Book Synopsis: [goodreads]
Pages 379 | Published 23rd August 2011 | Balzer + Bray
Rule #1: Do not show fear.
Rule #2: Do not show pity.
Rule #3: Do not engage.
Rule #4: Do not let your guard down.
Rule #5: They lie.
Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.
Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons’ plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.
Book Review: 4.5 stars
Vade retro santana
Numquam suade mihi vana
Sunt mala quae libas
Ipse venana bibas
Possess | Gretchen McNeil
So I’m a little freaked out…just a smidge. Who would have thought that after reading this book I would have to make a blanket tent just to get to sleep? Not me most certainly.
Possess by Gretchen McNeil is creepy, like mess with your head creepy. There is this scene with china dolls that are possessed, it was like freakin Chucky all over again! As far as I’m concerned, however, this is a rather new take on demons & angles amongst the YA sphere, due to the introduction of exorcists…teenage exorcists. Oh man, I couldn’t put this one down. But lets face it I do have a slight obsession with ghost hunter shows, and I swear that I do have a sixth sense.
Bridget is funny, snarky, intelligent, everything that a great heroine should be…not to mention her awesome powers. Her behaviour and thoughts were completely logical, I would be freaked out too if I just found out the voices I was hearing were demons. In fact I adored the whole cast of characters, especially Hector. Every word that came out of that boys mouth was golden I tell you, golden.
“Look, if we’re going to be friends, you have to text me epic life events like this immediately. Like, within twenty seconds of the occurrence immediately. Get it?”
Hector | Possess
And lets not forget Matt! Who let me just say I wouldn’t mind if he wanted to be overly protective of me. I could use a tall handsome man who just believes everything I say, no matter how crazy. Matt & Bridget are just so damn cute!
The plot was intriguing, and kept me hooked until the very end. Anything that has religious undertones is always a must for me. I’m a bit of a fanatic when it comes to religious lore. I find it very interesting. A downside to this book though is that 1. there is yet to be a sequel and 2. its predictable in the sense that the clues of who the big bad is aren’t necessarily subtle. But I didn’t mind. I also didn’t mind all of the pop culture references that made me go ‘oh you sligh dog’ to McNeil. Especially when she spelt Ke$ha with the dollar sign. Cudos to you!
McNeils writing was beautiful. She really captured the schizophrenic personality of someone who is possessed by multiple demons. It reminded me of smeagol and gollum, in the way they conversed in LOTR.
If you enjoy a more darker tail of angels and demons, exorcisms undertaken by weird priests and a young girl, murder and intrigue – then pick this one up! You won’t regret it.
Recommended if you enjoyed Possess by Gretchen McNeil – Click on the picture bellow to take you to our review of that particular book:
