Monday 17 June 2013

Don't Look Back by S. B. Hayes (Young Adult, 9/10)



April 2013, Quercus, 330 pages, Paperback, Review copy
 
Themes: having a sibling with mental illness and addiction, feeling unloved, being loved but not loving the person back, a large treasure hunt, myths and legends, delusions, destructive power of nature, living in the past, the art of letting go, insane amounts of cleaning, unexplained occurrences, grasping at straws, low self-esteem, desire to be wanted, mystery upon mystery, no definitive answers

Content: moderate and occasional teen romance, nightmare situations, claustrophobia, gruesome parts,

Summary from Quercus
Sinead has been taunted by her manipulative brother Patrick all her life. Now he is missing. But he hasn’t stopped messing with her.


Compelled to search for him by her overbearing mother, Sinead discovers a trail of sinister clues which she knows Patrick has left for her. They lead her to Benedict House: a place where time stands still and nothing is as it seems.

There she meets James, who is also looking for answers about his troubled past. Together, James and Sinead will discover terrifying truths that will test them to the very limit. For Benedict House is not a place for the living, and Patrick will stop at nothing to bring them down…


Nayuleska's thoughts
I'm not entirely sure what the reality of Sinead's story is, and I suspect that is how I'm supposed to feel after finishing it, especially with the epilogue. I made the mistake of carrying on reading it after my family went on holiday - I got majorly spooked out and jumped a mile when the post was pushed through the letter box. Not one to be read in the dark!!!! I couldn't stop reading it though, I needed to know where her brother was and what he was doing.

Suggested read
For another thrilling read you must check out Silent Saturday by Helen Grant (Young Adult, 10/10)

No comments: