Soulstice by Simon Holt

Summary:

The terrifying, nail-biting, and grossly intriguing sequel to The Devouring.

It's been six months since Reggie first discovered and fought against the Vours, malicious and demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on the eve of the Winter Solstice.

The Vours still haunt Reggie, but only in her dreams-until one night, when an unexpected visitor turns her nightmares into reality.

The battle against evil continues in Soulstice, the second book in the thrilling The Devouring series, which School Library Journal called, "Comparable to books by R. L. Stine and Stephen King....A must-have for horror fans."

Review:

While The Devouring was only slightly scary, in Soulstice Simon Holt ups his game in a big way by making it a scarier and more thrilling read.

The one thing that really won me over with this was the action packed plot. Since, there was always some new twist and turn to come into action and more was told and explained about the Vours. This all made Soulstice go by much faster then it's prequel.

Unfortunately, the characters still weren't all the way there for me. This could partly be because I don't particularly like third person books since it always seems like you can't fully connect with the character and that's what happened in this. Sure, you understand Reggie's, along with Aaron's and Eben's, fears and struggles to overcome the Vours, but none of these characters truly jumped of the page and came to life. The same kind of thing applied to the writing, too. I do have to say, though, that while these two things weren't the best they could be, they defiantly improved from The Devouring.

Overall, Soulstice is a chilling and scary read that I suggest for a rainy night when there's nothing else to read or do. Lastly, while I didn't fully enjoy Soulstice, I still will be reading the third in the series when it comes out. Mostly because I want to know what happens next.

Grade: B

Soulstice is now out!

* Much thanks goes to AM at Little, Brown for sending me this!

The Devouring by Simon Holt

Summary:

"When dark creeps in and eats the light,
Bury your fears on Sorry Night.
For in the winter's blackest hours,
Comes the feasting of the Vours,
No one can see it, the life they stole,
Your body's here but not your soul..."

THE VOURS: Evil, demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on Sorry Night, the darkest hours of the winter solstice.

When Reggie reads about the Vours in a mysterious old journal, she assumes they are just the musings of an anonymous lunatic. But when her little brother, Henry, begins to act strangely, it's clear that these creatures exist beyond a madwoman's imagination, and Reggie finds out what happens when fears come to life.

To save the people she loves, Reggie must learn to survive in a world of nightmares. Can she devour her own fears before they devour her?

The Devouring is an engrossing tale of terror that will have you wondering: what if your worst fears became your living nightmare?

Review:

For a while now, I've been craving to read a scary book, so when the chance came up to read The Devouring, as well as it's sequel Solstice, I agreed. Though, while The Devouring was a compelling read, I didn't come to find it drop dead scary, more like just a bit scary, I guess.

Simon Holt has an interesting idea in the Vours, which is one of this novel's main focuses. It was fun to read about their history as well as see what they could do to you if they captured your soul.

But the writing and the characters just didn't do it for me. I felt that both were mostly one dimensional and flat throughout The Devouring which left them to not be memorable by the end.

Luckily, what the characters and writing lacked, the plot partly made up for it because of it's fast pace and occasional twits and turns.

Overall, The Devouring is a good read, but not a great one. Though, I still will be reading the sequel , because I have a feeling that the story may grow to be better as time goes on.

Grade: C

The Devouring is now out!