Maddie's Books

I finished this book hours ago, but I still haven't quite processed it yet. All I know is that it was really twisted, but REALLY amazing at the same time! If I had to sum Horrorscape up in a few words, it would probably be: intense, scary, and even pretty hot. My emotions were going everywhere the whole time I read it and I even found myself having to stop every once in a while for a breather. Some of the scenes were just so... intense. I can't think of another way to describe it, so I'll probably use that word a lot, haha. The writing was fantastic and it held my attention the whole time. The plot, characters, and everything were just great. My thoughts are still all over the place, so the review might be a little random, but I'll try to sum up some of the really awesome aspects of it. As a disclaimer, I'm friends with the author on GoodReads, but that in no way affects my rating or review of Horrorscape.

First off, Fearscape and Horrorscape were two very different books. I loved them both equally and was thrilled that Horrorscape was just as good (if not better) than the first book. Especially with how often sequels don't rise to meet the expectations set by the first novel. Horrorscape was great and went further with a lot of the elements that Fearscape set up. It was a lot darker in general and in my opinion, even faster paced. We already knew Gavin was the bad guy, so there was no investigating to be done. It jumped right into the plot and never slowed down. The writing was different in the way that it switched point of views frequently, which I thought was interesting. Some authors can't pull off PoV switches, but I thought Nenia did it well. Sometimes I wished it would stay focused on Val and Gavin when they were in the same room together, but it was helpful and added a lot of believability to the plot for us to be able to see what was happening with the other characters, especially since they were all locked up in the same house. The parts written from Gavin's perspective alone were chilling. All in all, I just thought that Horrorscape was a level higher in almost every element than Fearscape- it was scarier, more violent, and even more romantic/sexual than the previous one.

The plot, as I said before, was great. At first I was kind of skeptical as to how well a party with Gavin as the host would be pulled off, especially if both Val and her friends were there. But it worked very nicely and the games they played got creepier and creepier as it went along. The book totally read as a scary haunted house movie and I felt like I was right there watching firsthand. Horrorscape would make a great film actually, but I think it's even better as a book, because Nenia Campbell's writing was so wonderful that I was stricken with every emotion and sense just as the characters went through it. The further the novel progressed, the more terrifying it became. Books rarely scare me or really evoke much of a reaction from me at all. But at certain points, especially near the end, I actually felt my heart speed up and noticed myself biting on my nails during the suspenseful parts. Man, they were spooky. And I rarely knew what was coming next. I loved every second of it.

The characters were great, too. Most of them were different than in Fearscape- rightfully so, since years had passed since the first novel. Val was much more paranoid and scared than before. She never knew if she was imagining her fears or if they were real. I found this totally justified, considering what she went through freshman year. It was sad to see how everyone cast her worries off and ignored her. I felt sympathy towards her a lot of the time, especially at the beginning. I also loved her feelings for Gavin- how she hated him, yet was still attracted to him. In so many horror books, the characters are attracted to the villain, but when he's revealed to be the bad guy, they are revolted and can't stand to be around him anymore. Val wasn't like that and I thought it brought so much more to the novel, since she was still fighting with sexual feelings for him when she should have just been scared or disturbed.

Speaking of Gavin, I still loved him just as much as before. He was really, really scary in this one, though. I'm not sure if he actually changed a lot in between the books or if we're just seeing more of his true colors this time around- he's very unhinged now, because he has nothing to hide from Val. He's a coldhearted killer and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. In Horrorscape, there was no question as to what his goal in the end was, so we got to see just how serious and dedicated he was to having Val all to himself. I thought it was crazy when he killed Jason just for threatening to murder Val. It showed how protective he was of her. He didn't care about anyone's feelings but his own and would even hurt Val if needed. He truly was terrifying. But sexy at the same time. His scenes alone with Val were hot. They didn't actually DO that much, I mean, compared to some of the other books out there and what he could have done with her if he decided to. But it was still steamy and great. I even found myself a little sad when there was an interruption and he had to go back to being his evil party host self. He definitely knows how to turn on and off his charm and I liked how in control of his emotions he was- that is, until SOMEONE pushed him a little too far a couple of times. But yes. Gavin is a monster. I should not have the teeniest of crushes on him. No. Maybe if I say this enough times, I'll get it through my head.

