Wicked Cries (REVIEW)

Wicked Cries

Author:  Michelle Areaux
Category: YA Paranormal

Suitable for: Young Teens

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Format Read for Review: Kindle - first digital edition

Pages: 253

Description: This story is about a teenage girl name Sadie who speaks to the dead. She has made it her job to relay messages from the dead to the living. When she moves to an old home in Salem, MA and finds the diary of Elizabeth, a girl who lived during the Salem Witch Hunt, she decides to solve the mystery of what happened to Elizabeth. Elizabeth aids her in her search for answers by coming into her dreams to talk to her and show her the past.

In Short: A YA paranomal novel ideal for ages 10-16, due to the dramatic style of the story and the characters. Sadie is a very dramatic teen girl, for example when the popular girl (nicely) invites her to a party she decides to start a fight with her unprovoked. If you love supernatural themed novels with a ton of drama, check this one out!     

Pros: The ending was great. I was so glad Sadie was able to rewrite history. The story is more about the development of Sadie's character than the ghosts. She starts as a very reclusive teen who pushes away anyone who tries to get close to her but in the end she has warmed up. She becomes closer to her parents, establishes tighter friendships than she had ever had before and truly begins to appreciate the people around her instead of feeling so alone and exiled by her secret. Overall, the story is good. My favorite part was when the ghost was once again invading her dreams but this time her boyfriend Noah was there too. That really creeped me out wondering how he was there and what the connection was. I noticed this story drew a lot of parallels between Sadie's life and the life of Elizabeth who was alive hundreds of years ago during the Salem Witch Hunt. I think the similarity between the two girls and their lives was a nice touch.

Cons: This book needs a lot of editing. There are many types of errors: wrong word usage, grammar/punctuation, unnatural dialogue, plot holes and a lot of things that just don't make sense. For example a character will leave, but then a moment later they are still there talking and then they leave again. Or when the arsonist confessed to her that he started the fire and why, and then later she started to get suspicious that the fire was arson. There are a lot of inconsistencies like that, and things out of order, which is the reason for the star deduction. Please note that I am reviewing the digital first edition, if in time you are able to get a later edition that includes editing you may not have this experience. *Update: there is a 2nd edition now available on Amazon. 

Parent's Guide:  Clean book - there is no vulgar language or sexual content.

I was given a free copy of this book in return for my honest review.

Find it on Amazon.