37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scary Mary: Hellion or Misunderstood?, April 15, 2009
fell in love with Mary Hellick on page one and nothing through the course of the book caused me to change my mind. Mary is a prickly teenager who is an outcast at her school. Shunned by most of the students who taunt her and generally make life hell for her, Mary tries to keep to herself and not draw any attention to herself, but sometimes strikes back. This means that Mary has regular sessions with the guidance counselor, Mr. Landa. Mary is your typical awkward, rebellious teenager, with one exception. Mary is also clairaudient, which means that she can hear the dead, and that tends to complicate her life.
We meet Mary on the first day of Mary's junior year in high school on her way to Mr. Landa's office.
Mr. Landa greeted her with an already weary smile. "Welcome back, Mary."
Mary put her fist on her hip. "Who gets called to the guidance office on the first day of freaking school?"
I love a character with attitude and Mary has it in spades. Orphaned, Mary lives with her maternal grandmother who is a fortune teller/psychic. Mary fiercely loves her grandmother and looks to her as the only person in her life who understands Mary's abilities. Her grandmother is teaching her to live with the abilities that she would rather not have, as well as teaching her the responsibility that comes along with such a gift. Mary deals with prejudice against her on a daily basis because she is different.
S. A. Hunter brilliantly takes us into Mary's mind. We see things from her unique perspective throughout the book. I found myself chuckling over some of Mary's thoughts. Hunter has truly captured the teenage mind and how it reacts when not believed by adults.
She clenched her fists to keep herself in check. It wouldn't do to get emotional. He would only make a note in her file. "It did happen. Just like everything else I've ever told you."-Except for the cavorting with demons, the abduction by little green men, and the Elvis sighting. Mary told Mr. Landa outrageous things because he insisted she tell him something. She'd tried to tell him the truth at first, but like now, he always refused to believe her. She wished she hadn't tried to tell him something truthful now.
On the first day of school, Mary meets new student, Cyrus Asher, who is someone that Mary dismisses as being a "Shiny" person. Someone who will be in the in-crowd, who will hang out with only the best people in school. To her surprise, Cyrus seems to seek her out and want to hang out with her, even though the queen of the campus, Vicky wants to get her hooks into him. Mary tries rebuffing him at first, figuring that once he hears the stories about her, he will soon leave her alone. But, the stories don't seem to bother him and he genuinely enjoys her company. She finds that she enjoys his company as well, because he has a quick wit and can poke fun at all of the people who try to belittle Mary.
Add into the story, Rachel, a best friend who thinks Mary's quirks are cool and thrives on being an outcast. Everything is going along better than Mary expected for the school year until Cyrus asks her to come over to his house. She suffered the usual angst of not knowing whether this was an actual date or not, and when she arrives, she finds out that his parents aren't home. But, things still were going along pretty well until Ricky, the ghost haunting Cyrus's house shows up and starts talking to Mary. It is an understatement to say that Ricky is not a benevolent ghost. Things go from ok, to bad to worse, and continue to spiral out of control until Mary determines that she will need to rid Cyrus's house of Ricky, and this might be a little difficult since Cyrus was mad at her and no longer her friend. Mary had scared him, and thought that she had done it on purpose.
In Scary Mary, S. A. Hunter's characters jump off the page and into life. You are pulled into the story from page one, much like Ricky trying to pull Mary through the basement window (you'll just have to read the book to find out why). With each turn of the page, the situation escalates through the exciting conclusion. I am very glad to see that S. A. Hunter is working on another book with Mary Hellick, called Stalking Shadows, and can't wait until she has completed it. After reading Scary Mary, I can add S. A. Hunter to my list of favorite young adult authors.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good read, April 23, 2011
This review is from: Scary Mary (Kindle Edition)
I know it's for teens, but this is a good book. As soon as I finished I went searching for more and found Stalking Shadows on the authors website, which I am now reading. This story would make a great young adult series and I hope that's what the author plans. Not violent, not gory, really not scary, but a nice story about a special, misunderstood girl with something of an attitude and an unusual ability. I can even see this as a tv series on Nick or Disney. That's all. Oh wait, I want the ghost dog, he's cute.
Oh, and by the way I was going to give this 4 stars, but 5 might encourage more people to read it. And you should, especially if you are a teen female. Has all the school stereotypes in it, the snotty cheerleader, the outcast, the nice boy, the jock, grandma and the guidance counselor, and of course, the ghosts! I mean, haunted furniture? How cool!!!
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not so scary... give Mary a try., December 16, 2010
This review is from: Scary Mary (Kindle Edition)
As soon as Mary opened her mouth, I knew I was going to like her character. She is the school "freak" but doesn't take guff from anyone, even the adults...or the ghosts. Then there is Cyrus, the new kid. I loved it when he totally dismissed the popular crowd and immediately took an interest in Mary, much to her surprise. Cy does end up taking a trip to asshat land when spooky things happen in his house and he blames Mary for it. But then he has a redeeming moment that brings his character back into my good graces. I did think the whole jerk phase was a bit out of character for him so I felt it was only a matter of time before he came around.
Don't let the "Scary" in Scary Mary fool you. The cover has a dark tone and it is not something I would have been drawn to normally, but it really isn't that scary. This novella starts out with a light and snarky tone then takes a wee bit of a darker turn when the malevolent spirit in Cy's house enters the story. However, there are some lighter paranormal elements like the playful ghost dog that takes a liking to Mary and just wants to play catch (I guess dogs don't change much in the afterlife). There are also some other ghosts that are not so mean and actually help Mary along the way.
The dialogue is snappy and snarky and helps the story move along at a good clip. The writing style was comfortable and it was easy to fall into the story. You have all the normal YA features: high school angst, mean girls (and boys), he likes me/he likes me not moments, and a quirky BFF. But wait, you also get a ghost dog and a fortune-telling Grandma.
Color me hooked -- I want to know what happens next! I want to know what happens with Cy and Mary, I want to know if the mean girl stays mean, I want to know if Kyle is affected at all by what happened and I want to see more of the ghost dog. I'm looking forward to seeing what ghostly situation Mary and her not-quite-Scooby-gang get into next. I'll be waiting for the downloadable version but if you like reading on line, you can catch the next book, Stalking Shadows, which is currently available as a free online read on the author's website. It is recommended that you read Scary Mary first.
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