The Merciless
Ratings24
Average rating3
Summary:
The daughter of a military mom, Sofia only stays at a school for a couple of months or years at a time before she has to pack her bags again. Sofia has just started at her new high school, and on the first day of school, Sofia is already becoming friends with the popular group and the outcasts. This book is a serious case of “Mean Girls” meets “The Craft,” which is something that many readers have already pointed out.
Sofia befriends Brooklyn, the local weirdo — at least, that's what the popular girls call her. Riley, Alexis and Grace (religious popular girls) get close with Sofia and convince her that Brooklyn is doing black magic. They tell Sofia that Brooklyn is in dire need of their help — and for the sake of her well-being, she needs an exorcism.
From there, the torture and craziness start.
Final Thoughts from my notes:
Though I enjoyed the book, and I'll probably read the sequels I wouldn't say this is my favorite series or book. I'd rather borrow them from the library than buy paperbacks, for sure. I liked the author's writing because it was easy to visualize what was happening — show us, don't tell us. But at the end of the book, I was ready to read something else. The Merciless was a page-turner, but it isn't something I see myself reading religiously — lol.
I'm not sure if I'd recommend this book. Maybe I'd recommend it to someone who is starting to get into reading and is into paranormal horror stories. I wouldn't recommend this book in general though — I didn't think it was that great.
Well, this absolutely wasn't what I expected it to be. I picked up The Merciless because it was billed as YA horror, and I'm a sucker for anything labeled as such. Watching an author take a horror story, and gently manipulate it for a YA audience, is tons of fun for me. Sometimes they're amazing. Sometimes they're my favorite horror stories. Sometimes, unfortunately, they fall short.
I'm willing to suspend disbelief to get lost in a book like this. If the author is willing to build the background, get me invested in the characters, and set up the tension, I'm all in. It doesn't matter if the villain is a giant cockroach or a serial killer clown. I'm in. I just need to feel like I'm being slowly lead toward an epic climax. Which is why The Merciless lost me after the first few chapters. I never felt like I actually knew Sofia. Her so-called “friends” were barely introduced before she fell head-over-heels in adoration of them. Every single plot point seemed too convenient. Nothing felt organic. Worse yet, this book relies heavily on gore and shock value. I'm all for that, if it's done in a way that adds to the story. In this case, it felt forced.
The other issue I had was that this book is really heavy on the use of God. I understand that the concept of good vs. evil, or God vs. Satan, is often used in stories like this. It makes sense, because it sets a line between what we consider to be normal human behavior, and what lies waiting in the darkest part of some people. What bothers me, is when there is no preface for the use of God. Up until the end of this story, Riley and her friends simply felt like fanatics. No reasoning behind their behavior. No set up. Just crazy religious fanaticism. As for Sofia, she mentions early on that she isn't really religious. Yet, she's willing to go along with everything these girls tell her to do. Even when she knows it's wrong.
Which brings me to the last point, and that's the fact that there is nothing redeeming about Sofia's character. It's like those really terrible horror movies where you actually hope all the characters die. You're not really invested in them. They make terrible decisions constantly. By the time the movie is halfway over, you're just hoping that they'll hurry up and die in some spectacular way. Add in an ending that drove me mad, and you have a 2-star rating.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was very well done and I can't wait for Vega to release another book.
Things I liked:
- How well written the gruesome scenes were. It made me absolutely terrified and my heart was racing at times.
Things I disliked:
-The characters were so deranged that they seemed almost unrealistic. The girls performing the exorcism were delusional for thinking that it was ok to torture another person and call it an exorcism.
Overall:
-This book is very obviously a YA horror novel. It is like what Rachel said, “Mean Girls meets the devil.”
If you are squirmish towards horror I would not recommend this book. If you are not a fan of reading something that has satanic ideas I also would not recommend this book although there isn't much satanism in this novel I still wouldn't recommend if you don't like reading anything about that topic.