Horror

Broken Spirits

broken-spirits Broken Spirits by S.A. Hunter

Publication Date: July 31, 2013
Read Date: December 15, 2016

Series: Scary Mary
Book #3

Amazon, Goodreads

This book was even better than the last two and I gave those 5-stars as well. This one brought Kyle, Cy’s older brother, into the picture more, you might remember him as the one who tried to kill Mary when he was possessed in the first book. This time, though, he’s worked really hard at making it up to Mary and being there for her even when she has no idea why he would want to be. He’s popular, he’s cool, he’s cute; why her?

Well now she’s his date to homecoming and needs a dress. There’s nothing quite like a possessed dress to jump you into this ghost story.

“Oh, yeah? Prove it!” Rachel said.
“You secretly like Justin Bieber.”
“Fiend!” Rachel shouted and shook her bells at her.

Dating is very foreign territory for Mary and she treads this terrain with wonderful humor and realistic aspects of what it’s like to start dating for the first time. Like when she asks Kyle out on a movie date because it’s the 21st century and a girl can do that, except she accidentally invites Rachel too and now it’s kind of awkward.

Any nudges or touches from Rach were completely unnoteworthy. On the Kyle side, the merest ruffle of air made her tense up and over analyze it. What did that nudge mean? Was he uncomfortable? Did he want the armrest all to himself?

Girl, same. I’ve definitely had my fair share of movie dates with those thoughts. Onto the story, this one revolves around possession. The Shadowman she thought she defeated is back. It won’t leave her alone. Why can’t she catch a break? It’ll take help from her new friends and a frenemy to get to the bottom of this one.

five-stars

Stalking Shadows

stalking-shadows Stalking Shadows by S.A. Hunter

Publication Date: October 27, 2011
Read Date: December 15, 2016

Series: Scary Mary
Book #2

Amazon, Goodreads

My favorite clairaudient, Mary. Well, she’s the only one I’ve ever read about but I have no doubt that she would still be my favorite. Mary has the perfect amount of sarcasm, wit, sass, however you want to put it, she’s badass and awesome. She’s just trying to survive high school while simultaneously having to listen to some ghosts.

Right off the bat we get my favorite part about this series: Mary’s humor.

“No, we’re dreaming.”
“No, you mean me. I’m dreaming, and you’re the monster in my nightmare.”

In this book, Vicky is in the hospital, in a coma, from a car accident after a date with Cy (gasp!). She’s able to reach out to Mary through her dreams to try to get help because there’s something in the hospital feeding the life source off of unsuspecting patients. She’s scared for her life, and as much as she hates to admit it, she needs Mary, even if they’re basically enemies.

“What made you decide to volunteer at the hospital?”
“Well, I heard Vicky was there in a coma, and I figure this will give me access to her room so I can Sharpie a mustache on her without getting caught.”

Yes, Mary. You get your revenge for the nickname of Scary Mary and every other hell Vicky has put you through.

Rachel is still the greatest best friend who always knows exactly the right words to make you feel better. Especially when the guy you really like starts dating the girl you thought both of you agreed on that you don’t like.

“If they were a couple, Vicky would’ve had T-shirts made. It was probably their first date, and she tricked him into going. He probably thought he was taking her grandpa to the airport or something, and she gave him directions to the movie theater instead, and since she already had pre-purchased tickets, why not go see the movie because both of Vicky’s grandfathers are dead.”

There is also more of Chowder, too, who is like the best ghost dog one could ever ask for!

“Chowder, get in your body. Get in your body now!”

Even if he is being unruly. Gran is also back with a force, helping Mary out even when Mary thinks she doesn’t need the help. There’s this wonderful scene in the hospital with Gran and I’d quote it, but it’s too long and it’d give away how much fun you would have reading it.

This is another awesome 5-star book with a great cast of characters to leave you laughing and crying and begging for more.

five-stars

Scary Mary

scary-mary Scary Mary by S.A. Hunter

Publication Date: August 18, 2010
Read Date: December 10, 2016

Series: Scary Mary
Book #1

THIS. I absolutely adored this short story. Mary is what is deemed a clairaudient. She can’t see ghosts, but she can hear them and speak to them. Growing up in a small town, everyone remembered when she was a kid and used to talk to herself on the playground. She is now labeled as a freak and is bullied in high school. She does her best to look past it, but she can’t help the snarky comments that come out of her from time to time. Who can blame her?

Her best friend, Rachel, is the only friend she has until a new boy starts at the school and takes a liking to her. This all goes downhill when a trip to his house makes her realize his house is haunted, and not by a very nice ghost either.

The humor is awesome; the sarcasm is spot on. Rachel is the greatest. This is honestly a story I would reread over and over because I enjoyed it so much. There’s an invisible dog she plays fetch with, how much more fun can this get? Also, the random ghosts that are anchored throughout the town that she can listen and talk to are so great.

I pulled out one of my favorite quotes from Rachel to Vicky, the resident mean girl:

“Hey Vicky,” Rachel called, “I’m sorry too, but I can’t make it either. I gotta be in Aspen this weekend. You understand, right?”

“So what?” She said. Her voice dripped with disdain.

