ARC Review: Alone by Cyn Balog

Information:
Title/Author: Alone by Cyn Balog
Series: Standalone
Release Date: November 7, 2017
Publisher: SourcebooksFIRE
Genre: YA, Horror
Rating: ✭✭✭✭✩

When her mom inherits an old, crumbling mansion, Seda’s almost excited to spend the summer there. The grounds are beautiful and it’s fun to explore the sprawling house with its creepy rooms and secret passages. Except now her mom wants to renovate, rather than sell the estate—which means they’re not going back to the city…or Seda’s friends and school.

As the days grow shorter, Seda is filled with dread. They’re about to be cut off from the outside world, and she’s not sure she can handle the solitude or the darkness it brings out in her.

Then a group of teens get stranded near the mansion during a blizzard. Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter, even though she knows danger lurks in the dilapidated mansion—and in herself. And as the snow continues to fall, what Seda fears most is about to become her reality…

I believe that this book should be released a day before it is scheduled to be. Honestly, it is the PERFECT YA book to set the mood for Halloween. A little bit of horror, a little bit of comedy. Where can you go wrong with a mix like that?

What I liked…

Although I didn’t enjoy Unnatural Deeds, I really enjoyed this book! It isn’t often that I pick up a horror book, but they are kind of like guilty pleasures for me. I used to be so scared of everything about Halloween, aside from the free candy. I literally couldn’t sit through any horror movies and thought that Michael Myers and Jason were coming to haunt me. But now as I’ve grown older, I’ve kind of come to appreciate horror books and movies. It takes a great amount of effort to scare someone. I haven’t been able to squeeze any Stephen King novels into this October, but there’s always next year.

I really loved the setting of this novel. Where could you go wrong with a deserted murder mansion, with a cemetery within 100 ft. There’s prone to be something that goes wrong. It was the perfect setting for the events of this novel!

Can I just say that the research for this novel was spectacular! Literally, it is obvious how much effort the author put into this book. There were so many different famous deaths in this book. Fortunately, I had heard of most of these people, but I never really  knew how they died. And some of their deaths were quite terrible.

What I wasn’t a fan of…

Usually the second portion of my reviews is “what I disliked.” But I didn’t really dislike anything. I just wasn’t a fan of something.

I have come to the conclusion that Cyn Balog really likes bizarre things. There has been a trend of “imaginary friends” in the past two books that I have read by her, and I am terrified that I am going to see it again. It’s just bizarre that she keeps writing about this. If you have read any of Cyn Balog’s other books, please let me know if this trend continues.

I also wasn’t a big fan of the ending. It definitely wasn’t what I expected, but I was really hoping that it would end on a different note. For horror books, I never want them to end on a happy note. I believe that horror books really shouldn’t have happily ever afters. I WANT them to have unclear endings. I always want them to leave me wanting more once I finish. Kind of like a horror craving. But, the ending of Alone was pretty straightforward, not really making me need anything extra.

Overall…

I ended up giving this book 4/5 stars. It was good. Not as good as I thought it was going to be, but still good enough to satisfy me. I would love to thank SourcebooksFIRE for sending me a copy of this book before the release date. It was perfect to read during October, and definitely a good surprise on my doorstep.

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Happy Reading,
Alaina