Review: Possess

Possess
by Gretchen McNeil
Hardcover
384 pages
Published August 23rd 2011
by Balzer + Bray

Summary from Goodreads:

Rule #1: Do not show fear. 

Rule #2: Do not show pity. 

Rule #3: Do not engage. 

Rule #4: Do not let your guard down. 

Rule #5: They lie. 

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from. 

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.

Thoughts:
I am not a big fan of the horror genre. That's why I had this book on my shelf for a really long time before I decided to read it on my holiday. And yes it gives me the creeps but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I must say I have yet to encounter an Asian female main character in a YA book so this is kind of new for me although Bridget Liu is half Caucasian. Interestingly, she have three close guy friends and her best friend is gay. Surprise..suprise.

Likes
The book is very fast paced and there's not a boring moment at all. I just wished that it's longer and there's more character development for Bridget. The funny bits also made me smile. Especially during the parts where Bridget is supposed to help the priests exorcist a creepy doll shop but tried so hard to hide her fear.

Dislikes
It's creepy as hell! Well in a good way. I have images of Linda Blair's hideous head in my brain while reading this. So this one is certainly not for the faint of heart. And the clues are so obvious that I can't help but throw my hands in the air and wished the writer made it a bit more challenging for us to discover who the real villain is. I mean yes the ghosts/demons had help apparently.

Recommended for: fans of Anna Dressed in Blood
Verdict: 5 stars.

In my  TBR Pile & Dusty Bookshelf Reading Challenge 
Available on: Amazon