![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson
Oct. 3rd, 2013 11:34 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
Bedlam breaks free …
Surviving a near fatal attack by a ghostly killer will leave its mark. Seventeen-year-old Rory Deveraux has painful scars and deadly new powers at her fingertips. But without her secret ghost-fighting squad she feels brutally alone. She’s lying to her boyfriend, failing in class and worse still, Rory fears that a terrifying horror stalks the streets of London.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Maureen Johnson’s YA paranormal sequel is a saggy affair that lacks a strong plot and uses contrivance to separate the main character from everyone who can help her and then shoehorn her into a series of stupid decisions. There are a couple of good lines and I liked the fact that Rory’s trying to deal with the awful things that have happened to her (and having difficulty doing so). However there’s just no story for it to hang around – the murder storyline is briskly resolved and the main thread doesn’t get developed until the final half (and relies on a massive exposition dump in the final quarter) – while Rory doesn’t really have any relationships with other characters because she doesn’t interact with anyone. I was particularly irked by the final cliff hanger, which relies on an emotional twist that the story has done nothing to deserve. I probably will read the final book because of the set-up but I feel manipulated into doing so and as such won’t be rushing to buy it.
Surviving a near fatal attack by a ghostly killer will leave its mark. Seventeen-year-old Rory Deveraux has painful scars and deadly new powers at her fingertips. But without her secret ghost-fighting squad she feels brutally alone. She’s lying to her boyfriend, failing in class and worse still, Rory fears that a terrifying horror stalks the streets of London.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Maureen Johnson’s YA paranormal sequel is a saggy affair that lacks a strong plot and uses contrivance to separate the main character from everyone who can help her and then shoehorn her into a series of stupid decisions. There are a couple of good lines and I liked the fact that Rory’s trying to deal with the awful things that have happened to her (and having difficulty doing so). However there’s just no story for it to hang around – the murder storyline is briskly resolved and the main thread doesn’t get developed until the final half (and relies on a massive exposition dump in the final quarter) – while Rory doesn’t really have any relationships with other characters because she doesn’t interact with anyone. I was particularly irked by the final cliff hanger, which relies on an emotional twist that the story has done nothing to deserve. I probably will read the final book because of the set-up but I feel manipulated into doing so and as such won’t be rushing to buy it.
