that some of the evil that haunted them from within the cult still runs free. One by one, the friends are killed, in increasingly gruesome ways, while those remaining try to desperately to find some answers and some peace.
With echoes of Edgar Allan Poe, the macabre, murderous details of the plot become a metaphor for these individuals to find control over their own lives, and to live their lives on their terms. The question is: will any of them live long enough to figure out how to do it?
The ending is satisfying, with enough details left open-ended to encourage a sequel. I fully expect to see this story on the big screen.
This is a really spooky book. The prologue had me scratching my head a bit, and I admit that I wasn't sure if I would like the rest of the novel. But it is undeniably creepy, and by the end of chapter one I was hooked.
There are no wasted scenes in this book. Even a ride that two characters take in a car is a chance for character development and flashbacks to flesh out the story. Piece by piece, the terrifying experience that these six kids shared is revealed through a well-crafted plot.
Five years ago, six kids were the only survivors of a fire that took the lives of the adult members of the brainwashing cult in which they lived. "In five years' time, your greatest fear will consume you. It will rob you of your last breath." This is the prophecy that they face today. They manage to escape the cult and try to move on with their lives, but cannot forget those ominous words spoken by their cult leader before his death.
Brought together again under mysterious circumstances, it becomes clear that some of the evil that haunted them from within the cult still runs free. One by one, the friends are killed, in increasingly gruesome ways, while those remaining try to desperately to find some answers and some peace.
With echoes of Edgar Allan Poe, the macabre, murderous details of the plot become a metaphor for these individuals to find control over their own lives, and to live their lives on their terms. The question is: will any of them live long enough to figure out how to do it?
The ending is satisfying, with enough details left open-ended to encourage a sequel. I fully expect to see this story on the big screen.
