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Monday, October 10, 2011

AFTER OBSESSION By Carrie Jones and Steven E. Wedel. London: Bloomsbury, 2011



After Obsession is set where all the best horror/possession/ghost stories come from – a small town in Maine, New England.  As in many other such stories, there’s a Native American element., and stupid white colonists who just wouldn’t listen.

Alan is the new boy in town, come, with his single mother, to live with his aunt and cousin, Courtney. He’s fairly certain that his father, whom he has never met, was Navajo, but he has had to research his heritage on-line. Somehow he has managed to arrange his own vision quest and find a totem animal, which has been advising him in visions.

Aimee, whose mother died several years before, has inherited her healing powers, which also make her vulnerable, as do her true dreams.

Now the two must join forces to fight  something nasty that has been possessing Courtney and bringing out the worst in the townsfolk. If they don’t stop it, the thing trapped in the river will escape and overwhelm a lot more than the twon.

Aimee and Alan are such kind and decent kids! They treat everyone well, love their families and each other. Alan respects Aimee’s abilities as well as loving her. They both have their own troubles that they must overcome to fight the evil spirit.

I liked the notion that the “sweet librarian lady” at their school has so much information that they can use; there is only so far the Internet can go, but in the end, you can’t beat a good librarian and her archives!

Because the story is told in alternating voices – Aimee’s and Alan’s – it avoids many of the clichés of standard YA paranormal fiction with its damsel in distress heroine.

Still – it’s basically a girls’ book and should suit girls from abut 14 upwards.

4 comments:

Lan said...

I think I'd really enjoy this book. My tastes are pretty much the same as a 14 year old girls! You def can't beat the knowledgeable librarian when it comes to information. Always reminds me of Giles from Buffy.

Sue Bursztynski said...

Well, it's going in my library, so we'll see what the students have to say. :-) Ah, Giles... I think we all loved him because he was so good-looking and had that lovely voice. if I tried to keep all but my book club out of the library the way Giles does, I'd be out of a job in no time! ;-) And Willow does most of the real research anyway.

But yes, he had the archives.

Sheeprustler said...

I must go to Maine and New England one day and see exactly what it is about them that makes them such fetile ground for such goings on!

Sue Bursztynski said...

Me too. Maybe it's the cold climate? :-) Although a friend of mine who lives in New England (Mass.) says they have the same saying we do in Melbourne - "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."