The minor characters were good, too. James made me angry a lot and I wasn't that sad to see him die, to be honest. Lisa had some great one liners and was hilarious, but she was still the same not-so-great best friend as before. Blake was a nice new edition and I liked his personality a lot. The other new characters from the white team were interesting, as well. Charlie was pretty frightening and I actually was intrigued by her for a while. Sometimes I was aggravated when it switched to their points of views, but mainly just because I wanted to know what was going to happen next with Val and Gavin. It was a pretty creative writing technique to add suspense, actually. But the smaller characters added some good stuff to the story and I loved some of their comical dialogue. I'll be interested to see what roles they play in the final installment of the series.

I still can't quite express how much I adored this book, haha. I think Fearscape and Horrorscape have earned their way into my favorites. There were just so many small things that made them great. I enjoyed the ending to this one, too. It came quickly (in a good way- it wasn't until I was 98 percent of the way through that I stopped and realized that there wasn't enough time left for what I thought was going to happen to actually pan out) and left my dying to read Terrorscape. I am so grateful that this book exists and I wish more people would read it. I'm tempted to actually go get physical copies of this and Fearscape so that I can lend them to my non-Kindle owning friends (and because it's nice to have hard copies of really good books, in my opinion, so you can flip through them and reread certain parts more easily). If you haven't read Fearscape, you definitely should go back and complete that one before starting Horrorscape. I'm sure you could enjoy this book quite a bit without reading it's prequel, but the allusions made to Fearscape and Val and Gavin's relationship might make a lot more sense if you read the previous one first. I couldn't find many errors and the small issues I had with it were overshadowed by all of the other great elements. Everyone out there that hasn't read these books needs to go get them now! And I shall attempt to patiently wait for the final installment. I'm so excited to see how it ends. I don't wanna make many guesses though, because I'm sure I won't be able to predict anything about it correctly. Props to the author for making such a marvelous series.

This book and I had so much of a love/hate relationship that it's not even funny. I wasn't originally sure if I wanted to read it or not, but once I found out that it was written by Daniel Handler I just HAD to give it a try. Lemony Snicket's books were probably the second most influential novels of my childhood, only behind Harry Potter. So, I couldn't stop myself from seeing what type of young adult books he would put out. And honestly, I'm still not completely decided on WHAT I think of the novel. For me, it was a whirlwind and I spent moments hating it and ranting in my head about the main character- but then the next, I loved everything about it and was tearing through it like crazy. It's taken me a while just to figure out what to rate it. If I could, I'd give it 3.5 stars, but I had to round down this time. I apologize in advanced, I have a feeling this review will be all over the place.

Let me start out with the positive things about Why We Broke Up. There were a lot of unique, refreshing attributes to it that I haven't seen with many YA novels before. The letter format was interesting and reminded me a little bit of Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, only it was obviously much lighter and had a different subject matter than Asher's. Also, the plot was very straight forward. There was no messing around- it got straight to the point and I didn't have to read through loads of background information that I wouldn't have cared about anyway. I felt like Handler got into the mind of a teenage girl extremely well. I loved Min's bitterness and how frank she was with her viewpoints. There was no sugar coating to make the book cleaner or look more appropriate. The use of curse words I found particularly interesting. There were a lot, but it wasn't overkill. Handler placed them in all the right places, which just further emphasized Min's feelings. Another obvious positive attribute was the use of illustrations to go with the writing. They were beautiful and well placed- for me, they also kept the book moving at a better speed. Finally, I loved some of the quotes. There were some that had me laughing so hard and others that completely struck me with their seriousness/applications to real life. Props to Handler on that.

