Review: Sam Hopkins is a preacher's kid and hates how everyone thinks that they have to be perfect around him. So he joins a gang, and begins to see that he made the wrong decision. When his new "friends" start harassing his slightly eccentric classmate, Jennifer, Sam manages to stand up to them and save her. Jennifer now considers Sam her "magic friend" and confides in him, sharing visions of demons and death. While everyone thinks she's crazy, Sam begins to suspect that her visions may actually be prophesies that could cause catastrophe if they're not stopped. And he's the only one who believes her...so can he stop these disasters before it's too late. You see that dead guy by the side of the road? Yeah, the one lying in a pool of his own blood with his face all messed up and his clothes all torn and dirty. That's me. Sam Hopkins. And okay, I'm not really dead, or at least not completely. I've just been beaten up. A lot. Badly. Which I guess is a little bit better than dead...although when I think about how I'm going to have to explain this to my parents—frankly dead doesn't seem like such a bad alternative. Warning! There may be spoilers below this line. Positive content:
Sam has a sense of heroism, as many male main characters do in novels, so he can't stand to see innocent people hurt. This comes in handy when Jennifer is about to get beat up by some bullies. Violent content: There is a murder in this story, but it's dark when the killing happens, so there are very few details. Jennifer has a visions of demons, some with bloody fangs, forcing her to go to a coffin that has a dead thing inside. She also has visions of people, dead through guns. There is quite a bit of blood and a quick graphic description. Only in that one part, though. That part is a little detailed, but not too bad. A bomb goes off. There aren't very many descriptions, but the demons are slightly creepy... Sexual content: Sam is caught alone in a dark room with Jennifer and it is implied that a nurse gets the wrong impression, even though it wasn't what it seemed like. Language: Language is said to be painted on certain walls and in a notebook, though none of the words are spelled out. Overall opinion: I took off a half-star, because I disagreed with one of the statements made through the book. The book implied that there wasn't such thing as a spiritual reality. They kept trying to find "real, logical" explanations for Jennifer's hallucinations, and eventually did. I do believe that there is demonic and angelic activity. He pulled this story off well. Have to say, I'm starting to become an Andrew Klavan fan between this book and the Homelanders series. I loved the way Jennifer's brain worked. You have to read it to know what I'm talking about. Like I said, this book was on the slightly creepier side with Jennifer's visions and all but, I definitely recommend it, if demons and a little blood don't bother you. And if you are bothered by that, just skip the parts with the weird font. Those are in Jennifer's POV and there are only, like, four scenes with that POV. I think you could mostly get the story...This is another good story for boys and girls alike.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Book ReviewsHere are reviews for books Pluggedin style. I have categories for positive content, sexual content, violent content, language, and other negative content. My overall opinion is at the bottom. Beware, the reviews may contain spoilers. Archives
June 2015
Categories
All
|