Saturday, August 9, 2014

ARC Review: Mary, The Summoning (Hillary Monahan)

MARY: The Summoning (Bloody Mary, #1)Hardcover, 256 pages
Release Date: September 2nd 2014 
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Genre: Horror~Suspense

ARC Provided by Publisher in Exchange for Honest Review

There is a right way and a wrong way to summon her.

Jess had done the research. Success requires precision: a dark room, a mirror, a candle, salt, and four teenage girls. Each of them--Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna--must link hands, follow the rules . . . and never let go.

A thrilling fear spins around the room the first time Jess calls her name: "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. BLOODY MARY." A ripple of terror follows when a shadowy silhouette emerges through the fog, a specter trapped behind the mirror.

Once is not enough, though--at least not for Jess. Mary is called again. And again. But when their summoning circle is broken, Bloody Mary slips through the glass with a taste for revenge on her lips. As the girls struggle to escape Mary's wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships are torn apart, and lives are forever altered.
A haunting trail of clues leads Shauna on a desperate search to uncover the legacy of Mary Worth. What she finds will change everything, but will it be enough to stop Mary--and Jess--before it's too late? 




Hillary Monahan is Eva Darrows is also an international woman of mystery. Holed up in Massachusetts with three smelly basset hounds, she writes funny, creepy things for fun and profit.








"Four teenage girls, add a mirror, light a candle and pour salt in a line in front of the mirror. Hold hands and chant 3 times…

Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary…

And whatever you do – don’t break the circle."

OK so this is an incredibly creepy book. I mean incredibly creepy. Everyone has heard the stories or at least heard "of" Bloody Mary. Everyone knows you are supposed to go in a dark bathroom and say her name three times and she will appear. So like I said....everyone has heard of this story...but no one expects it to actually be true....UNTIL.....

Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna decide to try to call Bloody Mary one night. Jess has researched and ensured they had everything they needed to perform the ritual. They get in a dark room with a mirror, candle, salt, and they all link hands and begin to chant. What happens next is so unreal and horrific that they are all stunned....Mary appears in the mirror and chaos lets loose. The girls break the chain and Mary disappears. 

"Most of Mary was masked by the fog, but her hand was as clear as my own. Her fingers were long and twiglike, with twisted, swollen joints. A sheaf of gray, shriveled skin hugged each appendage, peeling away from the tips.. A deep gouge bisected her palm from pinky to thumb, revealing her rotten, ragged flesh. Tarry blood seeped from Mary's wound, smearing the glass in streaks of blackish maroon. Gross."

After a few days of recovering from their horrific experience Jess begs the girls to do the ritual one more time. Jess is not a character that I am too fond of. She thinks only of herself and is basically rude. She convinces the other girls and they perform the ritual again except this time they don't break the chain and Mary makes it through the mirror. She rakes her claws down Shauna's back which forever links her to Shauna. 

I am trying to not give away too many details because it takes away from the story. The encounters with Mary are gruesome and full of detail. At some points I found myself cringing. 

The girls have to find a way to keep Mary in the mirror and Mary realllllllly wants out. She is after Shauna now and will stop at nothing to taste blood again. 

This is a very intense, graphic, and horror-filled story. It is definitely not for the faint of heart. I have even questioned whether to call it Young Adult. There are just so many parts that are so intense and gruesome and could quite possibly give people nightmares!!!!! That being said...I really enjoyed it..Especially for fans of the horror genre. I would not recommend reading it late at night when your all alone though.....You never know who's watching.....





**The quotes from this book have been taken from an Advanced Reading Copy and are subject to change when the final book is printed. Please refer to the final, finished copy for exact quotes!**

**I want to say Thank You to Disney Hyperion for the opportunity to review an ARC of this book!!**

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad to see this one's actually creepy. I'm reading it soon for review but was kind of on the edge about it.

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