Now for the negative parts of Why We Broke Up. I'm slightly biased, because I do love the author, but oh my... If I didn't, I might have been tempted to put the book down at the beginning. As it went on, I got a lot happier with the writing and more used to Min. But the first fifty pages or so were a struggle to get through. If you've read Lemony Snicket before, this was nothing like his writing style from the past. The paragraphs are long and ranty, but not in a good way. Some rants are great, but Min just went off on things that I did not care about. At all. Also, maybe this was just my personal preference, but I thought it focused far too much on her love of films. Nearly every other page there was a reference to something I had never heard of and it was simply lost on me. A few here or there would have been fine, but even at the end I was still bothered by how often they came up. Min herself could also be annoying at times. As I mentioned above, I liked some attributes of her personality (it was great that she was flawed and not perfect like most of the other protagonists out there), but she was also just stupid sometimes. I had to wonder what her logic was, especially pertaining to Al. Finally, my only other problem with this book wasn't really a big issue for me, but I could see other people being angry about it. There wasn't much of a background story or any information about Min's life. It was all about her relationship with Ed. Which was fine with me, but it was a little confusing to start into and if you're the type of person that loves details about the main character, this would definitely bother you.

I could probably go on about the pros and cons of this book forever. There were a lot of little things that were either amazing or extremely irritating. Sometimes the writing style got confusing, because Handler would throw very important things in randomly and if you didn't catch them, it could screw you up later. Essentially- just don't speed read it. In the end, however, I would still recommend this book to everyone. For me, it had a vibe similar to Thirteen Reasons Why and the Perks of Being a Wallflower, so if you liked those, definitely check this out. It's a very different read and lovely in it's own way. If you have trouble at the beginning, stick it out for a while longer and it should get better. I'd give it a go, there isn't much to lose. It's a fun and relatable story, in a nutshell. As a side note though, I wouldn't compare this to any of Handler's other novels. It's completely different. So, don't judge his other works based on this one. They're like black and white. Though, his quirky touches are still evident here if you look hard enough.

Earlier this year, I started reading the PLL series and finally got up to date right as Stunning came out. So, this was the first actual gap I've had to sit through between two of the books. It was an interesting experience. But, picking up another Pretty Little Liars book after not reading one for about six months is kind of like going back to an old friend's house, sitting in front of their fire place, and having a homemade snack. It's really nice and I wish I could convey to some of my friends how good these books are. They are kind of petty and sometimes unbelievable, but still light, addicting, and fun. I'm a lot more tolerant with the plot holes in this series than with anything else, actually. No matter what, the books are interesting.

Burned was not a let down. After reading a lot of the Pretty Little Liars books, you can start to predict the way the characters think and how the action will happen. That was definitely evident for me in this book and it was really my only complaint. The girls spent a lot of time suspecting people of A, but having gone through this same scenario many times with previous books, I knew from the beginning that they were going to be wrong. This is kind of the case with each novel in the series, but I felt they spent a little more time than normal accusing people of being the stalker. Maybe that's just me, but whatever. Either way, for every twist I DID expect, there was another one that I couldn't predict. It was enough to keep me on the edge of my seat and really surprise me from time to time.

I'm really excited with the direction that the series is going in. It's a little different than the early books, but it has to be- they can't tell the police about A, because no one would believe them. So, they're forced to take some matters into their own hands. Each character is a lot more paranoid than they used to be and you can start to see how the events that have taken place over the past couple of years have affected them. In the end though, it's still the same old series that you're used to if you've been following the books until now. But it's reaching that high point again where A is becoming more violent and I'm wondering if this time one of the Liars will actually be hurt by him or her. A lot of the clues at the end of this novel got me curious too and alluded to Ali still being alive, which I think would be the most plausible and interesting direction for the plot to go. With the PLL books in the past, you've always found out who A was in every fourth novel (#4 & #8), but this time we didn't. Sara Shepard has said that there will only be two more books, so I'm thinking it's going to be one crazy ending, if it has to be extended for more books. We'll see.

Either way, this is another great edition to the PLL series! I'm really aggravated that we have to wait until June for the next installment, but at least Ali's Pretty Little Lies will be out soon- I'm definitely looking forward to that. If you've read these books in the past, I would highly suggest you pick up Burned. For me, the series is still interesting and hasn't gotten old, which is hard for a series spanning over twelve books to do. Props to the author.

