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Friday, October 28, 2011

Book Review: POSSESS

Gretchen McNeil
★★★★★
Reading level:Ages 13 and up/ Young Adult
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (August 23, 2011)


After stressing over school work, I’ve found little time to read ANYTHING! But finally, after much homework and studying for mid-terms, I’VE FINISHED POSSESS!

So, this book follows 15-year-old Bridget Liu who just want to be left alone, by her mother, Matt Quinn, and the eerie voices and can suddenly hear- which are demons. And unfortunately for her, Bridget posses the power to banish them. After being enlisted by San-Francisco’s senior exorcist Monsignor Renault, she begins to come to terms with her new abilities. But then she receives a startling message from one of the demons, and one of her oldest friends is murdered, she realizes she is in farther than she thought. Now, she must unlock the secrets of the demon’s plan before it’s too late.

I have to say that there were many pros and cons to this book. Much like every book. Some things really bugged me (which I’ll get into in a sec) but I have to say this book was actually refreshing and a new twist I really enjoyed.

Let’s start with the cons (just because there isn’t much): I really didn’t care for Bridget’s attitude when she found out different aspects to her power. I mean, there was this one part, where she was freaked out that she could possibly hear angels and well as demons. It was just so baffling to her. Come on, you have to know that if you can hear DEMONS that angels are not that different. And then when Father Santos told her the story of how she came to be (meaning possessing her power and all) she just couldn’t accept it. If you could hear demons-DEMONS- why is the story of angels so hard to accept?But while those things bothered me, it’s not that bad especially when you compare it to how AWESOME the book was. I actually found that those things didn’t bother me after a while.

McNeil’s style of writing was somewhat unusual but flowed smooth and effortless. Written in third person, McNeil focuses on Bridget’s thoughts and does not stray. Bridget’s natural wit and sarcasm is utterly hilarious and fun to read. McNeil does not bore you with an abundance of description, nor does fail to bring the scene alive.

Her characters are absolutely perfect: Matt is hot and sweet, everything you want in a guy; Alexa is just evil; Bridget’s friends are comical; and the priests are like wow. McNeil’s plot flows effortlessly and even though you think you know who’s evil, she will just slap you in the face when you find out the truth. I kept guess and tripping over my own thoughts as I started to piece together the story just as Bridget did. There were points that were made that, at first, I thought she was just going to drop when she never mentioned them again, but then they came into play and it was just awesome. I literally had chills at some point in the book. I just freaked at the part with the doll shop, I mean scary, possessed dolls- crap my pant, that was horrifying!

I love McNeil’s spin on the whole fallen angels/ Nephilim, good vs. bad concept. It wasn’t that “Oh there were good ones and bad ones” she actually explained to us how they came about (and while I’d love to tell you how, you should read and fins out).

Plus, look at her cover design, is that now spooky and totally and awesomly sick! I just love it, one of the best cover arts I've ever seen!
This was a great debut novel that I am hoping will be the first in a fabulous series! A must read.

Other places to find Gretchen McNeil:
Twitter: @GertchenMcNeil
Amazon: Possess[Hardcover]
YouTube: Monday on YARebels
Facebook: Posses by Gretchen McNeil
GoodReads: Gretchen McNeil and Possess Book
Author WebSite: GretchenMcNeil

There's Only One Rule of Exorcism: The Spirits Lie


1 comment:

  1. Wow! We just finished our Fallen Angels month and this would've fit the bill perfectly. I love Fallen Angels, they're the new vampires now hahaha... Next to Weres and shifters, they are my next fave.

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