***Review*** Killer Instinct (Horror High #2) by Caroline B. Cooney

On the Back of the Book

Horror High

It’s the stuff of nightmares

There’s talk around school about a mysterious house where no one ever lives for long. But when Holly and her friends decide to break in for a laugh, they don’t expect to find it occupied – and by a vampire.

Suddenly they find themselves trapped in a deadly game. Either they all die or they choose one to stay and be the vampire’s choice for ever. It’s their choice...

Pre Read Thoughts

When I was a teenager (God, I’m making myself sound so old) Point Horror books were all the rage because, thankfully, Twilight didn’t exist back then. One of my favourite Point Horror authors was Caroline B. Cooney so when I saw this book (and book 1) in WHSmith I had to buy them. The RRP is £4.99 (bargain!) and since I bought it on the high street I’d assume that’s what I paid for the pleasure of having this book on my shelf. The cover is very dull with just some moody looking teens on it. The synopsis is very interesting though, I can’t wait to revisit one of my teen favourite authors.

Post Read Thoughts

***SPOILERS MAY FEATURE IN THIS REVIEW! SORRY FOLKS!***

I’m really disappointed with this, what’s more, I should’ve known. My previous attempts to read books and authors that I loved as a teen haven’t gone well and I was naive to think that this would go any better. This wasn’t at all scary and it failed to capture my attention.  This is a really short book (184 pages) but it dragged on, I honestly feel that it could have been made even shorter. The writing isn’t anything particularly special and the fact that the author was constantly changing POV in this book frustrated me as it made the story disjointed and it failed to settle down. The majority of the book takes place in one room and so for the story to feel disjointed is an incredible feat. Maybe I should give Ms Cooney some credit for that.

I couldn’t connect with any of the characters as I was rarely with them for more than a couple of paragraphs at a time. As the reader I like to be able to get to know the characters and form opinions on them. It makes it so much more difficult to review a book if you don’t feel that you could relate to at least one person. The impressions I got of the characters however weren’t positive. They didn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities and what could have made them better people was erased from their memories.  As for the vampire, I didn’t really grasp what the author was trying to do with him. My ideas of him are confused as he was never really explained. This means that he’s not very scary because you don’t have this mental image of him. He was a complete let down.

Overall I think this book is average. I don’t have anything positive to say but I’m not sat here tearing my hair out telling you that I’ve been tortured by some mean author lady. If I’d known I was going to have yet another case of realising I can’t be a teenager forever, I really wouldn’t have read this. I mean, I read for excitement yet recently I’ve read quite a few books that I haven’t liked and that saddens me. I’m not sure if I’d recommend this as Cooney’s fans will have grown up and moved on and the YA market doesn’t need me telling you about another author that’s best described as mediocre.

My Rating

2 stars – if it hadn’t been such a quick read I’m not sure whether or not I’d have finished this. It’s not as bad as book one as that one was pretty horrific. That saves this from the dreaded one star rating. I wouldn’t actually suggest you waste your hard earned cash and buy this though. I think if you can get it free it’ll waste a few hours but don’t feel that unless you read this book your life won’t be complete. Trust me, you’ll survive.

***Review*** Toxic Beauty (Horror High #1) by Caroline B. Cooney

On the Back of the Book


Horror High

It's the stuff of nightmares

Starting a new school is hard enough, but Bethany has never felt more plain and ordinary. She'd give anything to be popular beautiful and clever.

When a mysterious man offers to make all of Bethany's wildest dreams come true, she jumps at the chance. But she doesn't realise that beauty comes with a price...


Pre Read Thoughts


I actually accidentally read the second one yesterday (24/10/2011) while I was waiting for my brother to finish Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days. So I thought I'd better read this book so I could review the series in order. I bought it in WHSmith (presumably) for £4.99 which is a total bargain for a book RRP. The cover is nothing special, just a couple of grumpy looking people. Not something that stands out against all the beautiful YA covers that are around right now. The synopsis sounds interesting though. I can't wait to see if that translates into a good story.


Post Read Thoughts


***SPOILERS AHEAD FOLKS! SORRY! I COULDN'T HELP IT!***

I'm not sure there are words that describe just how bad this book is. It's just a teenage girl whining about wanting to be beautiful. I can tell you the story if you like so then you don't have to bother putting yourself through the torture. Are you ready?

"Girl moves to a new town. Girl starts at the local school. Girl starts to settle in. Girl then finds out that the beautiful people hate her (well not hate, more indifferent). Girl sells their souls to a vampire in exchange for beauty and brains. Girl realises that the people that she stole them from deserve them more than her. Girl gives them back. The End."

It's literally just that only with a lot more whining. I'm saving you by telling you that. It took the author 182 pages to write but I did it in a paragraph. That means there's a lot of whiny filler. Not much happens to creep out the reader. The only upside is that because the book is so short there isn't a massive amount of dragging out. I wasn't a fan of the writing, it didn't capture my attention and I was constantly counting how many pages I had left.

I felt no sympathy for the MC, Bethany Fountain. She was a really shallow, selfish individual that was more than happy to take what was never hers. She learnt her lesson in the end but I feel that if her mother hadn't been threatened she'd have been more than happy to continue living the lie that she'd created. All of the other characters are just stereotypes and not really worth mentioning. So I don't think I'll bother.

Overall this is a very poor excuse for a novel. I don't know how it got published - let alone republished. Actually I know how it got republished, it contains the word vampire. Publishers hear that word and their brains go "ka-ching!" I have nothing positive to say about this book but I refuse to say nothing at all. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, even if they were desperate for a vampire novel. Just walk past this and pretend it doesn't exist.


My Rating

1 star - Horrific. I've wasted an entire day and I recommend that you don't do the same. It really doesn't deserve the time off anyone. Don't look at this book, don't pick it up. If you've already bought it, give it to charity... ir burn it. If you ignore me and you hate it, all I have to say is this: I told you so.