A Dream Within A Dream: Amity Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for AMITY! Today I'm sharing my review of the book - and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post! To see the full tour schedule, click HERE or see the list below.

Amity

Author: Micol Ostow

Genre: YA Paranormal/Horror

Release Date: August 26, 2014

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Description:

For fans of Stephen King and American Horror Story, a gruesome thriller suggested by the events of the Amityville Horror.

Connor's family moves to Amity to escape shady business deals. Ten years later, Gwen's family moves to Amity for a fresh start after she's recovered from a psychotic break.

But something is not right about this secluded house. Connor's nights are plagued with gore-filled dreams of demons and destruction. Dreams he kind of likes. Gwen has lurid visions of corpses that aren't there and bleeding blisters that disappear in the blink of an eye. She knows Amity is evil and she must get her family out, but who would ever believe her?

Amity isn't just a house. She is a living force, bent on manipulating her inhabitants to her twisted will. She will use Connor and Gwen to bring about a bloody end as she's done before. As she'll do again.

Alternating between parallel narratives, Amity is a tense and terrifying tale suggested by true-crime events that will satisfy even the most demanding horror fan.

Amity is a disturbing young adult horror novel that is a retelling of The Amityville Horror. The story follows two main characters from two different time periods: Connor, who lived in Amity ten years ago; and Gwen, who has just moved in with her family. The reader experiences the horrific and terrifying experiences both characters and their families encounter while living at Amity. Both families believed that Amity was merely another house when they moved in - except for Connor and Gwen, who share striking similarities in their ability to sense that something's different - wrong - at Amity. But will their families believe them - or will they simply brush off their warnings? And the biggest question of all - just what does Amity want from them?

I'm a huge fan of horror novels and super creepy fiction, so when I heard about this book - I knew I had to read it. Having read the book and watched the movies on The Amityville Horror, I knew that if this book was even loosely based on it; then it was going to be freaky. The story has so much potential and I couldn't wait to see how the author would tell the story. I have to admit that I was rather disappointed in the end. Not because of the plot line or the story itself - that was awesome. It was the way the book was written and how the two main characters spoke that kind of messed it up for me. The story is broken down into several smaller pieces. There's Connor, who lived in the house with his family ten years ago; and then we have Gwen, who just moved in with her family. The narrative is broken down yet again by the days that the families live at Amity. For example, there would be Day 1 - which would be broken down into Connor's part of the story and then Gwen's part. It continued that way throughout the book, which may have been a little confusing at first - but I learned to adjust quickly. It was mainly the way that the two main characters - mostly Connor - spoke that threw me off. The entire book is told from Connor and Gwen's first hand point of view - so they're conversationally speaking to the reader - almost from inside their mind or from a diary. Gwen was a great character and I loved reading her parts of the story. Connor's part - not so much. I can't really pinpoint what it was about his storytelling or dialogue that bothered me - but it did to the point that I just couldn't immerse myself into the story at all, which basically killed the scary vibe completely for me. Again - this is my personal opinion, and I'm sure many other readers will have no issues with the writing style. For me, however, it meant the difference between an epic horror novel and one that turned out to be mediocre.

As I said before, the plot itself was phenomenal. It filled all the requirements for a great horror novel - you have the small occurrences that can't quite be explained away, which grow into situations that you wish you could explain but can't, and then it all breaks loose. I loved the build up in both character's stories - you could basically feel the eyes watching you only to turn around and nobody would be there. At times, in Gwen's story, I felt like I was experiencing the strange happenings at Amity right beside her - and it freaked me out. Honestly, almost everyone has had some sort of weird experience or feeling that they couldn't explain - so it was really easy to identify with the characters and what they were going through.

Overall, this was a good book that could have been SO much more (for me, at least). It has everything needed to create a creepy novel that will have the reader looking over their shoulder. The plot was fantastic, the characters were pretty well written with flaws and quirks, and there was plenty of imagery and vivid descriptions throughout the novel. My glitch with the "voice" of Connor dampened the entire effect for me, which truly bums me out. If you're a fan of creepy paranormal stories or horror fiction, definitely give this one a shot. You probably won't have the same reaction as I did to the writing and it'll blow your mind. It was a great book even with the problems I had and I'll definitely be keeping my eye on what the author comes out with next.

Micol Ostow has written dozens of books for children, tweens, and teens, but Amity is her first foray into horror. I turns out, writing a ghost story is almost more terrifying than reading one. (In a good way.) Her novel family was called a “Favorite Book of 2011” by Liz Burns at School Library Journal, and her illustrated novel, So Punk Rock (and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother), was a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teens. In her spare time, Ostow blogs with the National Book Award-winning literacy initiative readergirlz.com. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, her (utterly fearless) daughter, and a finicky French bulldog named Bridget Jones. Visit her online at www.micolostow.com or follow her on Twitter @micolz.