Customer Reviews

The Evil Within: A Possessions Novel (Possessions Novels)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

**WARNING SOME PARTS OF THE FOLLOWING REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED**


Lindsay is now possessed and can feel Celia control her whenever she wants. She knows she must return to Marlwood in order to free herself and get rid of the spirit. When she tries to listen to what the spirit tells her must happen, Lindsay knows she can't do it. Her unwillingness ends up dragging the truth out of the spirits that are fighting for revenge. There may just be someone else that Celia and Belle need to join together in order to free themselves and the girls they have a hold on.

hmm... I'm not sure really what to say about this one. I was really hoping it would live up to the expectations I had for it upon finishing book 1, but it fell short. Again, like in the first one there are far too many people to keep track of that are not relevant to the plot. Even the other spirits of the girls who died seem complete random and don't add to the storyline. Very little happened in this book for me to really appreciate it. Another think that bothered me again, was the fact that she refers to Troy as her "true love". They aren't even officially together and they barely know anything about the other person. So I don't think that she really would call him her "true love". This book was just okay. Lindsay learned a couple new things about her possession, but there is still no conclusion. This series could have easily been wrapped up with this book if there weren't so many side-tracked story lines that go nowhere. I might read the next one eventually. It doesn't come out until the spring and I won't be eagerly anticipating it, but I might pick it up at some point just so I can find out how this ends. There was nowhere near the level of creepiness that the first book ended on and I was just really disappointed in this novel.

First Line:
"I had escaped."

Favorite Line:
"Shayna stumbled forward like a Zombie and I had to hurry to keep up."

Summary: In the second installment of the Possessions series, Lindsay finds herself heading back to Marlwood after a disastrous first semester because she discovers that she has become possessed, and the only way the spirit will leave her is if she does one thing: Kill Mandy.

Add to that a guy who can't make up his mind, a best friend who thinks you might be losing your mind, the Queen Bee's brother who may or may not be a danger to Lindsay, and the murderous attempts by the other girls who are possessed, Lindsay is in for an interesting couple of months where she can't tell who to trust, and who to fear.

Review: Just as mysterious and shocking as the first, The Evil Within is the perfect follow up to Possessions.

Lindsay is still the strong protagonist I loved in the previous book. This time around, she's struggling with what she knows about these malvolent spirits that are roaming the campus and threatening those she cares about. Her relationships are all pretty rocky as she tries to learn more about these spirits, and how to stop them. Bits from the past of Marlwood are slipped into the story, and Lindsay slowly learns what happened all those years ago.

A new character (well, new in the way that this is the first time he actually meets Lindsay) makes his way into The Evil Within. Miles Winters, Mandy's loving and possibly psychotic brother. His character is definitely one of the more intriguing ones, and I always found myself glued to the book whenever he'd make an appearance. With Miles, you just don't know what's going to happen, and the curiosity he brings to the story is thrilling.

The Evil Within brings in new twists and turns that will surprise you to no end, and leave you anxious for the next installment.

Highlights: Holder brings the same eerie feel to The Evil Within that she brought to Possessions. She's a master of suspense, and knows just how to keep a reader hooked. Once again, she managed to surprise me by the end, and give me enough incentive to stay curious for the next novel.

Lowlights: At times, I barely even cared about the other characters, so I'm not quite sure that's a good thing. I didn't sympathize with any of them the way I did with Lindsay. But regardless, I really loved this story and how easy it was to get hooked.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

If you want a great ghost story, look no further! Nancy Holder has written a nightmare of a tale! Full of hauntings and mystery, you won't know what's coming next, or who to believe.


Second in the series, coming back from Christmas break and picking up where Possessions left off, Lindsay can tell as soon as she walks back into the doors of Marlwood that nobody expected her to show her face there again. Even though she didn't have all the money and material things the other girls did, Lindsay did have a backbone. She also had to find Troy. He was still missing and she just couldn't accept that Mandy did something to him. He couldn't be dead somewhere.


When Lindsay does finally get good news that Troy is ok, she gets worse news that now Mandy's brother, Miles is back and now hanging around Marlwood only to be stalking Lindsay, everything gets more complicated. Let's not forget that Mandy is back to her same yearly rituals of finding a newbie to break in and has found Linz' friend to do it on. The only person Lindsay can rely on is Troy but he's still dating Mandy. Hmm...
Just when you got it all figured out...
the ghosts come in and ruin everything...

After reading the first book in two days, I was super excited to read the second book... so much so that I couldn't wait to get it from the library, going ahead and paying full price for the kindle edition. I was not disappointed. Once again, the book is just suspenseful enough to keep me reading, page after page, but not so frightening that I couldn't fall asleep at night wondering who was going to possess me! This is a great, fast read that is perfect to wind the day down with - mindless but entertaining.

I decided to write a mini review of The Evil Within for multiple reasons. 1. Everything that I said about Possessions (the first book in the series), I'm saying about it's sequel. Super scary, amazing, and it was almost impossible for me to sleep at night! If you haven't read my review of Possessions, you can find it here. 2. I can't really say much else without giving away spoilers and I hate to give spoilers. When I read spoilers on other blogs, it deters me from reading the book. 3. If you're a fan of horror, the only thing I can really say to you about this series is: GO READ IT NOW!!!!

