Ellen was all for that, since she was almost strangled to death, but her mother makes is seem like it is her fault, when it's technically her father's fault for being a brutal, angry, abusive drunk. And Austin is permanently angry with Ellen, treating her as if she didn't exist.
Which is how Ellen survives: being invisible.
But when they get to their new town and their new school, Ellen sticks out like a sore thumb. She is the only red head and everybody is gorgeous.
When she gets hassled at lunch in the cafeteria by a bunch of boys, while also getting asked out on her first day by an attractive, but cocky, guy named Derrick, she is saved by a mysterious loner: Neil.
Everyone at school has so much hostility and fear toward Neil that Ellen doesn't know what to do. However, Neil is the only nice person at her school and offers to sit with her at lunch, so she won't turn down that kind of offer.
The more Ellen gets to know Neil, the more she likes him. But with everyone warning her away, she wonders what the big secret is.
Even though she is dating Neil, against everyone's warnings, she's still getting attention from Derrick. He won't leave her alone and he is always showing up.
Suddenly, Neil starts to ignore Ellen, giving her no clue as to what had happened between them. Now that she's suddenly alone, Derrick is around more and more, and Ellen finds that she likes to hangout with him.
But when they start to date, he becomes possessive, threatening, commanding. Ellen wants out, but she's afraid to make Derrick too angry.
After much difficulty and close calls, they do break up and suddenly Neil is around again.
And he has answers to Ellen's questions. The questions she's been dying to ask all year - since that first day she met him. But what are the dark secrets that Neil is hiding? Will it be too much for Ellen to handle? will she end up leaving him for good, or can they work through Neil's past? Read The Seven Devils by Sara Danvers to find out!
My Thoughts/Reflections
I got this off of Amazon for free and finally got around to reading it on my kindle. I thought it was an interesting story, the beginning sucked me in because Ellen was being choked and drowned by her father in the pool. That is definitely a scene that will capture any reader's attention.
I felt really bad for Ellen. She obviously didn't get love from any of her family members, and learned to blend in and hide from situations. She would jump at every loud noise or when someone yelled too loud, which I can completely understand after what she went through.
I really liked Neil. Sure, there were rumors about him at school, actually, in their whole town, but he treated Ellen with respect, which is more than what Derrick did in that cafeteria.
And he really cared/looked out for her. Whenever she was in trouble, he would come running to save her.
Because I read this on my Kindle, the formatting was a little off, so that bugged me a little bit. There were also some grammatical and punctuational errors that I noticed right away, but it didn't deter me from reading the whole novel.
I'd give this novel 2.5 stars. It was a good book, but there was a lot thrown into it and it seemed it could have been wrapped up faster than what it was. I did like the supernatural aspect of it, even though it seemed thrown in there at random times, where other times it could have been a contemporary novel.
If anyone is looking for a survival, supernatural, high school novel, I would recommend this book, but it wouldn't be my first choice to give to other readers.
I do wonder, though, if there is another novel coming? A sequel? Because if there is, I will read it because I want to know what happens between Neil and Ellen. The ending was very bland and sad toned, so I would want to read more to get a happier ending.
No comments:
Post a Comment