Book: The Devouring by Simon Holt
Rating: 5 Stars
Release date: September 1, 2008 from Little,Brown
Summary: “When dark creeps in and eats the light,
Bury your fears on Sorry Night.
For in the winter’s blackest hours,
Comes the feasting of the Vours,
No one can see it, the life they stole,
Your body’s here but not your soul…”
Bury your fears on Sorry Night.
For in the winter’s blackest hours,
Comes the feasting of the Vours,
No one can see it, the life they stole,
Your body’s here but not your soul…”
THE VOURS: Evil, demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on Sorry Night, the darkest hours of the winter solstice.
When Reggie reads about the Vours in a mysterious old journal, she assumes they are just the musings of an anonymous lunatic. But when her little brother, Henry, begins to act strangely, it’s clear that these creatures exist beyond a madwoman’s imagination, and Reggie finds out what happens when fears come to life.
To save the people she loves, Reggie must learn to survive in a world of nightmares. Can she devour her own fears before they devour her?
The Devouring is an engrossing tale of terror that will have you wondering: what if your worst fears became your living nightmare?
*****
The Devouring was my first scary book. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but I don’t recommend reading this when you are alone at night. You might get a little spooked! =]
Reggie’s whole life begins to change when she finds an old book called The Devouring in the bookstore where she works. She and her best friend Aaron are huge horror fans so she figures there won’t be any harm in borrowing it. When strange things start happening to her little brother, Henry, Reggie begins to believe The Devouring might be more than fiction and the only way to save her brother is to dig deeper into the history of the Vours.
When I first started The Devouring I didn’t see anything really scary about it. I read about 50 pages in and I still couldn’t really get into the story. I just had to make myself keep reading and I finally got to the good stuff. And boy was I wrong about the book. It may not have been creepy to begin with but it was once I really started reading.
The characters weren’t that well-developed but it didn’t detract from the story. You could tell that Reggie really loved her little brother and that she would do anything for him. You could also tell that their dad wasn’t really all there, ever since their mom left them. My one really big question was about the family history. There wasn’t really info about when or why their mom left. I would’ve liked to know more about that.
Overall, I really did love The Devouring. And while I say that it’s scary, don’t let it stop you from giving it a try. I think it was just the right amount of horror, friendship, and love. When everything is together, in the end, it just balances. And it’s just in time for Halloween!
This totally rocks!…and not just because of the name…hehe…although I might be a little biased =)
Nice review. I’m really excited to read this! 🙂
I really enjoyed this one! Glad you did too! I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Soulstice!
Natalie @ Mindful Musings
I really want to read the Devouring, it looks so awesome, glad to see you enjoyed it so much 🙂
I haven’t read a really creepy book in a long time. May have to pick this one up!
Wow! Thanks for the warning. I’ve been wanting to read this for ages but need to remember not to pick a night when the hubby is out of town.