Brother/Sister is a really bizarre book and is pretty dark for the Young Adult genre. I feel like I went on a roller coaster between liking and not liking it. I can say one thing, though. The ending completely rocked my world and because of it, I would definitely read the book again- which isn't something I say very often. The novel is a great example of what I feel like English teachers have emphasized all of my life- first person point of view is not always accurate. Throughout the story, you have no clue who is right- Will or Asheley. They contradict each other a lot. Personally, I think that both of their views held some truth and some lies. But, it certainly made for an interesting read.

The story itself has a pretty good plot line. At the beginning, I wasn't very happy with the writing style or the fact that Will admitted to murder so early. But, as it went on, the novel held some surprises for me and I ended up liking Olin's writing more and more. I'm not saying it's worse or better than some other styles that are out there, but it's refreshingly unique, which I respect him for. The story was fast paced and like I said before, fairly dark. I liked that aspect of it- Olin did a great job at getting into the mind of a killer. As other reviewers mentioned, it also wavers on the disturbing side. There aren't very many graphic depictions of murder. The darkness really stems from Will's past AND the affection he holds for his sister. Not very many young adult novels address brother/sister relationships, which was another aspect that made this book interesting. It's a little on the mature side (because of the sexual tension between the two), but nothing that I don't think teens 14 and up could handle.

Of course, I did find some issues with this book, too. But, none of them were terrible. I think they were more so out of Olin's writing style than anything else. For example, there's hardly any description. I didn't mind this too much, except for the fact that he doesn't even tell you about the appearances of any characters. Also, the book abruptly ends. The last sentence is absolutely shocking, but then... there's nothing else. You don't really find out the fate of the main characters, which I thought was slightly irking. Then again, it really leaves a lot open for the reader's own interpretation, which is nice. All in all, this book is just extremely different- in a good way. It's a very fast read and has a good story to it. I would recommend Brother/Sister to anyone that's interested. It's definitely worth your time. If it seems a little slow at the beginning, just stick with it. I promise, it will get better as it goes along. I think I'll read it again soon, just to see if I notice anything new after reading the end.

Just Take My Heart is the first book by Mary Higgins Clark that I've read. It's actually one of the few courtroom dramas that I've read, as well (I'm usually more into what happens before the trial rather than during). My overall impression of the book was that it was good, but not the best thing I've ever read. I'll definitely pick up more books by the author, because she does tell a good story and seems to be a good writer, but I think I'll go for some of her older works and make my way forward.

Anyway, the plot is pretty simple. I enjoyed reading the book, but had a few issues with it. First, some parts were a little slow. I was never exactly bored, but I kind of wished the pace had picked up some, especially at the beginning. Secondly, I thought the whole idea of the heart transplant was kind of weird. It was so obvious from the beginning who the heart was from that there was really no point in going on and on about it. Also, I just couldn't see much of it's importance to the plot. Sure, Emily Wallace had a heart transplant, and while that definitely affected her life, it was the sort of thing that could have only been mentioned once or twice and been fine. And I'm not even sure if it was PLAUSIBLE that she could have received the heart in the first place, considering it's original owner was shot NEAR IT and bled to death.

Aside from those things, however, I didn't see too much else wrong with this novel. Emily Wallace was a good character- very likable and easy to relate to. Also, unlike some of the other reviewers, I did not pick out the murderer from the beginning. I figured it out two seconds before Emily did, really. Although, I wasn't trying very hard to look for the person. Since there were so few characters, if I had thought about it for a while, I may have guessed earlier. All in all, Just Take My Heart was a decent read. It was an easy read and entertained me while i was reading it. If you like Mary Higgins Clark or are a fan of mysteries/courtroom novels, I'd recommend you read it. It's not amazing, but you could definitely read worse stories than this.

All right, so the plot of Accomplice is pretty straight forward. Two girls want to get into impressive colleges, but don't think they've done enough to beat out the other applicants. So, why not fake a kidnapping? One of them will go missing, and eventually the other girl will find her friend. What college is going to turn down someone who's been through that? I thought the concept of this book was great, but... there was a lot more the author could have done with it.

