Book Review: Say Her Name by James Dawson

Title: Say Her Name
Author: James Dawson
Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Mystery
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Release Date: June 5, 2014
Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Source: Pinoy Book Tours

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When I first found this book listed as part of the book tour list for this month, I initially didn’t want to sign up for it. Truth be told, I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat. At this day and age, I am still afraid of the dark (haha!). I knew that the only time I’d be able to read books would be at night when I’m up alone and that made the prospect of reading this book scarier for me.

 

However, I was up for a change because I’ve been reading a lot of young adult romances and dystopian novels recently. Also, the last time I read a horror story was way back in the 90s when I used to read Christopher Pike novels, and those were tame compared to this one. I expected to read this one within 2 days but I ended up finishing it in about 5 hours only. Yup, I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to finish reading this because I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.

 

In the first couple of chapters, it felt like I was reading about the typical young adult horror novel where the characters are in school and the usual high school stereotypes are present. There’s a queen bee and her team of mean girls. The main character is the awkward and quiet but smart girl, Roberta “Bobbie” Rowe and her best friend is the cool and supportive, Naya. Of course, there’s also the good-looking and at first seemingly unreachable boy from the other school, Caine. In that sense, it would be easy to assume that this novel is a bit predictable but oh boy, James Dawson did such a great job adding twists and turns to this novel and made the traditional story of Bloody Mary his own.

 

You know those dumb girl characters in a lot of the 90s horror flicks? Bobbie is so not like them and that’s what I love about her. The instance that she discovered that she and her friends were under the Bloody Mary curse, she made a decision to try her best to find out how to break it. She did not give up no matter how hopeless the situation was. She’s a fighter.

 

I also love her budding romance with Caine. There wasn’t too much of it in the novel and didn’t distract me from the other important stuff going on. I love that Caine is supportive and strong and never gave up too. I was rooting for them the whole time.

 

But what I love most about this novel is how James Dawson describes each scary scene. His writing seriously made me feel like I was watching a movie. And that’s what makes this such a bone-chilling, spine-tingling read. This is one of the reasons why I couldn’t put the book down. I wanted to know as soon as possible how the story will end. And oh my gosh, the ending. Scared the hell out of me! At the same time, I was scared of having to put the book down and turn off the lights to go to bed. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep in the dark. I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to look in the mirror for while without my heart pumping a little. That is how scary it was.

 

Add that to the fact that the twists in the story are really surprising  but in the end you know it all makes sense. I really think this would make for a great horror movie. I’d be falling in line to watch it.

 

I never thought I’d say this about a horror novel but I really, really loved it! I’m a new James Dawson fan and I can’t wait to read more of his work.

 

To read the other reviews in this tour, click here.