Danielle VegaReseñas

While I think maybe certain teen horror fans might enjoy this, it wasn't really the book for me. The plot stumbles along quickly, often tripping over it's predictable dialogue and shock-value horror. There's no character development and everyone's personality seems to be pulled from TVTropes.com. In a way, it was sort of entertaining, but in the way a C-list campy horror film is mind numbingly entertaining. Like, grab some popcorn and binge this for a couple hours of YA scares but don't expect much more.
To be perfectly honest, in the broad scheme of things this could be a 3-star book, but GR deems the 2-star to be "it was ok" and that's really all this book was for me personally.

Still as creepy and sinister as the first. One thing that bothers me isn't the story but the repetition of some phrases the author uses. Aside from that, I enjoyed the story even though I refused to read it after dark ;)

Even though there was some repetitive descriptions (the wind sure did blow a lot and press against the windows often) but the story is tight and nearly flawless. Not for the squemish!

Seriously messes up. My religious upbringing made this way creepier.

I was expecting horror/thriller and got a tangled mess of blood and confusion. The plot was blotchy and a lot of concepts were ill-explained or left to assumption. The writing also was very plain and really couldn't make me sympathize with any of her blank characters. Sometimes it feels like Vega was trying to put too much information in very little space, so it got very choppy and cramped.

I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it. I am not sure if I liked it or not.

Review to come.

Good old fashioned horror story. Didn’t expect the twist. Looking forward to the sequel! I knew there would be more to the story.

This book is the sequel to The Haunted. Picking up where she left off in the last story, Steele House is just a foundation after the house was destroyed in the last novel. However, the house still has a grudge. No one is safe, especially Hendricks, the previous resident of Steele House. The book is full of so many twists and turns it leaves your head spinning. The ending was amazing! Wow, did that just happen?! Danielle Vega weaves chilling stories for teens and adults alike. I can't wait for the next!

A creepy delight that pulls you in one direction where you think there's a serial killer running amok in NYC abandoned subway tunnels. As soon as you get your head wrapped around that, you're swung in a completely different direction that's part supernatural, part cautionary tale, with an abundance of gore. Altogether a very satisfying read for fans of industrial strength creepiness.

I'd been eyeballing this series for a solid year now, wondering exactly what a teen-centric book involving an exorcism would entail.

Of course, in the back of my mind, I had some images from Grady Hendrix's excellent [b:My Best Friend's Exorcism|41015038|My Best Friend's Exorcism|Grady Hendrix|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533059241l/41015038._SY75_.jpg|46065002] floating around in my head. I love a good exorcism story when they're done right. But when they're done wrong, it never goes well.

And, while I'll say this isn't completely done wrong, it's certainly not done right. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but my expectation of a story in a so-called "teen" book is essentially an adult novel with the language and sex dialed down a tad. So, when it comes to plot, characters, motivation, etc...well yeah, I still want those.

I felt that, in this book, much of that was simply sketched in. This is very much a two-note story. The first is the Brooklyn/Riley hatefest/exorcism, and the second is the mystery from Sofia's past.

When I get a story of a new kid coming to town and starting a new school, I really do expect to get more than three-to-four days out of the story. Sofia shows up, meets Brooklyn, then Riley and her gang, falls in with Riley, flirts briefly with a friendship with Brooklyn—including getting a piercing that does nothing for the story aside from extending the page count—then goes to a party.

And then it's decided that Brooklyn needs to be exorcised.

That's pretty much the bulk of the story. Sofia is yoinked along by Riley and Brooklyn through the story, and really doesn't have any agency whatsoever throughout the book. Why she would do what she does through the story, why she would tag along so willingly with anyone that shows her the slightest hint of friendship...very little of it rings true. And somehow, even with all of that, the story is ridiculously predictable.

It's not a horrible story. God knows I've read so much worse. But this is not a great story, nor is it even horror until the last few pages. It's teen angst for the first half, and torture porn for most of the second half. It's the psychological motivations behind the infliction of torture, pain, and human suffering that create a sense of horror. Just being a crazy person doesn't fill the bill.

Too bad. I was really hoping to have found a good group of four books to read. The other three are off my list now.

Loved this book! Keep an eye out for a review at www.sezabez.wordpress.com!

Literary Merit: Good
Characterization: Good
Recommended: Yes, for fans of horror
Level: High School

Comments: This is the sequel to The Haunted.
I really liked both books in The Haunted series. I was shocked by the ending of The Haunted and I looked forward to reading the second book. I highly recommend reading the first book before you start The Unleashed but I do think you could enjoy the sequel without reading the first book.
The sequel did not disappoint. Vega did an excellent job of balancing fear and friendship. It was nice that Vega included that the characters went to therapy after the horrifying events at the Steele house, even though the characters did not tell the counselors the whole truth.
In The Unleashed, Hendricks’ family moved out of the Steele house but they decided to remodel the house. Hendricks panicked when her parents told her that they planned to return to the house. Hendricks decides to hold a seance at the Steele house and unleashes an evil spirit. Turns out the Steele House was the beginning of Hendricks ghost hunting.