My overall opinion of Accomplice is that it was just okay. The plot was really slow moving, and I felt that the book could have been summed up in about 150 pages instead of nearly 300. As far as the technical aspects of it go, I thought the author's style was a little odd. Sometimes, the way she explained things made you have to go back and look at it again to make sure you fully understood what was happening. Also, the whole read was kind of predictable. There were a few twists thrown in here and there, but nothing goes as terribly wrong as the inner jacket makes it sound. Jumping ahead a little, my last big complaint is that I really wasn't all that satisfied with the end. (Spoiler alert!) Finn and Chloe went through with their insane plan so they could actually get into a good college, but afterward, the whole kidnapping didn't seem to make a difference. Finn ended up just staying in town and going to a state university, and Chloe got into a nice college, but she was all ready pretty much guaranteed acceptance because her mother had went there prior. I was just kind of disappointed, because I felt like something bigger should have happened at the end, as a result of this huge plot.

But, there were a few good things about Accomplice, too. I really liked most of the characters in it, especially Finn. In a lot of books nowadays, the main character is very flat, and that makes the book a little worse. In Accomplice's case, though, I enjoyed going through the story with Finn and reading about it through her point of view. Another thing I enjoyed about Accomplice, was that there wasn't a whole lot of romance (but, I'm sure some people would see this as a bad thing, rather than good). It seems like in many books right now, there are always the same love triangles and the same cheesy romance. In Accomplice, there weren't a whole lot of relationship conflicts. There were a few things that popped up, but there certainly wasn't nearly as much as there could have been. My final praise to this book, is that it was actually pretty believable. There weren't a whole lot of times I was reading it and thinking, "This would have never happened."

So, if you're thinking of reading Accomplice, I would keep the pro's and cons in mind. If you don't mind a slow moving book, then you actually might like it. But, if you're on the fence, then I would suggest checking it out of the library or borrowing it from a friend, instead of actually paying for it.

Dark Song was an interesting book. I read another one of Gail Giles's novels a couple of years ago, and while I don't remember much of the plot, I don't think I had much of a problem with it. This one seemed really good while I was reading it, but the ending was a let down. Looking back on the novel as a whole now, I've come to notice a lot of errors in it.

The first half of Dark Song is all about a rich family's fall, after the father makes a mistake and gets fired from his job. I don't think many people knew that so much back story would be given, as the summaries of the novel really only talk about the end of the story. I definitely thought that this part was too long. It gave background information that I didn't need to know, brought in characters that didn't really matter later (Robin, Edwin, etc.), and became quite boring after a while. I read 3/4 of Dark Song in one day, but it took me half a week to get through the first fifty pages.

The second half of the book, however, was just the opposite. I felt that it was too rushed and you didn't really get an ideal picture of Marc and Ames's relationship. Personally, I thought that Marc was way too two-dimensional. Giles did a good job of showing that he was capable of being destructive, but for the majority of the book, I was fine with Marc. I thought he was a likable character and was just happy that someone came in to make Ames's life a little better. The switch from nice guy to predator came a little fast, and despite the fact that that's how it often happens in real life, I thought she could have drawn it out a little longer.

My biggest problem with Dark Song, however, is the end. If you're wary of spoilers, I would just skip this paragraph and go onto the next. For the whole story, I liked how the author showed the growing "dark side" of Ames, if you will. She started out being just a little rebellious and near the end, seemed relatively okay with the idea of possibly killing her parents. I felt like it took the whole novel to turn her into this darker person, and in the last few chapters, I believed Ames could be capable of some bad stuff. But, when Marc decides to put in action the idea that we've been waiting for all along (killing the parents and running of on their own) Ames immediately draws back and tells her parents everything. I'm not saying that I expected her to KILL them, but I really thought that there should have been a little bit more of contemplation about this idea. Ames clearly did not see how dangerous Marc was and she spent the whole book doing everything she could to rebel against her parents. No matter how hard I try, I just can't see how she would immediately return back to them, especially after falling so much in love with Marc. Her mother did seem to have a bit of a change of heart, but I also thought that was too sudden. And, one kind act shouldn't have taken away all of the anger/hatred that built up inside of Ames.