“Oh, I just wanted to be a part of the rejection. Buh-bye,” she said giving her the beauty queen parade wave.

And then this one from Mary to Vicky:

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fakest of them all? Oh never mind, I see her.”

Those will be even funnier when you read the book, which I highly recommend doing. The only issue I have with it is that there are some spelling and grammar errors, but I loved this so much, I can’t even dock a star for that.

five-stars

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After

dreadfully-ever-after Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith

So it’s more like a 3.5 stars, because while still being fun, it was definitely not the strongest of the trilogy. But I still loved it! It starts out with Elizabeth being kind of depressed because as a married woman, she’s supposed to hang up her katana. This funk leads to Darcy being bitten and then her world is over. Except maybe it’s not. Lady Catherine still loved her nephew, despite her misgivings about Elizabeth, and she will do anything in her power to save him. So Elizabeth is forced to leave Darcy with her while she embarks on a mission to steal a supposed cure.  This is where I really felt like there was much to be desired. Because Elizabeth has to go undercover and be away from Darcy, we get little to no interaction between the two, which is exactly why I wanted to read the sequel in the first place–I want more Elizabeth and Darcy!

Anne, Lady Catherine’s daughter, plays a much, much bigger role in this narrative, while Georgiana ends up taking a step back (which I found as a disappointment). Kitty gets a bigger role now that she’s no longer living in the shadow of Lydia, though we do get plenty of the ‘La!’s still, which is perfect. I enjoyed Kitty really figuring herself out as both a warrior and a woman.

Onto the spoilers…
We know that the man in the box is Master Hawksworth, but we never get to see the family’s reaction to finding out. I would have loved to see how Elizabeth would have reacted. With the two orphans that Elizabeth takes home from the “hospital,” would I be right to assume that Mr. Bennet would actually take them home instead? Because Mrs. Bennet was scaring off any suitors for Kitty and Mary because she didn’t want to be alone and she wanted to have warriors at home. That’s not fair to Kitty and Mary, though, who at the end of the novel, find their own love interests. It’s assumed they’re going to not want to live with the Bennets anymore, so it would make sense to have the orphans go home with them so Mrs. Bennet has two children that she can take care of as well as them taking care of her. I believe Mr. Bennet alluded to it, I just wish it hadn’t been so open-ended when it was definitely going to be the last book. Also, I was disappointed to see Georgiana not come back till the very end. There were a few times where I thought she would have shown back up after being tricked into leaving, but that never occurred.

While it was nice to see certain characters get their chance to shine, I really missed the interaction between Darcy and Elizabeth, which is really what I read it for. I’m glad to take away the knowledge of them continuing to be badass together, I just wish I could have seen more. Again, I got the audio book, Katherine Kellgren is the best.

four-stars

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

I decided to read this book, and its accompanying prequel and sequel after completely falling in love with the movie. It is important to point out, though, that the movie is quite different from this novel, and that’s totally OK! I think that one particular scene that would have been awesome in the movie is when Elizabeth is at Rosings and Lady Catherine wants her to duel against her best ninjas–Elizabeth, in defiance, duels them blindfolded. It was a very fun grotesque scene!

I listened to the audio book for this; Katherine Kellgren is incredible. I’m a total lover of Pride and Prejudice and this book  was just loads of fun. Zombies, Ninjas, Brains, and Badassery. I feel like my only issue for characterization was that of Mr. Collins, who makes a drastic decision after learning something about Charlotte (I can avoid spoilers!). It felt pretty out of character, even if it was something that was done out of fun because people don’t really like him. That’s where the movie had me totally enraptured, I’m a huge fan of Matt Smith and he was hands down, one of my favorite characters.

I know that this review feels part book, part movie, but when you read a book because of the movie, you can’t help but notice the drastic differences. This was a fun read, nothing serious, and with the mash up of Jane Austen’s text and Seth Grahame-Smith’s text, it’s exactly what the title tells you it is: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

four-stars

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

dawn-of-the-dreaduls Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith

I was a little worried about this before I started it, because it wouldn’t actually stem from Jane Austen’s own writing and would be pure fan fiction. It was spectacular, though!

I also highly recommend getting the audio book! Katherine Kellgren is absolutely incredible! Her voices are so perfect that there’s no way I could have read it with the same enjoyment she definitely brought to me.

As someone who is into martial arts, I absolutely loved the learning process the Bennet girls had to go through to get their moves down in the midst of the dreadfuls beginning to populate. The humor was fantastic–I found myself laughing out loud to several parts of the book. I truly felt like all of the characters retained the essence of how Jane Austen wrote them to be when they’re older.

This was such an enjoyable read that I fully plan on reading it several more times (or, more preferably, listening). Kitty and Lydia are just as silly, Jane and Elizabeth’s bond is just as great, Mary’s actually a little more interesting, Mrs. Bennet is just as ridiculous as ever, and Mr. Bennet is still the best. Particularly, I love how much Mr. Bennet was in this one, guiding his girls into becoming the best warriors possible, no matter the cost to how it would look on society.

Pick this one up! It’s such a fun starter before going into Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

five-stars