Review: Amity by Micol Ostow

Published August 26, 2014
Publisher: EgmontUSA

Synopsis: Here is a house of ruin and rage, of death and deliverance.
Here is where I live, not living.
Here is always mine.

When Connor's family moves to Amity, a secluded house on the peaceful banks of New England's Concord River, his nights are plagued with gore-filled dreams of demons. destruction, and revenge. Dreams he kind of likes. Dreams he could make real, with Amity's help.

Ten years later, Gwen's family moves to Amity for a fresh start. Instead, she's haunted by lurid visions, disturbing voices, and questions about her own sanity. But with her history, who would ever believe her? And what could be done if they did?

Because Amity isn't just a house. She is a living force, bent on manipulating her inhabitants to her twisted will. She will use Connor and Gwen to bring about a violent end as she's done before. As she'll do again. And again. And again.

Inspired by a true-crime story, Amity spans generations to weave an overlapping, interconnected tale of terror, insanity. danger, and death.

Review: Ok guys, I can't even sugar coat this...this was my least favorite read of the year. I really really really didn't like this book. Let me see if I can formulate into words exactly what I didn't like.

First thing- the narrators are 12 and you can tell. The language is very young, the concepts and thoughts weren't very well delved out, and there was just a sense of immaturity to the story. Of course, this book is meant for young adult, but still. I have read many a young adult novel that didn't leave me with this feeling.

Second- This story was so repetitive!!  The same phrases and concepts were repeated so so so many times. I am supposing that this was to build suspense and add to the story, however, it just didn't work for me. 

Third- The two timeline plot sounded interesting, but I didn't love it. The voice of the two narrators were very different and you could definitely tell which story you were in (and if you couldn't, the font was different so that kind of gives it away), which is a concern with this type of plot. 

Fourth- I just never really got into the characters. For the most part, they annoyed me. Both of the main characters had unstable psych histories, and both of their families just kind of ignored it! Gwen's mother never said anything to her in fear she would break, while Connor's family had enough other problems that he just seemed to get pushed under the rug. 

I could probably keep going, but I think that's enough. 1 star. While this book did nothing for me, I'm sure others will enjoy.

*This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.