This book started off decently and sounded like it was going to be a decent read. Hendricks is new in town and the new girl in a small high school, but she quickly learns that worrying about going from the popular kid in school to the new kid in school is least of her worries.
Her parents moved her family because of an issue Hendricks had with an ex-boyfriend. The house they buy has a creepy history that everyone knows about, except her family apparently. Suddenly the kids from school are showing up at her doorstep wanting to come into the creepy house. This is where it became a little bit too strange for me.
For parents who moved their whole family due to one event, they certainly leave Hendrix and her brother home alone a lot. And they certainly doubt anything Hendrix has to say way too much. I do not find them believable. When the story starts to become more paranormal, the less I became interested. The whole concept did not flow with me based on the small back story given. Overall not a bad book, but it just didn’t work for me.

This was a fast paced book that I quickly devoured. It felt a little amateurish at times, but the premise - a killer loose at an all night rave called Survive The Night where you aren't allowed to leave - had me hooked. I did enjoy this story, but I have to say that it took a turn that I wish it hadn't, turning into something I wasn't expecting. The ending was disappointing.. However, if you're looking for a fast paced bit of horror, this is it!

I don't understand this book. It was like Vega had three horror story ideas she thought sounded really cool and she couldn't decide which one she liked best so she tried to mash them all together. Like there was the creepy clown kind of guy who announces the rave so I'm like, "oh, sweet, clown cult kills kids." And then the author never brought him up again, but kept mentioning rats so I began to think "alright, no clown cult but mutant rats who are eating people in the tunnels." And then immediately after the hundreds of rats randomly stuffed in a blocked off room the size of a closet scene, she reveals the killer is a giant, tentacled, telekinetic, necromancing octopus monster and somehow there are also symbols in the tunnels for some reason?

What was the plot actually? Like a lot of the readers, I assumed Casey's experiences in the tunnels were drug induced and that she'd wake up in the hospital and it would have all been a bad trip. It's the only scenario that would explain the absolute erratic experience that is this book. Unfortunately, it's also not the scenario the author chose.

This had the type of horror I love. Supernatural, hauntings, and you never know how the story is going to go. Twists and turns at every corner. The ending was exciting and scary. Not to mention it was full of teen angst, peer pressure, lgtbq, and domestic violence. It was a great book.

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO2rP6DZ64g

Enjoy!

2.5 stars. I'm quite disappointed at the ending, I think this could've been so much better.
Full review here.

Hendricks and her family move to a new town and new school to escape something terrible. Instead, they land in a haunted house with many more terrors. A suitably chilling read; Stephen King-lite.

This is not for the faint at heart. I do not know how this is young adult as it deals with a teen being tortured. It was much more graphic than I was expecting. I kept reading as I wanted to see what happened. This is not something I would normally read at all and definitely took me out of my comfort zone.

I am not sure if I will continue with the series or not at this point. I am interested to see what happens next though.

Boy, that escalated quickly.½

Well...that was...an experience. Wow. Where to begin with this? Pretend your angst ridden middle schooler was writing horror fiction inspired by bitchcraft films and mean girls. Now, pretend she turned it in as part of a creative writing project and you were called in by that instructor as well as a school counselor and another member of the administration to discuss what may be wrong with your child. That about sums up not only the writing of this book, but the overall feeling about this book after reading it. Im sorry. I should be kind, but I really can't find much of anything about this one I liked. I'm giving it a star because it borrowed creatively and it almost had a twist good enough for a campy horror movie. It was kinda original in its own way. I liked the cover art idea. Ummm...yeah that's all I got.

A fun and entertaining YA horror/paranormal novel!

Hendricks recently moved to a small town and has a dark past. Little to her knowledge, the house her parents bought and are fixing up is known in town as being haunted. Hendricks doesn’t believe in ghosts but soon mysterious things keep happening at home when she’s alone with her baby brother.

The Haunted will definitely appeal to horror fans, it progresses in intensity from rumors and hints of supernatural happenings to undeniable interference from otherworldly forces. I'm not a regular horror reader and the ending escalated to become a bit too intense and brutal for my tastes. I'll admit I started skimming through to the end, but that's not a detraction from the book or its quality of writing, I'm just not the primary audience for this genre. Before that, it was still very unnerving and unsettling throughout, on the edge of my comfort zone but not quite over the brink. I liked how two pieces that seemed disparate were brought together, it was a process of "okay, we understand THIS but are we going to address THAT?" It all came together very well, I just prefer adventure-style endings to horror endings.