Amity by Micol Ostow Pages: 368
Published by Egmontusa on August 26, 2014
Genres: Depression & Mental Illness, Horror & Ghost Stories, Law & Crime, Young Adult
Source: eARC from Publisher
For fans of Stephen King and American Horror Story, a gruesome thriller suggested by the events of the Amityville Horror.
Connor's family moves to Amity to escape shady business deals. Ten years later, Gwen's family moves to Amity for a fresh start after she's recovered from a psychotic break.
But something is not right about this secluded house. Connor's nights are plagued with gore-filled dreams of demons and destruction. Dreams he kind of likes. Gwen has lurid visions of corpses that aren't there and bleeding blisters that disappear in the blink of an eye. She knows Amity is evil and she must get her family out, but who would ever believe her?
Amity isn't just a house. She is a living force, bent on manipulating her inhabitants to her twisted will. She will use Connor and Gwen to bring about a bloody end as she's done before. As she'll do again.
Alternating between parallel narratives, Amity is a tense and terrifying tale suggested by true-crime events that will satisfy even the most demanding horror fan.
I have a secret. As much as I love fluffy and sexy romances, I have a secret darker love- horror. And I have a second secret, even though I love horror so much, I have a tendency to actually get really scared when horror is done well. I know that is the point of horror, but I mean I can’t read a good horror book alone at night in my room or I will have nightmares all night. But I still can’t get enough, and Amity was creepy to the extreme! Fans of horror will love the fantastically creepy writing in Amity.
Amity is about the Amityville horror house. I have seen a couple of movies about the house and I know a little bit about house, so when I saw the book I knew what I was signing up for. Amity does not offer happy times for the families that live there become hers. Amity is told from the point of view of two different families that live there. First there is Conner and his family, and then 10 years down the road there is Gwen and her family. Conner and Gwen are not going to be your typical “I could see this person as my best friend.” At least I hope not (with Conner Especially.) Amity is dark and dangerous and she grabs hold of the people that live in her and she twists and turns them into a much darker and aggressive version of themselves.
It was interesting seeing how each character had a different connection with Amity. Conner seemed more and more twisted on each page and by each day. Gwen was a little different. She has a connection to the spiritual and seeing her in Amity was more heartbreaking in a way. Even though I knew this was not going to be a nice happily ever after for everyone in the story, I was still super nervous especially with the sibling dynamics and with the dog. I also wanted a little more backstory on Gwen and Conner from before they came to live at Amity. We are given bits and pieces but by and large we are just left to fill in the gaps. The point of the story was their time at Amity so it wasn’t essential that we know more, but I think it would have added to the story.
The most impressive part about the story, was the life that Micol Ostow was able to breathe into the house herself. Amity felt like a real living, breathing entity. She felt like another character in the story, and it was both creepy and impressive the way I could feel the house come to life off the pages.
The writing in Amity is perfect for a horror novel. It was jarring and disturbing and super creepy. More than a few times, the book actually gave me chills. Micol Ostow did a fantastic job writing horror. And I have read and loved multiple of her young adult romantic comedy books. Amity did not flow like a typical contemporary novel and normally all the changes in pacing and styles would leave me with my head spinning, but in this book it just added to the spooky and disturbing feel of the story. None of the characters were able to get their bearings in Amity and the writing only added to that. If you are a fan of horror, Amity will give you chills galore. I dare you not to get scared.
Be sure to check out the next stop on the Amity tour
Monday, August 18, 2014
Guest post and giveaway
To enter, fill out the rafflecopter below to win a SIGNED copy of Amity
Rules: -open to US/CAN only -My contest policy applies -Must be 16+
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Missie
I have this one but haven’t read it yet, I need to get to it soon!
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
Stacy Renee
I love dark thrillers like this and it’s almost the perfect time (October) to read a book like this! 🙂
kindlemom1
So glad this worked for you! The creepy cover would have made me want to pick this one up as well.
Christina R.
LOVE creepy stories, especially when they’re about these really famous haunted places!
It’s awesome you found it creepy at times and that even though you didn’t totally connect with Conner, you liked Gwen a bit more.
Lovely review 🙂
thank you 🙂
Linda romer
Goog morning Michelle, I like you love a good horror story and this sounds good. I can only read them in the morning or I will be up all night scared. No matter how many times I watch the movie Amityville Horror it stills scares me.
Anita Yancey
I love thriller, and this one sounds really spooky. Which means it is definitely my kind of book. Thanks for having the giveaway.
kara
Good horror books are sparse and a YA horror book period is rare. I’ll have to check this out.
Red Iza
That looks frightening ! On the other hand, one good reason to cuddle into boyfriend’s arms for protection lol 😉
Lori Hopkins
This is def going on my TBR list. My fave kind of book, and there aren’t that many out there being written anymore.
Jenna @ Rather Be Reading YA
I found this one so confusing and I didn’t like it, but I’m glad you did. I saw a lot of good reviews on Goodreads. I think backstory for Conner and Gwen would have helped a lot and made it less confusing for me.