After Obsession
By: Carrie Jones and Steven E. Wedel
Bloomsbury USA Children's
ISBN-13: 9781599906812
Aimee and Alan have secrets. Both teens have unusual pasts and abilities they prefer to keep hidden. But when they meet each other, in a cold Maine town, they can't stop their secrets from spilling out. Strange things have been happening lately, and they both feel that something-or someone- is haunting them. They're wrong. Despite their unusual history and powers, it's neither Aimee nor Alan who is truly haunted. It's Alan's cousin Courtney who, in a desperate plea to find her missing father, has invited a demon into her life-and into her body. Only together can Aimee and Alan exorcise the ghost. And they have to move quickly, before it devours not just Courtney but everything around her.
Filled with heart-pounding romance, paranormal activity, and rich teen characters to love-and introducing an exciting new YA voice, Steven Wedel-this novel is exactly what Carrie Jones fans have been waiting for. Meet your next obsession.
Review
Aimee Avery just wants things to get back to normal, the way they were before her best friend Courtney's Father was lost at sea. Alan Parsons feels the same, having been forced by his Mother to move from Oklahoma to Maine, so that his cousin Courtney and her Mom can have help keeping their house. Aimee has noticed that things aren't right in the small town she's lived in her whole life. People are acting angry and just plain mean spirited and Courtney is acting secretive. Her boyfriend Blake has become jealous, cruel and overly posessive upon the arrival of Alan - almost bordering on racist regarding Alan's status as half Navajo. It turns out that the problems in town are being caused by an entity who has plagued the area for hundreds of years intermittently, the River Man. He is demonic presence who is tied to the river near Aimee's home where her Mom drowned when she was little. It was always thought that her Mom's death was a suicide brought on by bi-polar disorder, but it turns out to have roots far deeper than that. She was trying to protect the town and her family from the River Man. Aimee is also attempting to deal with her ability to heal people and the fact that things she sees in dreams come true. Alan is also having dark dreams, connected to his cougar spirit guide Onawa, who says he has a great destiny as a spirit warrior. It turns out that Courtney summoned the demon in an attempt to reach her Dad and now it is posessing her. With time running out, Aimee and Alan have to find a way to defeat the River Man and save Courtney from her own destructiveness - while dealing with their attraction to each other. I really enjoyed this book! I honestly liked this a lot better than Carrie's Need series which I felt stumbled after the first book's promising start. I enjoyed the alternating points of view, which blended together so well I didn't overtly notice I was reading two different authors. I liked the interactions and how real the characters felt. I also wish to thank Carrie and Steven for the presence of REAL parents/parental figures and family situations. Oftentimes in YA paranormal books the parents are non-existence. Gramps and Aimee's brother are hilarious. I love that they sell a cheeto looking like Marilyn Monroe on eBay. I couldn't put this book down once I started although it was more because the plot sucked me in than the characters themselves. That ended up being okay though, and the ending was wonderful. Also, I liked the use of Native American legends, practices and culture to help move along the main storyling. Very well done and a highly commendable job not being cliched or overdone. I would recommend this to anyone who likes YA paranormal with a fresh twist and is very sick of the same old crap. This was something welcoming and new.
VERDICT: 5/5 Stars
*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*
