Release Date: January 10th, 2015
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Thriller
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Where to Buy:
Here's the Summary:
At the beginning of her freshman year of high school, Amy can think of nothing worse than moving to the boring, suburban town of Narrowdale. And that's before she starts having the same nightmare over and over again, waking up every night to a creepy whistle outside her window and being haunted by a mysterious, menacing presence. Getting used to the new school becomes the least of her problems.
As she delves deeper to uncover the truth, she unknowingly edges closer to mortal danger. Terrible events that took place years ago threaten to happen again, but now Amy’s life is on the balance. Unfortunately, the one guy who is supposed to protect her, nineteen year old Peter, doesn't believe her.
Some things seem to happen only in Narrowdale, where dark secrets hide beneath the surface...
As she confronts the mysteries of Narrowdale, Amy documents her experiences in her blog. The book contains live links to this blog.
My Review:
This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
The Good:
Straightforward writing, no dragging plotlines or stilted dialogue. I like that the main character Amy was relatable and believable as a teenage girl who'd moved to an unfamiliar town. And not just any town; Narrowdale, where anything weird and creepy can happen. And, boy... does it ever. Amy starts having dreams of being abducted by some creepy, whistling guy during the night, only to find out her dreams are tied to real life events that happened years ago. I won't say much more because I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that one of the best/ creepiest scenes is when Amy and her friends talk to a woman they believe is tied to said events and invites them in for a talk. What they find out about her later sufficiently disturbed me. lol The mark of great writing!!!
And speaking Amy and her storyline being relatable (minus the creepy happenings, of course lol), I LOVED that the book didn't follow the usual trend in Young Adult novels these days. Almost EVERY YA book I pick up has the protagonist moving to a new school/ town and they are automatically fawned over by all the popular kids and accepted into their circles without a hitch. (Dang you, Twilight! It's all your fault!!!) I'm a touch guilty of that myself in my own novels *sheepish grin* but it was refreshing to see the new girl struggling to fit in and then, well... not giving a crap when she realized she didn't. Kudos to Mr. Omer, because we all know that's more realistic.
Also, I liked that Mr. Omer didn't have romance at the forefront of the story. Sure, Amy was attracted to the security guard guy, and sure, you could tell he was attracted to her (and protective), but they didn't obsess over it twenty-four hours a day. Refreshing!!! Don't get me wrong, I love me some romance. Heck... it's in all of my own novels. But sometimes it's a nice change of pace to read a novel where the conflicts in the story supersede teenage hormones.
Lastly, I liked that most of the questions in the story were answered, but the author left some of them unanswered to keep you looking forward to the next book. Like why did Amy have the dreams in the first place? And why is her neighbor and his dog so creepy? And why is there a need for the security guards at night? And why is the one she has a crush on so evasive when she asks him about it? I'll happily pick up book two to find out when it's ready!
The Bad:
At times I felt we needed more descriptions about what the characters look like. I'm still not all that certain what Amy looks like other than what she wore or her hair color. I like a little more development. I also don't know much about her. I know she's new to Narrowdale and that she's a typical teenager brimming with curiosity and stubbornness. But who she is as a person, what's shaped her into who she is now, I don't have much of an idea. Maybe her character development will strengthen in future books.
The Ugly:
Nothing to say in this category.
About the Author:
Michael Omer is a writer, journalist and game designer. He wrote and published his first novel when he was sixteen, and figured he’d keep at it, why not. Since then, he has published two more novels. He is happily married to a woman who keeps pushing him to write more, and has three kids who insist he should stop writing and come play with them. He also has two dogs. Let’s not mention the fish. He should really do something about the fish.
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