Joanne12

*Spoiler Alert*

This book was ok. It wasn't as good as the first one but it was still interesting.

This book picks up about a year after the burning down of Alexis' house in the first book. Alexis and her family have moved into a neighborhood of townhouses. Kasey has just come home from spending a year in a mental institution because of her possession by Sarah and is starting school in Alexis' high school.

What can I say about Kasey except that the girl does not learn her lesson. I can't believe she would get involved with something like Aralt, a supernatural being, again. I mean come on is she that dumb? She just got out of a MENTAL INSTITUTION because of her involvement with a GHOST and the SUPERNATURAL and as soon as shes out she's gonna get involved with it again? Its like she wants to go back to the institution. I dunno. Its like she hasn't learned a damn thing. She ends up joining the sunshine club which is a club of basically misfit girls who take an oath to a being called Aralt, which is basically selling your soul to him. The oath allows Aralt to live inside the oath taker. Aralt grants everything that his "girls" want from good grades, to beauty to great careers. In exchange he feeds off them. It gets even creepier because at certain times he can feed lines to the girls in their heads so that they can get other people to do what they want. I mean I get that high school is hard and its hard to fit in but Kasey didn't even give it one day. She automatically joined the club when it was offered to her. I guess she really is that weak.

I didn't really like Alexis in this book. First she was mean to her sister and didn't really help her on her first day of school when it was clear that she needed it. Instead she allowed her sister to go sit with Lydia, who now was her enemy.

Second, I Though I could count on Alexis not falling for anything supernatural or anything to do with ghosts because of all she dealt with in the last book. She failed me miserably. She decided to investigate the club her sister is in by joining it. She took the oath and almost immediately began to change her perception about herself, thinking she was ugly. Oh and she convinced Megan to join too. Oh and who decides to take an oath in another language. Please, I'd be like "see ya!" I mean I love my sister and brother but I'm not selling my soul for anyone.

Alexis at first was not fully committed to Aralt and still had her suspicions but then she breaks and gives in to him. First she changes her looks~I loved her pink hair and her punked clothes but she trades it all in for a prep look- ugh.

In the book Alexis enters a photography contest. From the first interview you know Alexis is going to win because of Aralt. This is another reason I didn't really like Alexis in this book
Alexis is really a good photographer and is very talented. But now she's just content to skate through life because of Aralt. She used to be passionate about photography and used to work hard for the things she wanted but now all she wants are freebies.

I'm also really angry about what Alexis did to Carter. You know she's in deep now if she has to resort to messing with his mind which is totally Fucked up! Because of her messing with his mind, Carter is like a shell of himself, falling all over himself to complement Alexis and to buy her things. His smile, his eyes are vacant. I shocked dumb when he went to make his speech at the game WITH HIS SLEEVES ROLLED UP (in case you don't remember from the last book his arms and wrists are covered in scars from his attempted suicide when he was a freshman). If he remembers that when he gets "himself" back, he'll be horrified. Then Alexis gets all upset when he says I love you to her in front of everyone and she has the audacity to run away. It was her fuckinging fault he's like a clone of himself and she basically told him to say it and now she's all like "oh no. Now's not the time. blah blah blah. Gimme a break.

Also it was extremely creepy to read about Aralt's voice in Alexis' head telling her what to say to carter. He's like a creppy pedophile that's inside all these young girls. Ewww.

Then at the end Alexis realizes that she has to stop Aralt because she learns that something horrible is going to happen at the "graduation" from the sunshine club which required reading another oath or spell in a foreign language. It is very creepy to read about how clone like and obsessed the girls in the club are with Aralt.

Aside from all this stuff with Alexis the book was good. It has ghosts and an oujia board, a murder, a death and more ghosts. Oh and Megan completely goes off her rocker. The ending was crazy and sets everything up perfectly for the third book. I'm not gonna say more because I don't wanna give anything else away. I'd still recommend this book to read to continue the series. It wasn't awesome but it wasn't bad either.

This review is also posted on Spantalian's Book Reviews