Wikedpedia

It's the return of Point Horror for the Internet generation! Don't open the door. Don't answer your phone. And whatever you do, DON'T turn on your computer...

Cole and Gavin love playing practical jokes through Wikipedia. They edit key articles and watch their classmates crash and burn giving oral reports on historical figures like Genghis Khan, the first female astronaut on Jupiter. So after the star soccer player steals Cole's girlfriend, the boys take their revenge by creating a Wikipedia page for him, an entry full of outlandish information including details about his bizarre death on the soccer field.

It's all in good fun, until the soccer player is killed in a freak accident... just as Cole and Gavin predicted. The uneasy boys vow to leave Wikipedia alone but someone continues to edit articles about classmates dying in gruesome ways... and those entries start to come true as well.

To his horror, Cole soon discovers that someone has created a Wikipedia page for him, and included a date of death. He has one week to figure out who's behind the murders, or else he's set to meet a pretty grisly end.
from goodreads.com

Beth says 2.5 Stars...
So I have to comment on two things first: I absolutely loathe the cover and the summary is flat-out wrong. It doesn't actually tell what happens in the book and gets key information completely wrong. Not really the best way to go about selling your book... As far as the plot goes, the concept is cool and put a new twist on the creepy death prediction subgenre. However, the actual execution of the idea was utterly off and really not very entertaining. The deaths were definitely a bit grisly, so it has that going for horror fans. The issue is that some of them were more than a little absurdly constructed. I'm pretty sure that giggles happened because of said ridiculousness. The whole reveal of the killer was poorly done, including the final scene of violence. The characters didn't react in any manner of a normal way and there are serious questions of plausibility. I totally get suspension of disbelief in novels, but it seemed like this was (for the most part) attempting to be realistic. I had an issue with the formatting as well, with the tweets featured in some chapters coming from most to least recent like in a news feed. However, that's not particularly helpful for someone trying to read a bit of narrative through them - they should have been chronologically arranged like what happens when you click on a thread of tweets.

None of the characters were compelling in the least. One of my favorite moments in the book was when we got a peek into the mind of the crotchety old teacher. Cole annoyed me with his utter obsession with Winnie, his ex-girlfriend, and by being incredibly uninteresting. Gavin, Winnie, and the other players weren't any better. All of them played their flat, one-dimensional roles with nothing extra. There really isn't much to say, except that the murderer is pretty obvious before too long.

Overall this is a book to skip. I did manage to get a little baking inspiration and some unintended laughs out of the novel, so it's not a total loss. However, when that's the best that can be said about a horror story it's obvious there's a problem somewhere.
ebook from Netgalley

All Those Broken Angels

Comforted by a shadow. Haunted by the truth.

Richard Anderson was the last person to see his friend Melanie alive. She vanished when they were six and while the police never found Melanie, a part of her remained - a living shadow that is now Richard's closest friend.

For ten years, Richard has never questioned the shadow that keeps him company... until a new girl moves into town, claiming to be Melanie. Desperate to prove the girl is a fake, the shadow leads Richard to the place where the killer buried her bones. But Richard finds skeletons from several different children... and evidence suggesting that perhaps the shadow isn't who she says she is.
from goodreads.com

Beth says 4 Stars...
This book definitely falls into the category of super creepy. I will say that I'm not a huge fan of the cover; I don't see the strong connection to the story, especially since Richard is a visual artist. There were so many other options that would make the initial sight of the book much more striking. I really enjoyed having a book set in Savannah, having just recently visited, because I could recognize some of the locations. The story also made a lot of sense in the context of the city, which claims to be one of the most haunted in America. The plot was definitely the highlight of the novel. It had a great combination of meandering moments and edge of your seat twists and turns. The ending was masterfully done, with the reveal of the killer happening in a subtle manner that still made me gasp. Authors take note; that's the way to begin the final unraveling of a mystery.

The characters themselves aren't the main draw of the book and really exist to serve the plot. Richard was fine as far as protagonists go, with the nice little addition of having a sentient shadow living inside him to make it more interesting. I did appreciate hearing about Melanie's previous trauma and how her reaction is different than the standard resilience. Her early experiences broke something inside her instead of strengthening it. There is some weird development with Richard, Melanie, and the shadow that I'm not entirely sure how to feel about. It might give a bit of an ick factor to some readers, especially when you put everything together at the end.

