Review: The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

Book info:
Title:  The Dead House  
Author:  Dawn Kurtagich
Genre:  YA Horror
Published:  September 15th, 2015
Source:  ARC won in giveaway October 2015

I won this from a Halloween giveaway last year on another blog.  And sadly, I didn't get around to reading it until this summer when I tried to do a challenge.  Overall I really enjoyed it!  I could totally see this being done as a horror movie.  And if you've read any of my reviews, you'll know that truly I consider that a pretty high compliment.  I know that Kurtagich will be a go-to author for scary stories for me from now on. 

The story is told in diary entries and interviews/police records.  Supposedly all of this happened 20 years ago, and just recently the diary of Kaitlyn Johnson.  But there are not any actual records of Kaitlyn, only Carly Johnson.  From the story we learn that Kaitlyn was Carly's "second personality" that only came out at night.  Technically this is called Dissociative Identity Disorder, as is explained by the author at the end of the book.  The way a lot of it was told was very descriptive.  It really put me right into the scary moments and locations of the book.  I also enjoyed the Scottish voodoo/mystical type of magic that was part of the story.  It is always fascinating to me to learn about things like that. To realize that the voodoo that I know of, isn't the only one that is out there. 

In the end there was a big fire that killed as well as burned down part of the school where this mostly takes place.  It is interesting to see just how long Carly/Kaitlyn existed.  I would have loved to get more of the family background from before all of this.  But the little sister moments, as well as memories from the girls and others in their lives did give the story an even more twisted aspect.  You'll spend the whole time wondering who could really be behind all of the death and vandalism that goes on.  While it seems that there is no way Kaitlyn could do all of it, there are times that it seems obvious that everyone would think it was her. 

I highly recommend this as a scary book, with most questions answered at the end, but not all.  Enough is left open that it will leave you thinking long after you finish it. 

Review: The White Glove War (Magnolia League #2) by Katie Crouch and Grady Hendrix

I got ahold of an ARC of this book from the YA Book Exchange.  It's been out for about 2 years now, but I haven't had a chance to get a copy of it until I found it there. When I first started reading it I was a bit confused.  What I remembered from the fist book, The Magnolia League, was Alex's story.  And this book actually is told from two viewpoints.  It doesn't start with Alex though, and that is what got me confused I think.  It started with her friend Hayes.  But once I got into the book, I really was glad to get two sides of the story.  And it looks as if there should be a third book, that would follow Hayes, or at least trying to find and save her.  Again, if you haven't read the first book, go click on my link to it above and read that.  My review below might spoil it for you.

So Hayes is ready to be a part of the Magnolia League with her mother and grandmother.  Turns out though that her family and Alex's family haven't really ever gotten along. There has been a rivalry since the beginning.  Alex only wants to get her mother back.  And so she is trying to get in good with her grandmother in order to learn the things she would need to try to bring her mother back to life.  Never mind that this is against the three types of magic the Magnolia girls are not supposed to try.  Not only that, but her grandmother has trapped her mother in the blue room of her house, another type of magic not supposed to be done.  Someone has called on an evil spirit, The Gray Man, to hurt Alex, the same person who wanted her mother dead.  There are lots of secrets in the League.  And Alex has made a deal with Sina to get her mother back, in exchange for helping Sina bring down the Magnolia League.  The Gray Man takes over Alex and causes her to be hateful to her friends, not to mention almost making her drive head on into oncoming traffic, which would have killed her, but also Hayes who was in the car at the time.  Hayes's brother is still in love with Alex it seems, even after what happened in the last book.  And of course there is the third friend in the book, Madison.  Who may be able to help as an outside party between the two girls.  But her grandmother will also break one of the three spell rules.  All of these things could bring down the League if their hoodoo supplier, Doc, were to find out. 

There is lots of suspense.  So many moments of what next!  It was hard to put down, and as good a read as the first one, once I kind of figured out where I was.  I mean, you have to give me a bit of a break, I read the first one summer of 2011.  There is no 3rd one listed on Goodreads, at least not under the first author's name.  So I had to tweet her and ask if there was a third one in the works!  Because it definitely didn't end with this book. 

Cursed (Voodoo Nights #1) by Lizzy Ford

First I have to say thanks to Netgalley and Indie Ink Publishing for allowing me to read an e-galley of this.  I was of course first drawn to it by the cover, and then the description was intriguing, there aren't as many books about voodoo out there, so I thought it would be a different thing to read.  And now with this season of American Horror Story having voodoo in it, I can see that this book could be a big hit!
There are really two main characters:  Adrienne and Jayden.  Jayden's family on his mother's side are really big into voodoo.  But Jayden doesn't believe all that stuff.  He lives with his father, a man who is kind of the black Steve Jobs.  A whiz at computers.  And very wealthy.  Adrienne has a similar family, her mother's side is very into voodoo.  But she has come to live with her father, who while he isn't into voodoo, definitely respects it.  Adrienne has the power to read Tarot cards, and so works at a psychics parlor. This is the first place she and Jayden come into contact (sort of).  She does a reading for Jayden's sister Tara, and has these extra cards that are for the person Tara came with.  But she doesn't ever go out and actually see Jayden.  Adrienne has come to this fancy school on a scholarship for her singing.  She is also there to maybe find out what happened to her sister who disappeared, possibly died, 5 years ago.  When Jayden first hears Adrienne singing at school he stops to see her and is smitten.  But both of them have curses on their families.  The oldest child in each generation dies.  For Adrienne it was her older sister, for Jayden, it would be him, but the curse was only for the first 99, and he is the 100th oldest child.  But his grandmother warns him of a white zombie girl that he needs to watch out for.  And when she meets Adrienne, she thinks it is her.  Jayden has an ex-girlfriend that tries to put hexes on him.  She also is a "mean girl" and plans a prank on Adrienne, but not only that, hexes her.
The story behind the curses is very intriguing.  What happened in Jayden's past is pretty horrific, something his ancestor was a part of.  I only wish maybe there was a bit more of some specifics about the actual rituals.  But it is still interesting to hear about the gods that they pray to and believe in.  The book does leave off quite suddenly.  So I will be interested to see where it goes next.  An interesting read for sure, and you do care about the characters.  One thing that would have been nice is if they had put the eyes of the girl on the cover.  There are so many times her eyes are described, that it would be a really neat cover if you added that.