Soulstice (The Devouring Series #2)

A thrilling, creepy read!

It's been six months since Reggie saved her brother, Henry from the Vours by going into his fearscape. Reggie is being targeted for her unusual ablilty to go into others fearscape. The Vours, evil, demonic creatures that thrive on fear want Reggie for their evil purposes. Reggie once again teams up with her best friend Aaron to destroy the Vours. This is a suspenseful book that horror fans should not miss. The characters, the plot, the cliff-hanger ending...everything was awesome! I can't wait to read Fearscape next.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A very twisted book that I loved

If you like being kept in suspense this is a good series to read! Make sure you read the first book before this one! Keeps you guessing! You think you know what is going on and then bam simon throws in another twist and then another. I couldn't put it down. Read it in a few hours.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great sequel

A must read!

Perfect sequel

Being the sequel to The Devouring, I thought the book was perfect. It lived up to its expectations and provided me with an entertaining, thrilling read. I'm usually dubious about sequels, as they tend to focus more on character development and thus either end up being dry or being stuck in a rut when it comes to plot. Soulstice however has no problem carrying on the story and the plot flowed easily. It was clear and to the point. There was substantial character development - just about every character evolved differently (either for good or for worse).

As the story was interesting, this was an easy flowing read for me and like The Devouring, it got me from the start. It's the type of book you have to read either through one sitting, or drop all the other books you're reading to finish this one. It's definitely an attention grabber. The book had all the makings of a horror movie, but by reading it, it makes it much more thrilling and more scary as it leaves it up to the reader to imagine the sights, the smells, and the sounds. I love the dream sequences the most. That's where you can look into the author's imagination and really appreciate it. Besides the horror aspect of the novel, there's also a bit of comic relief (however not so much as the previous book). It makes the story take a break from the horror and although die hard horror fanatics might think it's unnecessary I thought it was well done and placed in strategic points of the book where it fits just fine.

As for the story's predictability, well I sort of figured out what Quinn was up to. However I don't consider that to be a negative point in the book. I don't see anything that needs improvement. The cliffhanger ending made me nearly want to pull my hair out though, and I'm really eager to read the third book; Fearscape (due out in October of 2010).

Overall perfectly written sequel, cliffhanger ending. What more could you want in a horror?

Another Chilling Venture Into the World of Vours

Six months have passed since Reggie entered her younger brother Henry's fearscape and expelled the Vour that had taken over his body. Six months since handsome, popular Quinn turned out to be a Vour and Reggie's best friend Aaron battled him to the death. Six months since Eben, the owner of the bookstore and Reggie's boss, turned out to be a lot more than just a kind old bookstore owner. In those six months, winter turned to spring, which turned to summer and school is letting up. Henry has been having more than a few problems at school and his memories about the Vours have begun to haunt him. Reggie's nightmares are terrifying, but not as much as the late night visitor that she never expected. The Vours are up to something and the summer solstice is their deadline. They're after Reggie and she's not quite sure what their endgame is. After Aaron is accused of murder and terrorized by a Vour, Reggie holds the weight of everything alone and she has no choice but to join forces with her nighttime visitor and risk her own life in the process. With the summer solstice rapidly approaching, Aaron, Reggie, and her unexpected ally must find a way to stop the Vours before their devious plans can be set in motion.

Simon Holt unleashes another bone-chilling tale with Soulstice. Reggie is once again haunted by the Vours, but this time she forms an alliance with one and the consequences could be dire. The alliance is making Reggie feel empathy for him. She begins to not only work with the Vour, but begin to trust him. Reggie is the type of person who is passionate about the people and the experiences in her life. The Devouring showed exactly how much she can love someone and how far she would go to protect that person. Henry means everything to Reggie and the knowledge that the Vours may be able to unleash their horrors on the rest of the world scares Reggie more than she would like. Because of this fact, she feels obligated and almost responsible to be the one to do something.

Reggie's ventures into other individual's fearscapes hold much more gruesome horrors and terrifying creatures this time around. Holt paints a bloody, gory image throughout each layer of the fearscape and he does so with a resounding terror. It's impossible not to feel at least a little bit of the fear and isolation that Reggie must conquer, but the overwhelming feeling of despair really resonated with me. The Vours take these children and for years they are trapped in a fearscape with nothing but their most horrible nightmares brought to life. Reggie braves these things over and over again because she is the only one who can. Once Reggie discovers that there is a group of people called Tracers who track down Vours and destroy them, she won't stand for their destruction at the expense of the human they have taken over. Things are changing for Reggie and it's hard to discern if those changes are good or bad.

Soulstice is a fantastic, if not gruesome, follow up. Holt expands upon the mythology he created and develops a deeper, more involved world where the Vours have more purpose than to simply wreak havoc on poor human souls. There is tons of action, which makes the story less character-driven, but I'm still looking forward to the next book in the series.

Reviewed by Samantha Clanton, aka "Harlequin Twilight" for TeensReadToo.com

Six months. That's how long it's been since Reggie found Macie's journal and since Reggie freed her brother, Henry, from the Vour that had taken him. That also means it's been six months since Quinn Waters has been missing.

In those six months a lot has happened, but the Vours have also gone dormant - except in Reggie's dreams. The Vours still haunt her there, until one night when an unexpected visitor becomes not a nightmare, but a reality.

Even though the Vour that had taken over Henry is gone, he still has nightmares, and he is now stronger than he was before. Reggie has also stopped trying to protect him all the time and finally begins being somewhat honest with him.

But what Reggie and Aaron, her best friend, don't realize is there are more of these Vours than they ever thought possible in their little town. And once they find out that Henry and Quinn weren't the only ones Vourized, it becomes clear that things aren't always how they seem, and that you better be careful who you put your trust in. You never know who might be a Vour, and who isn't.

There was no loss in the creepiness from THE DEVOURING to SOULSTICE. Unlike most sequels, SOULSTICE did not succumb to the "sophomore slump." SOULSTICE not only held strong, but it also held its own fabulous story. There's plenty of the same action and twists that you fell in love with while reading THE DEVOURING.

I must admit though, that SOULSTICE definitely ups the creep factor and imagery that once again puts you in a hell that is not your own, but that is even more twisted than you can imagine. Despite it being a sequel, SOULSTICE could easily stand on its own. While skipping THE DEVOURING would, in my opinion, be a mistake since you would miss out on a lot of important story points, SOULSTICE does cover enough background information that you could still read it without reading book one.

Needless to say, this definitely lives up to its horror classification. I wouldn't exactly call it "bedtime reading," since when I tried that I lay in bed for an hour with the images of demonic creatures running through my head. But despite the creepiness, I loved every page! I found it to be totally fascinating and absolutely un-put-downable! And now, I can't wait for the third book in the series. I need to know where Reggie's next adventure takes her, and us as readers.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.