Diary of a Haunting by M. Verano was not great and not bad. I bought this book at a steep discount, so I don't feel that the money was a waste, but I wish it had been a little more intriguing. The book follows Paige, a teenage girl who moves to a small town after her Hollywood parent’s divorce. Her mother and little brother, Logan, move with her into a large house. It then turns out that the house is haunted, by what, we never really find out. In the end, one of the characters turns out to be a dangerous killer, and everyone has their live changed.
This could have been an interesting book, and parts of it weren't bad, but overall, it could have been cut in half and it would have been more interesting. There were a lot of details that didn't need to be added to the story, and if they had been left out the story itself would have been more cohesive.
An example of this is the mention of flies and spiders throughout the book. They are mentioned several times, over and over, and yet there seems to be no reason for them to be in the story. There are times when the spiders add a creep factor to the novel, especially when the little brother becomes involved, but at the end the reader is left to wonder what is true and what has been made up by an unreliable narrator (because let's be honest, most teenagers are unreliable narrators).
The mother in the novel seems to be uninvolved in the lives of her children, and she doesn't seem to be observant of the needs of her children, instead trying to be "nice" to the ghosts which may or may not be living in their home.
In the basement lives a young man named, Raph, who is set up in the story as a mysterious, and possibly psychotic, loner. Paige strikes up a friendship with Raph, and her one friend in town Chloe makes her continually talk with Raph, even though she is often uncomfortable. These relationships aren't really developed, and in the end, while it was a surprise ending, it wasn't well-developed.
The reader has no reason to care that one of the characters has issues. The reader has no reason to care if any of the characters cause harm to one another. The reader has no relationship with the characters, so there is no reason for the readers to be invested in what happens in the end. And in the end everything seems not to be connected, and this is where the breakdown of the book happens. There isn't anything holding it together. The characters don't hold the book together, the "fear" elements are not at all frightening, and as I was able to read this in a day, I didn't find much about the novel memorable, even forgetting who one of the characters were.
I can't recommend this, and after peeking at book two (apparently this is an unconnected series) I wouldn't recommend book two either. I really do hate leaving bad reviews, but even in my own work, sometimes a book deserves a low review.
This could have been an interesting book, and parts of it weren't bad, but overall, it could have been cut in half and it would have been more interesting. There were a lot of details that didn't need to be added to the story, and if they had been left out the story itself would have been more cohesive.
An example of this is the mention of flies and spiders throughout the book. They are mentioned several times, over and over, and yet there seems to be no reason for them to be in the story. There are times when the spiders add a creep factor to the novel, especially when the little brother becomes involved, but at the end the reader is left to wonder what is true and what has been made up by an unreliable narrator (because let's be honest, most teenagers are unreliable narrators).
The mother in the novel seems to be uninvolved in the lives of her children, and she doesn't seem to be observant of the needs of her children, instead trying to be "nice" to the ghosts which may or may not be living in their home.
In the basement lives a young man named, Raph, who is set up in the story as a mysterious, and possibly psychotic, loner. Paige strikes up a friendship with Raph, and her one friend in town Chloe makes her continually talk with Raph, even though she is often uncomfortable. These relationships aren't really developed, and in the end, while it was a surprise ending, it wasn't well-developed.
The reader has no reason to care that one of the characters has issues. The reader has no reason to care if any of the characters cause harm to one another. The reader has no relationship with the characters, so there is no reason for the readers to be invested in what happens in the end. And in the end everything seems not to be connected, and this is where the breakdown of the book happens. There isn't anything holding it together. The characters don't hold the book together, the "fear" elements are not at all frightening, and as I was able to read this in a day, I didn't find much about the novel memorable, even forgetting who one of the characters were.
I can't recommend this, and after peeking at book two (apparently this is an unconnected series) I wouldn't recommend book two either. I really do hate leaving bad reviews, but even in my own work, sometimes a book deserves a low review.
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