If you haven't read Possessions or my review of Possessions, you may be asking what is this series about? Here's the lowdown. Former reformatory house for wayward girls where secret lobotomies were performed turned into a boarding high school for girls and it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere, two hours from any kind of civilization. Some really creepy abandoned buildings, wooded area all around them, statues that may or may not move, ghost possession, a boys boarding school across the way, a love triangle and mean girls. What's not to love?

The Evil Within follows Lindsay once again as she returns to the dreaded Marlwood Academy. Since I had recently finished the first novel in this series, I found it really easy to get back into the flow of Holder's writing. Holder provides a minimal amount of back story, which I found to be refreshing. Personally, I want a little bit of a refresher course when starting a new novel in a series, but do not like to be bogged down by countless amounts of the previous story being retold. And this is exactly what Holder does. I got the refresher without feeling like the new story was being overshadowed.

While I enjoyed Lindsay's character in Possessions, I must admit that I found myself liking her a lot more in this novel. Her character is much more fleshed out and complex. And since this novel is told in her point of view, I better understood her train of thinking, so there was a little bit less of me yelling at this book. In contrast to Lindsay, the secondary characters were not a full bodied as I had hoped. The reader understands the characters, but the connection with Lindsay felt a little lacking. It is not that I wanted to see events from their point of view, but rather that I would have enjoyed to being able to care about them a little more. It is basically like they are on the side lines the whole time. The reader gets to know them, but not on the deeper levels like Lindsay.

The Evil Within, all in all, was a huge step forward in the Possessions series. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Lindsay and Marlwood Academy, and getting deeper into the secrets they both hold. This is definitely a series that I will be keeping an eye on, and can only wait to get my hands on more.

Gold Star Award Winner!

After defeating the evil at Marlwood Academy, Lindsey finds herself the victim of an unwanted possession by one of the school's ghosts.

Forced to head back to the school to which she swore she'd never return, Lindsey will fight for her life and her sanity. To be victorious, she will need to discover deep, hidden secrets within the school that many want to keep buried - including the evil within.

Can Lindsey save her school, the students, and most of all herself?

A great novel for older reluctant readers. The characters are well-developed, and the plot is intense and very unnerving. Not to be read at night by the faint of heart, those who enjoy horror, paranormal, ghosts, and demons will love reading THE EVIL WITHIN after they have read POSSESSIONS.

Reviewed by: Kira M

Nancy Holder is the Queen; I absolutely love her writing and her creativity. Always was a fan. Possessions blew me away by its amazing storyline and terror, The Evil Within did the same thing. The sequel made me feel terror and my heart was uneasy. Never a book did that to me before, only Nancy does that! I love creepy stories and the different side of things; I think that's why I enjoy the Possessions novels so much. Everything is very different, fresh, fantastic and I could go on and on about it.

I love the characters and how real they seem to be. Lindsay is a brave girl, my favorite of the books; she always makes me think about stuff. Mandy and the other girls extremely freaks me out, I so don't want to stumble with them in a black alley somewhere, or in a boarding school for that matter. The only thought of the black eyes just sends me Goosebumps through all my body.

For those that missed the Possession one, the book is about real possessions. Some girls in Marlwood are possessed by evel spirits.

The sequel is phenomenal and I completely think that who liked the first book will enjoy this one also. Possessions have to continue for you my friend, so please read The Evil Within already. Is totally worth it and you will have Goosebumps all over, because this book is fantastically scary and fun to read. I got an ARC, but I will buy the finished copy right away ;) And the third volume will be released in 2011, and I really can't wait for it.

I would not waste money on this novel. If these-type book does not catch my interest within the few chapter or so, i pretty much lose the desire to "want to keep reading, and hoping it will soon-be-an-attention-getter." I do not want anymore books, by this author. although i know some writers, make write 2 or 3 books, and may end up with a few flukes,but i do not like trying. dont put so much narration/narrative, it distract from the entire story.

I am a big Nancy Holder fan, and after reading Possessions - which I was unable to put down while reading, especially towards the end - I was very keen on getting to The Evil Within. What was really great was not just that I was not disappointed, but that Holder had improved on everything - all the little things that I didn't quite like about Possessions, or that I felt could have been handled differently (for the better) were fixed here, and to me it made The Evil Within an even better read than its predecessor.

In Possessions a lot of the early story was rich kid/scholarship, Mean Girls-type of drama, with the paranormal coming in behind that. While the rich kid, Mean Girls drama adds flavour to The Evil Within, the paranormal aspect of the series was in full-force here. To me the change in emphasis is a good thing - it helps pick up the pace a bit and really gets into all the things that I wanted answered after reading the first book. It also allows the characterization to pick up - now that everything seems more focused, and with higher stakes and new goals for characters, everything gets expanded and for the best.

I love a book that keeps me guessing along with the characters, and The Evil Within definitely managed to do that. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen next, something came along and flipped me so I was not sure/was proved wrong - and it wasn't in a way that didn't make sense/conflicted with everything that had set up, so it made for a fantastic whirlwind of a plot. If Holder's Pretty Little Devils had me guessing and second-guessing the truth, then The Evil Within had been fourth and fifth-guessing at what would happen and had happened. And as a person who tends to figure things out `too soon', I loved that.

Overall The Evil Within was an incredibly spooky read that, once picked up proved very addictive and difficult to put down. Now that I have finished The Evil Within though, and put it down, it is now simply a matter of eagerly waiting for part three.