6 December 2015

Review #310: The Girl Who Collected Butterflies (Haunted Minds #3) by John Hennessy



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“I will hurt you for this. I don't know how yet, but give me time. A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you'll know the debt is paid.”

----George R.R. Martin



John Hennessy, the British paranormal YA author, pens his third book in the Haunted Minds series, The Girl Who Collected Butterflies, and this time the ghost/witch of the house on 110 Normandy Road is back with vengeance, and she will not rest until she succeeds in punishing the evil souls.






Synopsis:

Boys made fun of her. Girls tended to avoid her. Teachers didn’t understand her.

Marissa Coton collected butterflies.

For her Very Special Project, Marissa took some butterflies and placed a name under each one.

To her classmates, the selection appeared to be random. No harm done. But when the children in Marissa’s book begin to die in mysterious circumstances, the evidence points to the mysterious girl with black eyes who wears a red bow in her hair.

There’s method in her apparent madness. There’s a reason why she’s doing it. By the time her secret is out, it will be far too late. Because if someone threatens her, their secrets will be revealed to the world.

The race is on to stop her from killing anyone else, but how can she be stopped?


Upon arrival of Marissa, the girl with a blood red bow on her hair and black eyes, few children of her class started to disappear and soon a particular teacher of the school begins to point fingers at Marissa for the disappearances. Little did he knew, this girl, who collected butterflies, had even etched out his name too along with those lost children in her special book. Will he be able to stop Marissa and protect those around him?

The author has left no stones unturned in making it a visually terrifying as well as sinister tale for his readers and like always he delivered the story with an enchanting flair. The writing style is absolutely fantastic and very detailed with each and every descriptions about the emotions to tiny movements in the story are etched out with evocatively.

The characters are extremely well developed with lots of layers and flaws and it seems like the author has brought to life the everyday real life characters around us in his story. The main character, Marissa is thoroughly developed with both innocence, simplicity as well as with a wicked edge that can actually give the readers a chill running down to their spine. And after reading the book, when I looked around my room, I actually felt like a pair of black eyes watching me from somewhere. Although the author makes his readers question with Marissa's actual identity in the epilogue and also ends the story with a cliffhanger that makes the readers want to read the next book in the series.

The author is an expert when it comes to setting up an eerie atmosphere through his stories, similarly while reading this book, I once again felt that bone-chilling atmosphere around me whenever Marissa came around in the scene.

The story raises a lot of good social questions like the choices we humans make in our lives especially in a marriage, how things can come haunting back to us the second time around too. With an engaging narrative, the book proves to be an addictive read till the very end. In short, when it comes to horror, no author better than John Hennessy, can give you actual goosebumps with his stories, in the recent times.

Verdict: If you're a huge fan of horror and paranormal stories, then this is a MUST-read book for you.

Courtesy: To John Hennessy: I fall for your writing as well as for the stories with your each new book. I'm glad as well as honored that I get to read your amazing books. Thanks!
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Author Info:
John Hennessy is the British author of paranormal fantasy horror for YA, psychological horror and murder mysteries, plus his own unique take on vampire lore. He has also written ghost stories and delved into high epic fantasy with a hint of romance.

A kung fu addict; he teaches martial arts full-time but writes at all other times, working on four series:- Dark Winter, Haunted Minds, Stormling and A Tale of Vampires.

When he doesn't have a book in his hands, he likes to travel and see weird and wacky things. He admits to having an unhealthy addiction to Star Trek, Batman, Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to name but a few. He will also travel to reputed scary places in England, as he feels it makes his books more real.

Visit him here


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