Review: "The Merciless" by Danielle Vega

Synopsis:

 

Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned

Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream.

Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.

Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . .

In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?

*(summary courtesy of Goodreads)

My Review:

 

If I were to summarize this book in one word, I would say...disturbing. Yeah that's then word alright: DISTURBING! I only discovered this book through a friend of mine, and I'm not sure whether I am glad or not that I have read this. This is surely one of those books that you probably won't guess the ending, as you won't know what the hell is going on. Trust me, I had some good guesses myself, and even I only was sort of right. I'm still not sure what I just read. All I do know is, the entire time I was saying "sweet buttery Jesus"!
 

As I was saying, I saw this book at Barnes & Noble and I thought the book, not just the cover, were creative. It's made to resemble an actual bible. Eerie, right?
 

The story was okay: it was basically Mean Girls meets Saved (for those of you that have seen those movies). Everything gets real interesting towards the middle of the book. (Spoiler Alert: If you have a weak stomach, Do Not read this book). I was seriously scared and had to pray to God after finishing this book. There are some serious revelations at the end of the book (pun intended), and you will not see them coming.

 

The characters were okay as well, or at least some of them. I didn't like Sofia at all. I'm just not a fan of weak-willed people in books. I feel like, if you know its wrong, speak up. She was annoying because while she's laying the victim card, she was also subconsciously instigating some of the conflict. Brooklyn  was like a mixture of Miley Cyrus and Janis Ian (Mean Girls) so basically picture that. Riley on the other hand, was like Pennsatucky (Orange is the New Black). Riley is a few tacos short of a combination: she is a straight up psychopath.

 

It's not the most original premise, but it does deliver good thrills and terror to all you adrenaline junkies and thrill seekers. Just beware...it's not for the faint hearted. Also, there better be a sequel especially with that ending; but alas, I am sure this is a stand alone novel.

 

279 pages

Published June 12th 2014 by Razorbill

 

Rating:  🔔🔔🔔

 

Recommend?   Worth a read...if you dare (muah ha ha)