Hello lovely readers and welcome to today's blog tour stop of The Murmurings by Carly Anne West, hosted by Itching For Books! I'm so glad to be part of this blog tour, because I've always wanted to read The Murmurings!
Genre(s): Young Adult (Horror/Thriller)
Source: Blog Tour
Format: Digital ARC
Pages: 384
Everyone thinks Sophie’s sister, Nell, went crazy. After all, she heard strange voices that drove her to commit suicide. But Sophie doesn’t believe that Nell would take her own life, and she’s convinced that Nell’s doctor knows more than he’s letting on.
As Sophie starts to piece together Nell’s last days, every lead ends in a web of lies. And the deeper Sophie digs, the more danger she’s in—because now she’s hearing the same haunting whispers. Sophie’s starting to think she’s going crazy too. Or worse, that maybe she’s not…
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Indigo
Carly Anne West grew up in Phoenix Arizona, where she melted more than a few pair of shoes on the summer asphalt and swallowed buckets of chlorinated water over the course of several years of swimming. She's written short stories before, but The Murmurings is her debut YA novel.
I remember when I first saw the cover of The Murmurings, and I just knew that I had to get the book. The cover just caught my eye in a way, no book ever did. After reading the synopsis, I just HAD to get this one as soon as possible! The story is about Sophie, a girl who just lost her sister a while ago. Sophie's sister, Nell, was admitted to Oakside to get treated for what they called, schizophrenia. Sophie knew that that wasn't the case, because Nell could hear murmurings, and see things that other people couldn't. At first, I found it to be a bit creepy. The weird things that Nell used to hear, and then her death, and how all of it was just a tad weird to be true.
Later, we meet Evan. Evan is a guy who goes to Sophie's school, who suddenly searches her house number and gives her a call, asking to "hang out". It struck me a bit weird at first, but he's just a shy guy wanting to hang out with a girl he has a crush on! I actually found it cute later on.. lol. Anyways, as we get to know more about Evan, they both share their secrets together. It seems that Evan's cousin, Deb, also had the same problem as Nell. Evan found some sites and blogs that talk about the same problems, and then bother Evan and Sophie try to figure out the truth, or the secret behind those murmurs and sights. The story is really good, but I guess it was a bit slow paced for me. It would usually take a long while for some shocking event to happen, and that's why I ended up being a bit bored in between some chapters.
Towards the end, the secrets unfolded, and we got to know the truth behind all that happened! I think the ending was really great, because it was happy! (yay for happy endings!!) I think I would have enjoyed this book much more if there wasn't so much unnecessary details included, and little dialogue to read. If you enjoy mystery/thriller books, and don't mind them being a tad slow-paced, I totally recommend you reading The Murmurings!
Read an excerpt below..
The wordless murmurings in my ear turns to one strained, sputtering gasp, and I open my eyes wider to catch the faint rippling of my reflection across the bathroom.
“Please”, I whisper, no longer believing that anyone will come to my rescue.
The rippling grows stronger, and soon my reflection is disappearing behind an undulating figure that’s turning blacker and blacker with each movement.
“Please, don’t.” But I know it’s no use. It won’t understand me. Nothing can keep it from trying to get from me what it thinks I have.
A curtain of black, oily hair spills from the glass, obscuring the eyeless face and moving, silent mouth. Long skinny digits follow, twitching on the ends of blacked, rotting hands – a decaying body and halting legs emerge last from the mirror, leaving a layer of oily residue in their wake.
My joints lock into place, freezing me in a stiffened pose, as if they’re given up hope before my mind has. My reflection in the mirror is gone. I’ve already been blotted out of existence. The Taker is laying its claim to my body in an attempt to restore its own.
I fear this book will scare the life out of me because I do not handle creepy books well, but I'm very glad to know there's a happy ending, that will make all the things that happen before it easier to deal with. I can get through a lot if I know there's an HEA at the end! Lovely review Farah!
ReplyDeleteGood review. Thanks for participating.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I prefer my mysteries/thrillers to be fast-paced, I think this sounds like a book where a slow pace might work well for me. It's been getting quite a few 3 stars reviews from bloggers, though. I guess I'm no longer in a rush to get around to it. Lovely review! :)
ReplyDeleteI've actually never seen this book before. It sounds like a pretty interesting read, but I do hate when books have a slow pacing. Awesome review!
ReplyDeleteJanina @ Synchronized Reading
Thanks for the giveaway! I really enjoyed this book :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a book I read and forgot to review it right away, then when review time came I remembered NOTHING! So I had to skip reviewing it. I sear it was the most forgetful book lol. I rated it a 3 that's all I know >.<
ReplyDeleteFarah I definitely had a lot of the same issues that you had with this book, I think I went into it with so many high expectations based on the cover alone, but it took forever for the creep factor to kick in. At some point I wanted to give up, but I'm glad the pacier second half made up for it! :)
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering about this one because I've seen so many different reviews on it. Glad to hear this had a happy ending, especially with it being a mystery thriller!
ReplyDeleteI've been dying to read this one but slow books really turned me off. Now I'm still on the fence whether to read this or not.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad that this one is a little slow paced but I'm curious to find out more about the secret behind the murmurs. Lol, and it's good to know that Evan isn't some creepy guy.
ReplyDeleteI done a guest post fro this tour and I got the book as well, and I have to say I do have quite a high expectation for this book! So maybe I should tone it down a little as I've seen quite a few middle reviews around 3/3.5 star rating! I though Carly sounds like a brilliant author, so I think I will give it a go in the next month that's for sure! :) lovely review Farah! :)
ReplyDeleteI liked this one but also wanted a bit more dialogue, action, and creepy factor. I thought Evan was adorable and it had a great happy ending!
ReplyDeleteIt definitely did get a LOT creepier in the second half!!
ReplyDeleteJen @ YA Romantics