Review: Dark Souls

Title: Dark Souls
Author: Paula Morris
Pages: 292
Format: Print/ Hard covered
Publication date: August 1st 2011
Publisher: Scholastic. Inc

I was really excited when I brought this book home the other day. Having been disappointed the book store didn't have the book I originally wanted to get, I was happy I at least found a book that peaked my interest. And boy am I happy I took this puppy home.

If there is one thing a lot of people don't know about me, is that I am a ghost story fanatic. You wouldn't think this, seeing as I coward whenever I'm watching ghost stories on t.v or movies. But truly, I love them! I think it's the whole possibility of there maybe being ghosts out there that I find so thrilling. Or it could be that I just really love to scare the crap out of me. Either way, I loved Dark Souls.

Dark Souls is a ghost story thriller. You have ghosts, mixed in with mystery, mixed in with thrill, mixed in with lots and lots of suspense. I can't say I was let down. After all, I did finish this book in one sitting. Kind of tells you something, doesn't it? I could not put this book down! The mystery aspect of it keeps your eyes glued to its pages. Although it was told in the perspective of a narrator, the writing was fluent and engaging. The way Paula Morris weaved mystery between printed words was amazing. Seriously, you won't want to put this book down until you get answers.

The characters were another thumbs-up about this book. Miranda was so well developed, and even though she wasn't the speaker throughout the book, you really got to know her. You spent a lot of time dwelling in her feelings and her actions. As a main character, this was important. She was likable and rounded. And Nick, the mysterious hottie was no exception. He was a mystery, so you got to know him as much as you would get to know a mystery type man. He has his secretes, secretes you die to discover (of which you won't till the last 50 pages or so).

The ghosts in this were creepy and everything you'd expect in a ghost. Some were creepy, others not so much. Some talked, some didn't. Some were friendly, and some weren't. If your looking for a good ghost story with lots of ghosts, this is it!

One thing I will say that I don't think a lot of readers will enjoy (depends if it's your forte), is the history aspect of this book. It was chalk full of history. The book takes place in York, England, a very old place with much history. As a history fanatic, I loved learning about York's history. I was even surprised when I knew some of it! So if you don't like history, you may not enjoy this book too much. However, in my opinion history was a big part of the plot and characters. I mean, when you have ghosts, doesn't history come along with them? Kind of an important aspect when dealing with ghosts, eh?

Anyways, there was one thing I completely disliked about this book. The ending! And not because it ended. It was way too rushed and the relationship between Miranda and Nick you hope escalates, kind of deflates like a balloon. They part ways and that's that. SPOILER: Nick gets sent to an asylum and Miranda returns home :SPOILER. It was a crappy, rushed, ending that did not leave me satisfied as a reader. And the epilogue? A total waste of paper!

Seriously?

Paula, you're going to end your book talking about the experience about a guy we only vaguely hear about at the beginning of the book?

Really?

Pointless!

It left me wondering what in the world Paula had been thinking when she ended the book. Oh yeah, and then Miranda is happy. She isn't sad anymore. Why is she happy all the sudden? Care to elope, Paula? Cause I sure as hell am still fizzled about why exactly Miranda is just "happy." And what about Nick? What ever did happen to him? Care to share?

You'd think this would make me hate the book, but because I really did enjoy the story overall, I really can't rate it less than five stars. As a ghost story, it succeeded. As a mystery novel it succeeded. Did it keep my attention? Hell yeah! Was I interested the entire thriller through? FREAK yeah! Was the ending crappy? Yeah, I could write a better one. But you can't always get everything you want as a reader in a book.

My rating:
5 ghostly ghosts


Angela