Blog Tour & Giveaway: Amity by Micol Ostow

Amity
By: Micol Ostow
Pub. 08/26/14
By: Egmont USA
Source: Publisher
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GR's Summary:

For fans of Stephen King and American Horror Story, a gruesome thriller suggested by the events of the Amityville Horror.

Connor's family 
moves to Amity to escape shady business deals. Ten years later, Gwen's family moves to Amity for a fresh start after she's recovered from a psychotic break.

But something is not right about this secluded house. Connor's nights are plagued with gore-filled dreams of demons and destruction. Dreams he kind of likes. Gwen has lurid visions of corpses that aren't there and bleeding blisters that disappear in the blink of an eye. She knows Amity is evil and she must get her family out, but who would ever believe her? 

Amity isn't just a house. She is a living force, bent on manipulating her inhabitants to her twisted will. She will use Connor and Gwen to bring about a bloody end as she's done before. As she'll do again. 

Alternating between parallel narratives, Amity is a tense and terrifying tale suggested by true-crime events that will satisfy even the most demanding horror fan.

My Thoughts:

I am a huge fan of the horror genre!  Whether reading a really scary book or watching a really creepy move; I love to scare myself.  I watched, The Amityville Horror movie, and thought it was one of the scariest movies that I have ever seen.  Therefore, when I heard about Amity, which was inspired by the movie, I knew I had to read it!  Plus, the fact that Publisher's Weekly compared it to "classic Stephen King," who in my opinion is the best author in the horror genre, sealed the deal for me.

In Amity, we learn about two different families, as we are given alternating viewpoints.  The first family's story takes place ten years in the past, and is narrated by Connor, who has a twin sister Jules, a younger six year old brother, Abel, an abusive father, and fragile mother.  Connor shows psychopathic tendencies.  He has trouble empathizing with others, is anti-social, likes to torture animals, and has major anger and violence issues.  The only person that he cares about is his twin, Jules, who is a sweet and quiet young girl.  

The second family's story takes place in the present, and is narrated by Gwen.  Unfortunately, Gwen's parents think that she is mentally unstable.  She just got released from a mental hospital, and they though country living would be good for her healing process.  She has an older brother named Luke, who looks out for her, and her Aunt Ro, who is the only person who understands her.

As these two families experience Amity during their own time, we see many similarities, such as the hearing of voices, seeing scary things, having night terrors, and the gradual instability of each person's mental health as the days pass.  Amity was a very creepy story!  I'll tell you one thing; I don't plan on buying an old house, and if I was considering it, I would definitely research both the history of the house, and the land it's sitting on.

The author did great with painting scary and gory pictures with her words.  Amity was a living, breathing entity, that gave me goosebumps, and caused me to keep the lights on at bed time!  At times the story was slow and dragged on, and at other times it was very fast-paced, and I couldn't put it down!  I didn't really connect with any of the characters, but I felt more like I was watching a really scary movie play before my eyes.         

My Rating:

I give, Amity, by Micol Ostow, 3 Imaginative, Horrifying, and Frightening Filled Stars!!!  If you are a fan of young adult horror, and enjoyed, The Amityville Horror, you might enjoy Amity.

My Favorite Quote:

"That night, I dreamed, and in my dreams, Amity's shuttered panes burst open, shrieking and spiraling.  Calling to me.  Calling for me.  Foretelling. Forewarning.  Foreseeing no hope of escape.  Amity called to me, insisting that I understand: her anger, her power.  Her energy.  Everything.  Insisting that I see."  (eARC, Loc. 1244)

~Gwen

Purchase At:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound

About Micol Ostow:

Micol Ostow has written dozens of books for children, tweens, and teens, but Amity is her first foray into horror. I turns out, writing a ghost story is almost more terrifying than reading one. (In a good way.) Her novel family was called a “Favorite Book of 2011” by Liz Burns at School Library Journal, and her illustrated novel, So Punk Rock (and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother), was a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teens. In her spare time, Ostow blogs with the National Book Award-winning literacy initiative readergirlz.com. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, her (utterly fearless) daughter, and a finicky French bulldog named Bridget Jones. Visit her online at www.micolostow.com or follow her on Twitter @micolz.

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Giveaway:

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