DARK LULLABY

Rating:
Summary: A Ghost Story That's Long, Tedious, & Not Very Scary
Review: "Dark Lullaby" revolves primarily around 8-year-old Sara Graves, who is trying to cope with her older sister's sudden death, which occurred in the fire that also destroyed their home. The book begins shortly thereafter, before Christmastime, with Sara and her family having just moved across town and into a house with a troubled past. Here 11-year-old Shelley Graves' spirit awakens to haunt her family and manipulate young Sara to do her bidding, which includes seeking revenge against their abusive, alcoholic parents and comatose grandmother. The plans against Jane and Elliot Graves I could understand (after all, they were horrible, worthless parents), but the mental torture done to the old woman was uncalled for. I'm still not sure why Shelley/Sara wanted to hurt her.

Domestic violence, incest, and child abuse do come into play a lot in this novel, which is obvious by the dedication and opening quote alone: "For the children of violence and abuse, the survivors and especially those who did not . . . Sorrow's song for you" and "Every child has the right to protection and . . . to a life free from violence, exploitation, and abuse", from The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children in 1989. However, very little seems to be done throughout the book to save Sara; she is a constant punching bag by her hotheaded father, and her tragic ending is no major surprise. So, don't expect a lot of vindication by the end of this book.

At first, I thought "Dark Lullaby" was interesting--or at least the idea for it was, but then I'm a sucker for pretty much any kind of horror story, especially ones where the heroine shares my first name--; however, this book really dragged nearly from the beginning. It took me a couple of months to get halfway through it, and then another few to pick it up again and finish it. For the most part, it was uneventful, tedious, and not very scary at all. There's not much meat to it either, and I've pretty much forgotten most of what happened just a few days after reading it. In summary: I wouldn't recommend this novel unless you're really into supernatural horror novels.

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ
Review: I read this book one summer after picking it up in a used book store. And, with the many less-than-entertaining books I have read, this was a long awaited change. This book is definitely one of the best books I have ever read! I strongly urge you to read this book, as long as you don't mind a rather complicated storyline.

Rating:
Summary: Nice horror
Review: This was the authors first book I believe. It was very good. It's about a little 11 year old girl, her sister, parents and grandmother. One night one of the careless, drunk parents cause a fire and burns the house down. Shelly, the 11 year old dies in the fire. They move to their new house for christmas, and try to settle in. They won't be able to though, Shelly has found them (her spirit) and possesses her little sister, Sara, and does all kinds of terrible things to avenge her death, because it was her parents fault by being drunks. I won't ruin it for readers but its a very good book.