Merciless by Danielle Vega

I am rather disappointed with this book…
Everyone was hyping this book up to be this horror novel for the ages and there was a good chance I wasn't going to be able to finish it because it was so scary and gory.That just wasn't the case. At all.
Yeah, it had its creepy moments, but not once did I want to put the book down because I just couldn't stand the fear any longer. And I know those books exist because I've read them.
Another point people kept brining up on reviews was how the ending was so shocking and scary…not really. You see the ending coming form a mile away- it's no surprise.
The plot of the book is a lot like the movie "The Haunting of Molly Hartley". Not exactly but VERY similar.
I just wanted this book to be so much more than it was.

Publisher: Razorbill

Essence by A.L. Waddington

This book was one giant bucket of disappointment and amateur writing, so you can imagine my confusion as to why it has received such great reviews by the literary world. I just don't understand.

I'm not going to sugarcoat anything: this book sounds like it was written by a sophomore in high school is just writing their first YA novel. The writing is just that poor. And don't even get me started on plot holes. The supernatural aspect of this book revolved around the fact that Jocelyn is existing between two parallel time dimensions (one post civil wore Chicago, one modern Chicago) and the author doesn't even take the time to delve into how this works. The concept is confusing and really makes no sense and Waddington is more than happy to not appease her readers in explaining how it works. The main character has no personality, really. And her love interest, Jackson, is one giant flaw of character writing. Why does he talk like he's from 1860 when he's just as modern as Jocelyn and she doesn't talk like that? But that's another aspect of the book- everyone talks as if they are 40 year old from 1950. Proper grammar when teenagers are talking, no slang, and unbelievable dialogue. Please don't waste your time with this book. 

Publisher: Booktrope