Review: Phobic by Cortney Pearson

Title: Phobic
Author: Cortney Pearson
Series: Book One in the Forbidden Doors Series
Published: September 8, 2014
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Author (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Thriller/Mystery
My Rating: 2.5 to 3 Stars

Book Description:
Fifteen-year-old Piper Crenshaw knows her house is strange. It’s never needed repairs since it was built in the 1800s, and the lights flicker in response to things she says. As if those things aren’t creepy enough, it’s also the place where her mother committed murder.

To prove she’s not afraid of where she lives, Piper opens a forbidden door, which hides a staircase that leads to the ceiling. That’s when the flashbacks of the original residents from 1875 start, including a love affair between two young servants. Each vision pulls Piper deeper into not only their story, but also her house. Piper confides in her best friend, Todd, whom she's gradually falling for, but even he doesn't believe her. At least, not until her house gets axed during a prank, and the act injures Piper instead, cutting a gash the size of Texas into her stomach.

Piper realizes her house isn’t haunted—it’s alive. To sever her link to it, she must unravel the clues in the flashbacks and uncover the truth about her mother’s crime, before she becomes part of her house for good.

I couldn't resist this one after seeing the creeptastic cover and reading the synopsis. I was hoping this would be the perfect read to freak me out without scaring me too much. I pretty much got what I was hoping for but..it took awhile to get there.

Even though I knew the author needed to set up not only the atmosphere and characters for this story, but give the house that Piper resided in a personality of it's own, it felt like it took forever to get there. In fact I wasn't even sure after around 45% if would even get there. 

I would love to say that I loved this from the moment that I opened it and began reading but the truth is, I didn't. It had to grow on me and what kept me reading more than anything, was the anticipation that things would really start moving and I would get the horror and thrill I was hoping for when I first laid eyes on the cover. And it did get there, to an extent but still it wasn't all I was hoping it would be but it was good. It did have that creep factor to it with the house having it's own personality and all the ghosts and factors that came with it but it still didn't make me want to look over my shoulder or sleep with the lights on. Overall though it was a pretty solid read even with the very slow start. 

There is just enough weirdness and a slight touch of romance that it made the story interesting and different. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*