Beware the Wild (Beware the Wild, #1) in The Reader's Lounge

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Aug 25, 2014 Stacie (Shy Book Nerd) rated it liked it

Actual rating: 3.5

How do I begin this with out giving too much away? This is a story about a swamp in a small town. But it's not just any normal swamp. This swamp is haunted with deadly spirits that steal the people's souls. I really liked this dark twist, especially because once the person goes missing, it's as if they never existed at all. It set a major creep factor to the story, but the beginning fell a little flat.

In the beginning, it takes us right to the scene of Sterling's brother, Phin Actual rating: 3.5

How do I begin this with out giving too much away? This is a story about a swamp in a small town. But it's not just any normal swamp. This swamp is haunted with deadly spirits that steal the people's souls. I really liked this dark twist, especially because once the person goes missing, it's as if they never existed at all. It set a major creep factor to the story, but the beginning fell a little flat.

In the beginning, it takes us right to the scene of Sterling's brother, Phin missing from the swamp. I thought it would have gone at a steady pace from there, but the first part dragged on until about halfway. I think what made it drag was the fact it wasn't scary or creepy enough. I mean I scare pretty easily, and even I got a little bored with it because there was none of it. Until later that is. The first time she went into the swamp she comes across a monster and runs away, but is instantly put at ease and feels safe because she meets someone who is nice. I guess I was expecting to be spooked or creeped out a little more, so it was a bit of a let down.

Another thing that made it drag was the way Sterling acted. Sterling was a little too stubborn by not listening to anyone, being wishy washy, and being gullible at moments. It got a little irritating at times because the one person that was trying to help her, Heath, would ignore his suggestions, or go on to the swamp without him. Slowly she learned to believe Heath, but I wished that she could have trusted him better especially because he was the only one who believed her from the beginning. Slowly she started to believe him. As I said before, it took a while for that trust to come, though. Also what made it a tad frustrating for me was that Sterling kept putting her trust in the wrong people. I'm not sure about anyone else, but I would not trust anyone that's all too friendly in the swamp. I would have listened to my instincts and run, instead of trusting a complete stranger. She was all too eager to lay blame on someone that could have possibly been innocent.

Aside from those minor mishaps, I enjoyed the better half of the book. It got more suspenseful and scary as the bad guy showed his/her true colors. He or she was ruthless and ugly to the core. I also enjoyed the way Sterling and her friends came together as a rag tag team to defeat the bad guy. They were funny, especially Candy, and it helped the story become a bit more light hearted instead of dark all the time.

Overall this was a good story from a debut author. I'm hoping she writes more novels because she has the potential to be a really good horror author. The scenes and descriptions she wrote of the swamp she wrote, had a definite creep factor that I liked very much. I just wished she could have delved into the swamp a bit more, made it more scary. I know it sounds like I didn't like the story much, but I honestly did enjoy it all around. If you are in the mood for a dark story, then you might want to read this. Just be prepared that there isn't much horror.

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Dec 02, 2014 Pili marked it as to-read

Shelves: wish-list, 2016-rockmytbr-challenge

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