Comes the Night (Caster Series, #1) by Norah Wilson & Heather Doherty Release date: November 27, 2012
Published by: Something Shiny Press
Age Group: Young Adult/New Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Formats Available: Paperback, eBook ~330 pages
Tour Hosted by: AToMR
Book Blurb:
How far would you go to escape your own personal teenage hell? Would you run away, break away from everything you know—even your own body?
Alex Robbins, Brooke Saunders and Maryanne Hemlock could not be more different, yet they all have something in common — deep and soul-searing pain. They are also all students at Streep Academy, a boarding school just one step away from juvie, where they've come to complete high school. The three have been relegated to Harvell House, the residence reserved for the hardest cases, the so-called Rejects from Reject Row. In the forbidden attic of the old Victorian house-turned-residence, the girls discover the diary of Connie Harvell, a young woman who was confined and abused there some 50 years ago. In the end, Connie’s attic prison couldn't hold her—not completely. She found a way out. At least a dark part of her did. And after reading her diary, the girls discover they can escape at will too. A terrifying, thrilling flight from their bodies and their troubles.
But God help them, their pain isn't all they leave behind when they join with the night. And God help anyone who’s wronged them...
First I want to say just how stunning the cover of this book is. I am in cover love with the girl in the corset, sitting - almost in a prayer position - in the woods. I makes the book look dark and complex and witchy. However, despite the book being part of the Caster series, it is sadly not a book about witches. The casting is a whole different type of cast, one in which they "cast" their souls or essences outside of their bodies. Casting, in short, is just another term for astral projection.
The basics of the plot is that there are three high school girls who are all at boarding school and end up in the same house/dorm. This dorm is used to hold the rejects or those who have been deemed trouble in one way or another. We first meet Alex after she has awoken to the realization that she had been raped, but has no recollection of who did it. I felt for Alex and her pain, but that was about the extent of how involved I got into the characters. The other two are Brooke and Maryanne. Brooke is a grade A bitch and she relishes in it. Maryanne is an escapist. After her brother passed and her parent's marriage was in trouble she found a way out and came to boarding school. It was hard for me to get passed the lack of relatability the girls had. Aside from Alex, the girls were wholly unlikeable.
Alex finds a diary of Connie, a girl who lived in the house before it was turning into school housing and her story was the most relatable and harrowing of all the characters. She was abused and beaten, but found a way out by casting herself outside her body. Each of the girls learn to do this and use their astral bodies to wreck havoc on those who harmed them. This wasn't what casting was supposed to be used for, it was a way to get away, but the girls - namely Brooke - used it to punish those who jilted her. And this is where I found myself having a hard time with the story. They knew from the diary that in their astral states they could harm animals, but Brooke didn't care and used it against a guy by harming his horses. It was at this point that I just was sick. They do some good by helping the lost astral body of Connie find some peace and punish the person who raped Alex - the one person who actually deserved punishment.
Overall, I found the book Comes the Night somewhat of a mixed bag. I was expecting so much from it and it turned out to just not be my cup of tea. However, there will be a lot of people who will enjoy the book because it is a quick read and it did keep my interest all the way through. The writing was done well and it was edited nicely - a big plus. It also was an interesting concept using astral projection as a way to escape from the pains of regular life. You will have to decide for yourselves what your take on the actions of the girls were (my main beef with the book), but it is a book that will keep you guessing and trying to figure out the mystery that lies within. I will be reading on in the series to see where the author takes the plot, I have to see what, if anything, the girls learn about themselves and what more there is to casting.
FTC Advisory: I was given a copy of this book from the author for an honest review as part of a blog tour. No backroom deals or whispered promises were made.
NORAH WILSON is a Kindle best-selling author of romantic suspense and paranormal romance. She lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, with her husband, two adult children, dog Chloe, and kitty, Ruckus.
HEATHER DOHERTY fell in love with writing while taking creative writing courses with Athabasca University. Motivated by her university success, and a life-long dream of becoming a novelist, she later enrolled in the Humber School for Writers under the mentorship of David Adams Richards. Her first literary novel was published in 2006. While still writing dark literary (as well as not-so-dark children's lit), she is beyond thrilled to be writing paranormal/horror with Norah. Heather lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick with her family. (No pets, but I swear Norah's dog, Chloe, calls me Aunt Heather).
Together, Heather and Norah write dark, edgy, frightening young adult paranormal/horror.
Twitter - Website - Facebook Norah - Facebook Heather
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#1:
Five (5) unsigned print copies of Comes the Night sent from CreateSpace - open
internationally; #2: Five (5) eBook copies of Comes the Night (Smashword coupon
code) - open internationally; #3: Three (3) $10 gift cards - choice of Amazon,
B&N, or Book Depository
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