Book Review: Eerie

Eerie

Author: C.M. McCoy

Published by: Omnific Publishing

Publication Date: 15 Dec 2015

Page Count: 434

Buy it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon

Source: e-book provided by author

Audience: Young Adult - Paranormal

I've never been one to enjoy reading a book where the main character is in a love triangle. For some reason, that has always been a pet peeve of mine.  Eerie has a love triangle, but despite that, there was enough going on, enough of a story that kept me intrigued and reading till the end...and I didn't want it to end.

Eerie is about 18-year-old Hailey, Hartley, a girl from Pittsburgh, PA (which happens to be where my family is from, so I already feel an affinity to her) whose world seems to be crumbling around her. She and her sister, Holly, work and dance in an Irish pub along with their uncle, who they have lived with since their parents died in a fire years ago, and a handsome bartender and friend, Fin.  Then one day, her sister goes missing, presumed dead, and Hailey is left with a huge hole in her heart and life.  Her only respite comes through her dreams, where a boy she's never met in person, but sees every night in her dreams, holds her and comforts her.  When she finds out he is real and offers her protection at his university in Alaska, she eagerly accepts the invitation, hoping he can shed some light on her sister's abduction.  At the university, Hailey finds out that Asher, the boy from her dreams is not human, nor is Fin, who suddenly appears there as well, but she also realizes they aren't the only ones. Her roommate is a banshee, the librarian is a zombie, and there are way too many places and things that could easily kill her.  In fact, almost everyday something does try to kill her, and Hailey finds out that others like Asher, want her dead and they will do anything to make it happen.  Crushed between her feelings for Asher, and her feelings for Fin, she tries hard to keep her head up, stay alive, and piece together Holly's murder.

There was so much going on in this book, sometimes it was hard to keep up with all the new things thrown at Hailey.  But in a way, it worked; you felt like you were there with Hailey, experiencing it all for the first time, learning about things she never even imagined.  You were learning right along side the main character of the book.

I loved all the characters.  Every single one was fascinating.  And I loved the story line, the introduction to all these new creatures, the new paranormal world Hailey now lives in, and the imagination behind it all.  Giselle, her terrifying, grumpy roommate; Tomas, the hair-styling poltergeist; Matthew, the bookworm (literally a worm that reads books) who drinks tea and blows up like a balloon; the living trees and the yetis; and the in-between places that can kill a person in an instant; not to mention the classroom building which is also a haunted house; all of these make this book a compelling and intriguing read.

The author, McCoy, has created an amazing world at this small university in the Middle of Nowhere, Alaska.  I was intrigued by the idea of "para-science."  I've heard the term before, knew what it meant, but had never really read anything on it.  Going to a fictitious university to learn about it was fun and educational.

The story, quite frequently, mentions the soul.  There are many at the university who have black souls, and they must do good to cleanse them, turn from the life of evil they know and live.  And there are others, wretches, whose souls have left them because they were so black.  It's interesting to me, fascinating to read how important a soul is.  And it can redefine how you look at people you know in the real world, make you wonder what their souls would look like if you could see them.

Besides the paranormal aspects of the book, you also have romance, adventure, mystery, and murder. If you enjoy reading about a love triangle, falling in love with one of the characters and choosing sides, you will love this book.  By the end you will be on Team Asher or Team Fin, wholeheartedly. But what makes the love triangle so much more, there isn't one clear winner yet.  She loves them both, and neither of the two guys are saints, they have both done bad things across their very long lives, but they have also done some of good.  You can also feel the passion and love they each have for Hailey.

I would not recommend this book to the younger teen audience, maybe 16 and older.  It has some graphic violence and a bit of strong language.  But it was definitely an enjoyable read.  I am looking forward to the continuing story of Hailey, Fin, and Asher in the next books.  The second book can't be published quick enough, especially with the unexpected twist at the very end of the first.

One Last Thought: As this was an advanced copy of the book, I am going to assume the editing was not quite done yet because I found several grammatical mistakes throughout.  Nothing to take away from the book itself, but ones that would polish it up once fixed.

Favorite Thing about this Book:  I honestly loved the imagination behind it all, the creativity of this new, unique world.

First Sentence: There he was again.

Favorite Character: Hailey

Least Favorite Character: Cobon

Synopsis

Hailey’s dreams have always been, well...vivid. As in monsters from her nightmares follow her into her waking life vivid.

When her big sister goes missing, eighteen-year-old Hailey finds the only thing keeping her safe from a murderous 3,000-year-old beast is an equally terrifying creature who has fallen “madly” in love with her. Competing to win her affection, the Dream Creature, Asher, lures her to the one place that offers safety—a ParaScience university in Alaska he calls home. There, she studies the science of the supernatural and must learn to live with a roommate from Hell, survive her ParaScience classes, and hope the only creature who can save her from an evil immortal doesn’t decide to kill her himself.