Title: The Cellar
Author: A.J. Whitten
Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Zombies
Page Count: 276 pages
Book Type: Kindle e-galley
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Press, Graphia Books
ISBN: 9780547232539
Picture from Amazon
From Goodreads: Meredith Willis is suspicious of Adrien, the new guy next door. When she dares to sneak a look into the windows of his house, she sees something in the cellar that makes her believe that Adrien might be more than just a creep—he may be an actual monster.
But her sister, Heather, doesn’t share Meredith’s repulsion. Heather believes Adrien is the only guy who really understands her. In fact, she may be falling in love with him. When Adrien and Heather are cast as the leads in the school production of Romeo and Juliet, to Heather, it feels like fate. To Meredith, it feels like a bad omen. But if she tries to tear the couple apart, she could end up in the last place she’d ever want to be: the cellar. Can Meredith convince her sister that she’s dating the living dead before it’s too late for both of them?
My Review: I like how the cover to this one is creepy. Basements are quite scary, aren’t they? The idea of plunging yourself into darkness below the Earth’s surface. Scary.
I loved the twist on zombies in this one. It was interesting that they have the ability to transfer their souls into another body once their own has wasted away [looking like an actual zombie]. They also could think, emote and feel unlike many other zombies. This was a nice, quick read with likable characters and a nice plot. The end of each chapter kept me wanting to read more.
There were moments that involved bugs in this book that had my skin crawling. The detail that went into the bug attacks irked me, but they were so well done. The thought of what’s behind Adrien’s sunglasses [you will understand when you read the book] also was kind of terrifying.
Overall, it was a fairly suspenseful read with some good characters. I thought there could be a chapter or two more tacked onto the end so the readers really get an idea of the aftermath of what occurred during the story. I would definitely check out another book by A.J. Whitten in the future. Sidenote: I also love how A.J. Whitten is the pen-name for a mother and teenage daughter team. That is just so cool.
Thanks to NetGalley, A.J. Whitten, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Press and Graphia Books for this galley!
I had the same reaction to the bugs. Yuck! TMI for me. :) You make a good point about the ending. I hadn't thought about it, but it would have been cool to see more about how the town moved on after what happened.
ReplyDelete@Logan E. Turner
ReplyDeleteI could literally feel the bugs crawling all over me! The bug pictures at the beginning of the chapters added to this. Thanks for stopping by!