Creature Feature Review: Possess

We have finally reached the end of the first annual Bump in the Night Brawl. What a week! We've heard from some awesome bloggers about all of the things that go bump in the night. But wait! There's still one more! Later today, Christy from The Reader Bee will be here to tell you all why demons are the baddest thing there is that goes bump in the night. For now, however, I have one last Bump in the Night Creature Feature review which, of course, concerns a book about demons. I hope you will consider Possess as one of your spooky reads.
 
Possess
by Gretchen McNeil
publisher: Balzer + Bray
date of publication: August 23, 2011
format: hardcover pages: 384
source: purchased
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N

From Goodreads:

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.

What I Thought  

Possess is a phenomenally spooky story about Bridget, a girl who has developed the capability of hearing and banishing demons after the death of her beloved father. As she learns to harness her newly found talents, it comes to her attention that there is trouble brewing in the world of demons, trouble that threatens her very safety. As she looks for answers in regard to the identity of her father's murderer and just what it is the demons have in store, she has to learn whom to trust and when to embrace her powers.

From start to finish, Possess was an enthralling story that I couldn't get enough of. There are some deliciously creepy parts that made me look at certain things in a different way after I finished reading them. The characters are interesting and, in the cases of some, creepy in their own ways. Bridget is a wounded young girl who has had a heavy burden thrown upon her. Watching her grapple with her abilities and worry about who she should trust was a great aspect to the story that added a bit more realness to her character. The settings are very well done and scary in all the right places. My personal favorite was the doll shop (you'll see why when you read it!). The only thing that I was disappointed in was how easily I figured out the identity of the villain. I had gleaned the information less than half-way through the book and, though I hoped I was wrong, was a bit disappointed to have figured it out so quickly. Nevertheless, the journey to the revelation was dramatic, horrific, and intriguing. I definitely enjoyed the horror elements most of all.

If you're in the mood for a bit of mystery wrapped up in horror and paranormal elements, then Possess is the book for you. While some things about the book are a bit too simple, it makes for an awesome reading experience, nevertheless. This is the perfect book to read on a chill autumn night, so why don't you grab a blanket and a cup of cocoa and give it a spin? It makes for the perfect spine-tingling evening.