Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way 'girls who write their pain on their bodies' scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a 'semifamous' local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends.

After spending time in treatment with other young women like her-who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves-Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she 'like-likes' but who had pined for Ellis instead. Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. Though Hendricks is assumed white, the supporting cast offers some diversity.Ī gently horrid reminder that some ghosts can be very real.Īfter surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself. Overall, the novel doesn’t rise above its creaky cliché-riddled plot, but the author excels at portraying the aftermath of a toxic, abusive relationship from Hendricks’ perspective. Vega’s ( The Merciless IV: Last Rites, 2018, etc.) take on the haunted house subgenre features an eclectic, well-fitted mix of supernatural spookiness and gore. As Hendricks and Eddie develop a close bond, Steele House launches its final onslaught.

Together the pair plan to vanquish the ghosts, attempting a misguided cleansing ritual in the process. But then she meets Eddie Ruiz, a damaged boy who lost an older brother and younger sister to Steele House’s cursed, evil spirits.

At first, Hendricks’ past shrouds her in self-doubt fueled by shame. The disturbances start small: the usual moans and groans of an old house, a creepy doll singing of its own accord, devious laughter from another room. However, her new home-Drearford’s derelict Steele House-offers no comfort. Her traumatic past was the main reason behind her family’s relocation to the small town, with its dreary gray skies and sinister secrets. Further misfortune befalls a girl who can’t escape her ghosts.īeing the new girl in Drearford, New York, means heaps of unwanted attention for Hendricks Becker-O’Malley, who’d much rather begin anew with a clean slate.

The merciless by danielle vega