The Murmurings by Carly Anne West

The Murmurings by Carly Anne West

Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: Edelweiss
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

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….

This one was a little slow to start with, but holy moly, the creepiness of this book definitely had me wide-eyed and shivering every now and then. The Murmurings from it's dark cover to it's promise of suspense and hint of paranormal was a book that had me severely freaked– and I loved it.
Psychiatric wards have always freaked me out. Books, movies, TV shows that feature it: it's always the creepiest part. This book was almost completely based in one, so you can imagine how scared I was when reading this book. Seriously couldn't sleep after. Carly Anne West's descriptions are so eerie and hair-raising, I could imagine what she was writing down so well, it ran like a movie in my head. And I'm not a fan of scary movies so you can imagine how spooked I was reading this novel.

Nell was a great main character, but like with the girl in the scary movie who goes into the basement when you know there's something bad there, I felt like screaming at her to stay away the whole time. It was interesting to see her emotions and when she starts to get a feel that thing's are not right. I personally would be completely freaked and would literally hide under the bed until it all goes away. I have to applaud her on her bravery and determination to find out what exactly happened to her sister before she died.
Evan was absolutely yum and super sweet! I loved how he totally understood what she was going through, didn't think she was a freak, and stood by her, like the loyal YA guys that we've all come to know and love in almost all YA books. Evan was no exception and he definitely lightened up the book for me, making it not too creepy with a hot guy, and all.

What I didn't get and what really confused me however, was the Takers, Seers and background paranormal information. I always fail to comprehend the history of something, or important information of a group in YA books, and this was no exception. I got lost in the terms and what each thing does, and so that wasn't much fun for me, having to skim over some parts because I just couldn't get it. Shows how bad a student I am when it comes to remembering important information! However, I appreciate the author's (what I call) "world building" as she brings around a new kind of paranormal into the world of young adult books.

Highly recommended for scary movie enthusiasts and lovers of creepy paranormals, The Murmurings was a fabulous debut that had me hanging onto and shuddering at every word. I would strongly suggest not reading this at night (like I did), but Carly Anne West is an amazing author to look out!

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Carly Anne West and Simon & Schuster for providing an eGalley of The Murmurings for review and BTG2013! ▪ ▪ ▪

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