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The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie and Alyssa B. Sheinmel

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (#1)

by Paige McKenzie and Alyssa B. Sheinmel
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Format: Kindle/ ARC

Published: Mar. 24th 2015 by Weinstein Books

Genre: Paranormal/Thriller, Young Adult

Amazon | KindleBook Depository  | B&N | Nook

 
"In that place where you're more asleep than awake any more, I hear something else. A phrase uttered in a child's voice, no more than a whisper: Night Night.

Something freaky's going on with Sunshine's new house . . . there's the chill that wraps itself around her bones, the giggling she can hear in the dead of night, and then the strange shadows that lurk in her photographs. But the more weird stuff that happens, the less her mum believes her. Sunshine's always had a quirky affiliation with the past, but this time, history is getting much too close for comfort . . .

If there is something, or someone, haunting her house, what do they want? And what will they do if Sunshine can't help them?

As things become more frightening and dangerous, and the giggles she hears turn to sobs and screams, Sunshine has no choice but to accept what she is, face the test before her and save her mother from a fate worse than death.

The first in a frighteningly good new series based on the popular YouTube sensation The Haunting of Sunshine Girl Network, created by Paige McKenzie.
" -Goodreads



Review:


"Our kind don't celebrate birthdays. Except, of course, for when one of us turns sixteen. Just as she did today." (loc. 17)

Combining ghosts, haunted house and demons, The Haunting of Sunshine Girl began wonderfully creepy and I was totally in for the ride. Of course there were some typical Young Adult genre tropes such as instalove, and the use of comparison against others (in this case a friend and her mother,) to describe Sunshine as “not normal.” Fortunately there was a bit of a redemption towards why Sunshine wasn’t like other people, but I still feel this way of characterization could’ve been handled better (especially since almost an entire chapter was dedicated towards comparing Sunshine to others to fulfill her descriptive qualities.)




"Sometimes fear makes people turn against each other." (loc. 1735)



The first half of the book was right up my alley, with it’s dark and haunting vibe, it reminded me of the movie The Ring  directed by Gore Verbinski. The horror of a tragedy, the haunting of a ghost and the presence of a demon, provided enough of a mystery and thrill to want to read on. After about the halfway mark, the book felt like it changed directions and really lost it’s drive as it went from a creepy horror story to a run-of-the-mill grim reaper paranormal story. It got too technical and confusing as it got into Sunshine’s “true purpose” in the story, and by that point, I was just reading on to be finished with the book.


In all, the initial horror story concept was great and I really loved how the authors set up the the scenes to set the tone of the book. i would’ve like it better if it would’ve stayed on that track, but instead it lightened up and fell a little flat towards the end. I’d recommend this book for those who like a horrific thrill mixed with their usual paranormal interests, and I certainly wouldn’t mind checking out the youtube web series!


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Galley provided by Netgalley via Weinstein Books


*Quotes are from uncorrected advanced galleys and may change before going to press. Please refer to the final printed book for official quotes.



2 comments:

  1. aentee @ read at midnightAugust 23, 2015 at 8:36 PM

    Sorry to hear that the book deviated from it's original storyline into something more mainstream - the beginning of the book sound absolutely amazing! Fantastic review :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. […] The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie and Alyssa B. Sheinmel | Review […]

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