Anyway, spoilers aside, the book really wasn't bad. I enjoyed it while I was reading it and don't regret purchasing Dark Song. I've explained a lot of the cons to to story, but there were some pros. The whole thing was very well written. Also, I often don't like the protagonists of novels, but I didn't have any issues with Ames. I didn't love her, but I could relate to her and found her to be a very realistic character. The whole story seemed pretty believable to me. The other major characters (Chrissy, the mother, the father, Em, and even Marc) seemed very well thought out and interesting. Finally, after you got through the first part, the story did pick up pace. I read through the second part in one sitting. But, there were still a lot of cons. Besides Marc and the ending, I found the whole thing to be pretty predictable. It took too long to get to the major plot point of the novel and once you DID reach it, the story ended abruptly. I wasn't ready to part with the characters yet and would have loved if Dark Song was a little longer, to make it less rushed and give you more of a conclusion. Overall, I thought it was just alright. I would probably recommend this to others, as long as you really think that it sounds interesting. But, you may not want to spend money on it; just borrow it from the library.

I've recently started having a little less fondness of the Young Adult section. I feel like some authors nowadays are recycling the same ideas over and over. It's getting quite repetitive and boring. Vixen, however, is a great change from all of the vampire and fairy books that have been hitting the shelves lately. I found myself quite enjoying the read. It's set in the Roaring 20's, which is an area that the YA section doesn't have much material on. The only thing I found a little odd was that Vixen was released the same time as Anna Godbersen's Bright Young Things. I haven't read Bright Young Things yet (though, it is sitting on my bookshelf), so I can't compare the two or tell you which one's better. However, Vixen did leave me pleasantly surprised, and I applaud Jillian Larkin for making such a good debut novel.

Focusing more on the plot line now, Vixen is about three young women, who are essentially viewed as Flappers by the end of the story. You've got the main character, Gloria, a rich seventeen year old who is set to unwillingly marry Sebastian Grey, a high in society 23 year old. In my mind, Gloria was just okay. I struggled with liking and disliking her throughout the novel. In some parts, I supported her and found some of Gloria's actions to be interesting. In other parts, she started to get on my nerves. I feel like at times, she may be viewed as the stereotypical rebellious teenager. After finishing the book, I do feel that Gloria may be a bit deeper than that, but I still can't honestly say that she was my favorite character. Next we have Clara, Glo's older cousin. She moves in to help with the wedding and brings a pretty bad past along with her. Clara was definitely the one I liked the best throughout the entire novel. I found her to be the most unique character and the one I felt the most emotionally drawn to. I almost wish that Larkin had put even more emphasis on her than Gloria, only because she is much less predictable than her cousin. But, oh well, as long as Clara gets the same amount of focus in the sequel as she has now, then I'll be happy. Finally, you have Lorraine, Gloria's best friend for years, who always gets put on the back burner, and is sick of it. I'm not really sure what to think of Lorraine. Frankly, I usually like the villains of the story the best. But, there were some parts of Vixen where I found her to be very childish, which lost points in my book. Either way, Lorraine at least made the story more interesting, and I can't say that I hate her for it. Even at her worst points, she's still more interesting than Gloria, and I'm glad that the author is bringing her back in the second book.

All in all, I thought Vixen was a really good novel. It was thought provoking, had some twists along the way, and held my attention well. The main thing holding me back from giving it five stars was that the romantic parts of it were somewhat predictable and cliche. Though, I've never been a huge romantic, so it's natural that I didn't love this aspect of the book. If you, however, do enjoy reading love stories, then you'll probably find these parts better than I did. In the end, I still thought that they were a little amusing, and they certainly didn't hurt the book any. My only other complaint would be Gloria's predictable personality and naivety (for example- she falls in love with a different character after only meeting him face to face a few times- I found this a little hard to believe). There were many parts of this book that I loved too, though. The setting was awesome, the supporting characters (Marcus, Sebastian, Vera, Carlito, and even Jerome) were very well created , and the book itself was fairly easy to read through in a few days, despite it's length. The speakeasies were great and I loved the influence of the mob on the novel. Those parts alone made it worth the read. I'm usually a harsh book critic, but I very much liked Vixen. I can't wait to read the sequel, Ingenue. I would recommend this novel to anyone. Even if you just think that it looks a little interesting, I would go ahead and pick it up. It surprised me; hopefully it'll surprise you too.

