Possess by Gretchen McNeil

Possess
Possess 1
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Pages: 384 pgs
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Horror
Release Date: August 23rd 2011
Review Source: HarperTeen ARC

Gretchen McNeil makes an amazing debut with her young adult novel Possess. Not only is the cover haunting and beautiful, but the writing is wonderful and intense. I couldn't put it down.

After tragically losing her father, Bridget Liu just wants everyone in her life to back off and leave her be. But that's just not going to happen, especially when she discovers her uncanny ability to banish demons.

She's stronger than even she realized and her abilities are so much more than she knows, something she's not sure she's ready for. And when it comes to stopping a powerful demon rise, Bridget has to find it in herself to reach her full power. Will she be able to, before it's too late?

I wasn't sure what I was going into when I first started reading this book, but I'm so glad that I did. First of all, Bridget is awesome. She's feisty and snarky and I loved that she was mixed. Her character was a little something different and made reading the story even more interesting.

This was definitely a paranormal/horror story and I loved every minute of it. There was one scene I could have done without that had some creepy dolls in, the entire time I kept thinking a Chucky doll was going to come crawling out of the book. But, I think that proves just what kind of writer Gretchen is. To have her readers cringing and freaking out is a testament to her ability and ensures that I will be reading more from her.

Little nuances throughout the story let you know that there's more happening than what you or Bridget have been able to figure out yet. The rise in demon possessions, a cat ghost scratching around her house, even her little brother. So much is going on, but what?

Also, Possess leaves off at a pretty good place, but I know there's still so much left to Bridget's story. I'm crossing my fingers for more and can't wait to see what else Gretchen can come up with for this world.

In the meantime though, Gretchen has a second novel coming out in the Fall of 2012 called Ten that is sure to be another horror based story to keep us occupied. For more information on Gretchen and her writing you can check out her website http://www.gretchenmcneil.com/ or you can follow her on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/GretchenMcNeil.