Overall this is a great read if you're looking for a murder mystery with a creepy supernatural twist. It's nice and atmospheric for the fall, with enough turns to keep you engaged. The ending is absolutely awesome and makes the book completely worth reading from cover to cover.
ebook from Netgalley

Amity

Publication 8/26/2014 

Inspired by a true-crime story of supernatural happenings and gory murders, Amity spans two generations and beyond to weave an overlapping, interconnected tale of terror, insanity, danger, and death.
from goodreads.com

Beth says 4 Stars...
Based on the cover one would expect this book to be creepy and it certainly was.  Start off with a creepy house with a history, a couple of desperate families moving in ten years apart, add a dash of psychological damage, and you have the perfect set up for a horror story.  The narrative alternates between the first person accounts of Connor and Gwen, which kept me from getting bored with one of them.  It also allowed Ostow to delve into two similar, yet different accounts of the house's horrors.  The plot moved quickly and consistently forward with both stories adding information and occasionally giving different perspectives on the same thing.  I'll admit that I scare easily, but I had serious problems with this as bedtime reading.  Although there's some grossness, most of the fear comes from the psychological games Amity plays with everyone who comes into contact with her.  That's right, I'm talking about the evil magic house like it's sentient.  Amity plays the biggest role in moving the action forward and acts as the core of the book.

The characters serve the purpose of Amity and act as vessels for or antagonists towards her power.  What I found so interesting was how the two main characters could have such different reactions to Amity.  It's unsettling to be in either Gwen or Connor's head for opposite reasons.  Gwen's constantly questioning her sanity and thus ends up ignoring all of her instincts.  Not only that, but everyone around her also refuses to believe her since she's supposedly unstable.  On the other hand, Connor is terrifying in his psychopathy and love of Amity.  He embraces and enjoys the darkness and evil that permeates the house, which is a super creepy head space to inhabit for however brief a time.  The siblings of the main characters fill their roles nicely.  Honestly, the characters are only really there to be vehicles of the story and it works.

This book is one for horror fans that don't want an overabundance of gore, but still want something to unsettle them.  There isn't much productive character development because the plot is the major focus.  I know this isn't going to be for everyone.  I found it a nice, albeit scary, change of pace.
ebook from publisher

The Replacement

Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

from goodreads.com

Beth says 4 Stars...

Sometimes the mood strikes for a certain type of book and I recently found myself wanting something a little creepy.  This certainly fit the bill; just look at the cover.  I found parts of the plot quite surprising, though.  For instance, there was a fair bit of high school drama that ran throughout the novel.  Since Mackie is concerned with his place in both worlds that coexist in Gentry his identity plays a central role in the plot and the school bits play into that.  I didn't love that particular aspect of the book, because the creepy world underneath the slag heap was much more interesting than a high school party.  The contrast between the underground and general human world proved to be a major and well-written tension woven throughout the book.  I found the double standard acceptance of the paranormal in Gentry absolutely fascinating.  Although everyone pretends that things are completely normal, they still subscribe to old beliefs in secret.  It added a layer of depth and denial to the community.  Although it wasn't as fast paced as it could have been, there's plenty to keep you turning the pages.

I happen to be easily annoyed when it comes to protagonists struggling with their identity, especially if it manifests in typical high school ways.  While I understand how incredibly important Mackie coming to terms with where he belongs is to the book, it doesn't mean that I didn't find it a little irritating.  It could have been much worse because at least this time there was a reason.  The real stars of the book were the delightfully unsettling creatures.  They could perhaps be best characterized as faeries, but that distinction never gets used in the book.  They're all distinct and creepy, but in a very natural way.  They don't seem to be created for shock factor or to be different.  I don't want to give too much away, but the scenes involving the otherworldly denizens were some of my favorites.

This is a great read when you're in the mood for something dark, atmospheric, and more than a bit different.  I might not recommend reading it at night while home alone; it's best done in daylight.
book from library