Synopsis:
Not many seventeen year old girls have a best friend who’s a ghost, but then Mary Hades isn’t your average teenager. Scarred physically and mentally from a fire, her parents decide a holiday to an idyllic village in North Yorkshire will help her recover. Nestled in the middle of five moors, Mary expects to have a boring week stuck in a caravan with her parents. Little does she know, evil lurks in the campsite… Seth Lockwood—a local fairground worker with a dark secret—might be the key to uncovering the murky history that has blighted Nettleby. But Mary is drawn to him in a way that has her questioning her judgement. Helped by her dead best friend and a quirky gay Goth couple, Mary must stop the unusual deaths occurring in Nettleby. But can she prevent her heart from being broken? The first in a series of dark YA novels, Mary Hades follows on from the bestselling Kindle Single ‘My Daylight Monsters’. A spine-tingling tale with romance, readers will be shocked and entertained in equal measure.
About the Author:
Sarah grew up in the middle of nowhere in the countryside of Derbyshire and as a result has an over-active imagination. She has been an avid reader for most of her life, taking inspiration from the stories she read as a child, and the novels she devoured as an adult. Sarah mainly writes speculative fiction for a Young Adult audience and has had pieces of short fiction published in the Medulla Literary Review, PANK magazine, Apex Magazine and the British Fantasy Society publication Dark Horizons. Her short story ‘Vampires Wear Chanel’ is featured in the Wyvern Publication Fangtales. She is the author of the popular YA dystopia series ‘Blemished’ and the gothic novella ‘My Daylight Monsters’. She is currently working on a YA Fantasy series titled ‘White Hart’. Follow Sarah on twitter @sarahdalton
My Review:
I’ve read a couple of Sarah’s books before so was really looking forward to this book. Now, I have to add in here that this sounds like a 2nd book in the series – although it claims to the first on Goodreads. There’s a definitive ‘catch up’ in the first couple of pages that chart a book before this one – so not sure what happened there?
I’ve been drawn to ghost books ever since I was a little girl, and anything with a Six Sense vibe is fine by me. So the whole plot and concept was a winner in my mind.
From a writer’s perspective, the mystery part of the book wasn’t hard to work out – although to give it credit it is a YA read, so as an adult I was probably going to catch on sooner (one would hope!) rather than later. My only real gripe was that Mary was a bit boring, if she didn’t see ghosts, should would have been the kind of girl you’d dread sitting next to in class as boredom would have been sure to follow. Because of this, there is no real chemistry in the budding relationship with Seth and quite frankly I could feel myself siding with the vengeful ghost!
The front cover is lovely, very atmospheric and attractive – so should garner a decent amount of attention on the virtual book shelf.
Overall I’d give Mary Hades 3 out 5 stars – a pretty good read, written incredibly well, just wish the main character had been stronger.
Nicky Peacock - YA & Horror Author 