Review – Agony House by Cherie Priest, Tara O’Connor (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Horror/Paranormal
Length: 272 pages
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Release Date: September 25, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-0545934299
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Denise Farber has just moved back to New Orleans with her mom and step-dad. They left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and have finally returned, wagering the last of their family’s money on fixing up an old, rundown house and converting it to a bed and breakfast.
Nothing seems to work around the place, which doesn’t seem too weird to Denise. The unexplained noises are a little more out of the ordinary, but again, nothing too unusual. But when floors collapse, deadly objects rain down, and she hears creepy voices, it’s clear to Denise that something more sinister lurks hidden here.
Answers may lie in an old comic book Denise finds concealed in the attic: the lost, final project of a famous artist who disappeared in the 1950s. Denise isn’t budging from her new home, so she must unravel the mystery-on the pages and off-if she and her family are to survive…”
I have read a number of books by Priest and they are always interesting reads even though I am not a huge fan of her writing style. When I saw this book was a blend of traditional novel and graphic novel I had to pick it up because I love that sort of thing. This ended up being a decent read involving a haunted house, ghosts, and a teen trying to fit into a new neighborhood.
Denise and her family have just moved back to New Orleans and purchased a huge decrepit house that Denise’s mom wants to turn into a B&B. Unfortunately money is tight and things keep going wrong, it’s almost like the house is out to kill them. Then when Denise and her family start hearing and seeing strange things it really gets out of control. Denise wonders if everything that is happening ties into a mysterious graphic novel that she found in the attic of the house.
This is a well done ghost mystery sort of story. I enjoyed the setting of a New Orleans that is trying to recover from the aftermath of Katrina. I also liked Denise and the other teens she meets in New Orleans. The story is a well done mystery and I enjoyed the role the graphic novel played in it.
The book alternates between novel portions and graphic novel parts. The graphic novel parts are much less frequent and are directly from the mysterious graphic novel Denise and her friends find. While there isn’t anything super creative here, this was a fun and creepy diversion. For some reason it reminded me a bit of Chris Wooding’s “Malice” although the mystery was quite a bit different.
Overall this was a good read. It’s a creepy haunted house story in an interesting setting. The mystery and the characters were engaging and well done. I would recommend to those who enjoy novel/graphic novel hybrids and like ghost stories.
