The Devouring: Sorry Night by Simon Holt

Reggie is a horror fan; she figures reading all those scary books and watching all those scary movies is a sort of preparation for the real thing, real fear. But for Reggie, real fear is just arachnophobia for example, something real she can name. So when she stumbles upon a mysterious journal detailing the horrors of certain demonic beings called Vours that take over human bodies, she dismisses it as a work of fiction. But she can’t deny the strange coincidence of her little brother Henry acting very strangely—and after Sorry Night, the only time that Vours can invade bodies. And when Henry’s behavior becomes more erratic and destructive, Reggie realizes that she had no idea what real fear was before—because now, she’s living it.

The Devouring is a suspenseful paranormal novel with elements of horror. Its strongest point is by far its unique plot, which I found exciting, original, and unpredictable with its combination of mystery, familiar problems, and all-encompassing fear. The characters, on the other hand, are a bit hard to connect with, even Reggie with her fierce determination. She was a little too easily blinded by cute popular boys and seemed to be spooked easily despite her claims to have conquered her fears. Another problem I have was that I often felt removed from the story despite vivid and horrifying details because it felt so unreal. Part of this is due to how fast paced The Devouring is; Reggie had to adapt, almost too quickly sometimes it seemed, to each new situation. I am a little disappointed, because thought The Devouring would’ve been better, but it is still an interesting read with a scientific twist to fear.

Fans of Peeps and The Midnighters trilogy, both by Scott Westerfeld, and The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong will likely enjoy this intriguing read.

Rating: 4.0

Review copy borrowed