Monday, September 8, 2014

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.*

39 comments:

  1. The cover is making me want to run in the opposite direction! I'm not much of a horror reader unfortunately, so I don't think this would be for me. I'm glad you liked some parts of it although you weren't wowed! Great review!

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    1. It wasn't really a horror, I think it was meant to be but it honestly wasn't scary at all, just creepy at times.

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  2. The cover is so creeptastic! Eeek. I enjoy these types of reads as well, too bad this one took so long to get past the set-up though. I'm glad you finished it though and enjoyed the ending, Ali :)

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    1. Thanks Kim, I really do too. I just wish this would have been a little bit more.

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  3. That's too bad that the horror aspects of this book were slow in coming, and when they finally did show up, they failed to meet the creeptastic level that you were looking for. It looks like we were both disappointed by our reads today, oh well—it happens.

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  4. This one looks and sounds super creepy. Too bad it was slow to start and not that creepy. I might still scare me though!

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  5. That girl's face and her giant eyes are going to haunt me for life Ali. Thanks so much for sharing ;-) It's too bad this one didn't quite scare you the way you were hoping based on that very disturbing cover, but that would probably work out better for me since I'm such a chicken. The less scary, the better!

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    1. LOL so glad I could help fuel your nightmares tonight Jenny! :P

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  6. Oh wow. There are slow starts, and then there's reading half a book without really seeing the point. If I do choose to read horror, then I want it to be really scary, and this doesn't seem to be it. I'm glad it wasn't a complete waste of time for you, but I hope your next read is fantastic.

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  7. Uhm this cover is beyond creepy! Like really creepy! It sucks that this one didn't manage to fully scare you as you'd hoped from a book like this! I love my stories to be really scary but this cover is probably going to give me nightmares!

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  8. Love the cover and premise of this one, but I'm seeing some not so great reviews of it-bummer!

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    1. Yeah kind of disappointing but it does happen.

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  9. Ah too bad it wasn't that good but you're right that the creepy cover is really attractive!

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  10. I probably wouldn't have picked this up because of the creepy cover (too creepy!!!) but I'm sorry it wasn't a bit better for you sooner.

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    1. Yeah it does seem like it would be super scary but it wasn't at all.

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  11. That cover really freaks me out! This isn't the first so-so review I have seen for it, so I think it will be one I will be avoiding.

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  12. I almost got this one as I noticed the author is from Idaho, but I am trying not to request books until I have read reviews and this isn't one I wanted to take a chance on. Sounds like it was just an okay read.

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    1. Oh I didn't know that! I guess I should pay more attention to that.

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  13. Oh Wow Kindlemom I don't think I could get past the cover. But loved your review :)

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  14. Creepy cover! Looks like this one took all the time to build up its atmosphere. I would have been very frustrated if that was me and to think it didn't exactly deliver the scaring you've hoped for when it finally happened. That's really disappointing.

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    1. I think that was what happened, too much time on build up and not enough on the scary stuff.

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  15. That cover creeps me out so much I don't think I'd ever read this book :(

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  16. That cover though…

    I do like creepy reads when I'm in the mood. I guess you can say it's also an acquired taste for me.

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    1. It does have to be the right kind of creepy for me as well Joy.

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  17. That is really too bad because the cover does make the story seem screepy and scary all the way. Romance? Really? :P

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    1. Yeah I normally like romance but I want a creepy story to be creepy not romantic. ;)

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  18. I'm sorry that this wasn't as creepy as you thought. That's what happens a lot to me when I am trying to look for a good scary book. The cover is pretty eye catching though :)

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  19. Creepy cover. Thanks for the honest review. I don't think I'll be checking this one out.

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