DNF Review: Insanity by Susan Vaught

Title: Insanity

Author: Susan Vaught

Genre: YA, horror

Publication date: February 2014

Published by: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Source: For review from publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis:

Never, Kentucky is not your average scenic small town. It is a crossways, a place where the dead and the living can find no peace. Not that Forest, an 18-year-old foster kid who works the graveyard shift at Lincoln Hospital, knew this when she applied for the job. Lincoln is a huge state mental institution, a good place for Forest to make some money to pay for college. But along with hundreds of very unstable patients, it also has underground tunnels, bell towers that ring unexpectedly, and a closet that holds more than just donated clothing....When the dead husband of one of Forest's patients makes an appearance late one night, seemingly accompanied by an agent of the Devil, Forest loses all sense of reality and all sense of time. Terrified, she knows she has a part to play, and when she does so, she finds a heritage that she never expected.

With her deep knowledge of mental illness and mental institutions, Susan Vaught brings readers a fascinating and completely creepy new book intertwining the stories of three young people who find themselves haunted beyond imagining in the depths of Lincoln Hospital.

My rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
I really loved the concept of Insanity... a haunted asylum? Yes please! I'm all for a little scare and some talk of mental illness, but this was just not what I expected.

Review: Soulprint by Megan Miranda

Title: Soulprint

Author: Megan Miranda

Genre: YA, mystery, sci-fi

Publication date: February 3rd, 2015

Published by: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Source: E-ARC from publishers via Netgalley

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Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis:

With the science of soul-fingerprinting a reality, Alina Chase has spent her entire life imprisoned for the crimes her past-self committed. In an attempt to clear her name, Alina unintentionally trades one prison for another when she escapes, aided by a group of teens whose intentions and motivations are a mystery to her. As she gets to know one of the boys, sparks fly, and Alina believes she may finally be able to trust someone. But when she uncovers clues left behind from her past life that only she can decipher, secrets begin to unravel. Alina must figure out whether she’s more than the soul she inherited, or if she’s fated to repeat the past.

This compelling story will leave readers wondering if this fictional world could become a reality.

My rating: ★★★★☆
I'll pretty much read anything Megan Miranda writes. Ever since I read Hysteria, I decided that I loved her writing, and that I'd probably read anything she wrote. Soulprint just had such an interesting concept! I mean, being able to trace souls as they are reborn? How cool is that? However, the method of keeping track of all the souls, I'll admit, is quite questionable... with a lumbar puncture, you get the "fingerprint" from the spinal fluid? I don't know about that, but what I do know is how much I loved the concept! The soul is just something that has always intrigued us, and I just thought this was very cool.

Review: The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers

Title: The Vanishing Game

Author: Kate Kae Myers

Genre: YA, mystery, horror

Publication date: February 14, 2012

Published by: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Source: The publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Jocelyn follows clues apparently from her dead twin, Jack, in and around Seale House, the terrifying foster home where they once lived. With help from childhood friend Noah she begins to uncover the truth about Jack's death and the company that employed him and Noah.

Jocelyn's twin brother Jack was the only family she had growing up in a world of foster homes-and now he's dead, and she has nothing. Then she gets a cryptic letter from "Jason December"-the code name her brother used to use when they were children at Seale House, a terrifying foster home that they believed had dark powers. Only one other person knows about Jason December: Noah, Jocelyn's childhood crush and their only real friend among the troubled children at Seale House.

But when Jocelyn returns to Seale House and the city where she last saw Noah, she gets more than she bargained for. Turns out the house's powers weren't just a figment of a childish imagination. And someone is following Jocelyn. Is Jack still alive? And if he is, what kind of trouble is he in? The answer is revealed in a shocking twist that turns this story on its head and will send readers straight back to page 1 to read the book in a whole new light.

My rating: ★★★★☆
 "...A shocking twist that turns this story on its head..." This line in the blurb describes exactly how I felt at the end! It was so shocking that my jaw almost literally hit the floor and stayed there for about 5 minutes! It was CRAZY! I could not stop thinking about it even after I was done reading!

Review: The Mark by Jen Nadol

Title: The Mark

Series: The Mark #1

Author: Jen Nadol

Genre: YA, paranormal

Publication date: January 2010

Published by: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis:

Sixteen year old Cassandra Renfield has seen the mark since forever: a glow around certain people as if a candle were held behind their back.

The one time she mentioned it to someone else, the mark was dismissed as a trick of the light. So Cassie has kept quiet, considering its rare appearances odd, but insignificant. Until the day she watches a man die. Mining her memories, Cassie realizes she can see a person's imminent death. Not how or where, only when: today.

Cassie searches her past, her philosophy lessons, even her new boyfriend for answers, answers, always careful to hide her secret. How does the mark work? Why her?

Most importantly: if you know today is someone's last, should you tell them?

My rating: ★★★☆☆
This book was great! But I have to admit, these were my thoughts about the first half of the book as I read it:

-“Whoa! That is so interesting! Cassie knows when people are going to die? Weird.”

-“Oh man, that is sad. Its horrible that her only living relative (her grandmother, Nan) just died. But that guy Jack is really nice ;)”

-“Cassie has an aunt she never knew about and now she has to move with her for 3 months? Weird.”

-“Hmm. A philosophy obsessed boyfriend (Lucas)? I‘m still liking Jack better ;)”

-“And who goes and has sex with a guy (Lucas) you talked to like 4 times before?!?! Tsk tsk, I disapprove.”

-“Okay, this is getting boring…”

-“Seriously? Where is this story going? Where‘s the action?!”