Book Review: The Devouring

Title: The Devouring
Author: Simon Holt
Publisher: Little Brown
Pages: 240 pages
Release Date: September 1, 2008


Reggie Halloway, fifteen-years-old has a lot on her plate, especially, since her mom left her and her family, almost a year ago, without warning. She forced to take a considerable number of extra duties around the house, taking care of her younger brother Henry, maintaining school, friends, and a job. And it doesn’t help that her father has been distant and uncaring ever since the day her mother left.

But things take a turn for much worse, when Reggie finds a mysterious old journal telling the story of mysterious creatures known as the Vours that inhabit human bodies in Sorry Night, the darkest hours of the winter solstice. Reggie assumes that the journal, is merely the musings of a mental person. And so for fun Reggie and her best friend, Aaron decided to participate in Sorry Night and “try” to conjure up this so call Vours. During these hours the Vours steal the most afraid being and this year its Henry. Now it is up to Reggie to save her brother from this evil being. But first she needs to fully understand these monstrous creatures but most importantly overcome her own fears.

Reading this reminded me the good old days when I was a sixth grader reading R.L Stine books. In true Goosebumps and Fear Street nature these books were creepy. The main character, Reggie was likable and I could feel her frustration about the situation with her brother. I thought this was going to be a stand alone novel because form what I remember there was no indication of a sequel. But I don't care because I really, really want to read the sequel The Devouring #2: Soulstice. Can't wait to find out what happens next.


(Sorry, the review sucks read the book a while back. November of 2008 to be exact.)

Book Review: Sleepaway Girls

Title: Sleepaway Girls
Author: Jen Calonita
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
Pages: 304 pages
Release Date: May 1, 2009


This book was just an average book. The plot itself was simple and I wasn’t a big fan of it. Sam Montgomery, decides to spend the summer in Whispering Pines, as a counselor-in-training (CIT), to distant herself from her best friend and her new boyfriend’s antics. On her first day, there she quickly learns about the cliques within camps, there are the evil bitches, aka Ashley and Gabby, the heart throb, Hunter, and the playful but cute, Cole, and other CITs Em, Grace and Court, who she befriends immediately and they create a club known as the Sleepaway Girls.



Soon after arriving at camp, Sam is catapult into a war, the Sleepway Girls vs. Ashley and Gabby, who are dead set on making her life hell in Whispering Pines, including causing havoc between the guys she like. And during all this she manages to have fun and learn to stand up for herself.


I didn’t particularly like this book, I was bored through a lot of the book. There was no big lead up to anything, like the pranks or other activities mentioned. The way the romantic aspects played out was unrealistic. For example Em, Grace, and Court, and they all have crushes on three other guys (senior counselors or CITs, like themselves) and by the end the book, all three guys like them, same situation with Sam and her crush. I guess this counts as a spoiler but honestly, you kind of figure it know its going to happen. None, of the characters, minor or major particularly stood out to me, it was just flat if anything they seemed a little immature for fifteen year olds. The book can be pretty much summed up as a YA book disguised as a middle grade novel.


April 2009 Spring Break Read