Note: I also posted this review on Amazon.

Okay, Vicious Little Darlings was definitely a weird book. I personally didn't find it as scary or disturbing as some of the other reviewers did (probably because I've read so much worse by other authors), but it certainly still had it's fair share of creepiness (especially for a Young Adult novel). The story revolves around three first-years at an all woman's college- Sarah (the narrator), Agnes, and Maddy. Sarah was just an okay character. At the beginning of the novel, I really liked her spunky personality and opinionated views. But by the end, I was starting to get sick of her fast. The girl is full of contradictions. She doesn't believe in love... but yet, falls deeply madly for a guy after only meeting him once or twice, to the point where she feels lost with every moment that he's gone. This would settle okay with me after a while, if she then didn't LATER let him walk away from her, simply because Maddy told her to, and they got in a minor argument. It also bothers me a bit that Katherine Easer didn't let you know what else happened to Reed after the argument. Basically, Sarah tries to get in contact with him again, but he doesn't answer his door all day, respond to her email, and all of his numbers seem to be disconnected. For a while, I thought this had something to do with Maddy and Agnes, but Easer really never fills in that tidbit. I could understand if he didn't want to talk to Sarah again, but it doesn't seem like he would go to such lengths to do so. Anyway, speaking of Maddy and Agnes, these two characters were much more interesting than Sarah. Maddy's your classic beautiful, innocent girl that everyone can't help but love. And then you have Agnes (my personal favorite of the three), who is quite the opposite: dark, mysterious, and completely in love with Maddy. I really wish the story would have focused a little bit more on Agnes, instead of giving you so much information on Sarah and Maddy.

But, characters aside, I'm not even going to go very far into the plot. You can get a good idea of it from the other reviews and the book description itself. Basically, it's all about these three girls and how things start to get weird after they move into their own house (especially between Maddy and Agnes). Overall, I found the plot to be very strange. But... not in a bad way. Quite honestly, I loved this book until the end. I thought the first 250 pages were great- they were interesting, creepy, and just really pulled you in. After that, I could kind of predict how it was going to turn out (Maddy lies constantly throughout the book- but when she tells Sarah that Agnes did something horrible to her, Sarah mostly believes her and agrees to help Maddy get revenge right away- if Sarah were smarter, she would have at least talked to Agnes first. It would have probably made the ending a lot happier). The ending itself I didn't like, either. The climax was a whole ten pages, and then it was over. I feel as if Easer should have done something to make this not such an immediate ending- whether it would be starting the climax earlier or writing more of a conclusion- this book just needed a little more. I felt it a little unfair to read the whole thing only for such a short climax and short conclusion afterward. The way the end actually turned out was a kind of disappointment to me, as well. Someone obviously dies (that shouldn't be much of a spoiler if you've read the book description), but the character that does, I felt should have lived, instead of giving their life for someone else's. But, that's probably my own personal preference.

I don't really even know what to say in reaction to this book. It's a quick and easy read, that was great as it went along, but left me feeling disappointed at the end. When I finished reading it, I felt as if I had wasted my time. But, looking back on it now, I don't think I really regret reading the whole thing. If the ending had been different, I would have definitely given this novel 4-5 stars (probably only 4, as I reserve 5 stars for those books that really are amazing). I'm not sure if I would recommend it to others or not. I suppose if it sounds interesting and you're okay with a twisted conclusion, then go ahead and read it. But, I would definitely suggest borrowing it from a friend or library, instead of blowing sixteen dollars on it. Also, as a quick side note, you should be aware that Vicious Little Darlings deals with a little more supernatural ideas than it lets onto at the beginning- there are gypsies, Maddy believes she's physic, and at one point Sarah and Maddy believe that they've talked to the dead. I personally have never been one for supernatural books, but this one added just enough in that I could deal with it. But, if that kind of thing seriously bothers you, then be aware of it before you start. Anyway, as much as I hated the ending, I still believe that Katherine Easer is a good writer (I'm picky about writing, but I didn't have much of a problem with her style), so I'll probably pick up anything else she writes out of pure curiosity.