Review--The Merciless II by Danielle Vega

Danielle Vega—YA’s answer to Stephen King—once again brings major scares in the spine-tingling sequel to horror hit The Merciless, which MTV calls “Mean Girls meets The Exorcist.”
 
Sofia is still processing the horrific truth of what happened when she and three friends performed an exorcism that spiraled horribly out of control. Ever since that night, Sofia has been haunted by bloody and demonic visions. Her therapist says they’re all in her head, but to Sofia they feel chillingly real. She just wants to get out of town, start fresh someplace else . . . until her mother dies suddenly, and Sofia gets her wish.
 
Sofia is sent to St. Mary’s, a creepy Catholic boarding school in Mississippi. There, seemingly everyone is doing penance for something, most of all the mysterious Jude, for whom Sofia can’t help feeling an unshakeable attraction. But when Sofia and Jude confide in each other about their pasts, something flips in him. He becomes convinced that Sofia is possessed by the devil. . . . Is an exorcism the only way to save her eternal soul?
 
Readers won’t be able to look away from this terrifying read full of twists and turns that will leave them wondering, Is there evil in all of us?

 

It took me about 6 years but I finally picked up Danielle Vega's The Merciless II: The Exorcism of Sofia Flores. It continues the story of young Sofia who was dealing with the knowledge that a demon is hounding her, trying to get to her to commit sin, and the more horrifying part was learning that Brooklyn already considered Sofia "one of us!"

Sofia is trying to get back to some semblance of normal after the deaths of her friends and knowing that Brooklyn, the demon girl, is still out there and will more than likely come after her. But then tragedy strikes and Sofia is left orphaned. She gets shipped off to a Catholic school for "unruly" teens and can live out the rest of her underage days there.

Sofia tries hard to ignore the nagging voice in her head that tells her she's already evil, but it's a powerful voice. She's greeted warmly at the school by her new roommates Leena and Sutton. Life seems almost good. Then she meets a boy named Jude and can't help but feel an intense pull towards him. Unfortunately for her, Leena has a major crush on Jude and has been doing everything possible to get his attention. She thinks they're meant for each other, but it would seem there's something between Jude and Sofia growing.

But then the bad things start happening again, one after another. Sofia isn't sure if she is somehow committing these heinous acts in her sleep or if there's something else in the school. Something that wants to cause as much death and destruction as possible. Things Brooklyn reveled in.

I forgotten how intense Danielle's horror stories are! I was last reading her Rollins books which definitely have a different vibe to them then her Vega ones. And oh wow. These books are downright creepy! I do want to put another PSA in here that there is unfortunately animal abuse in here, like bad abuse. It's never seen though, but the end results basically tell you how bad it was. I won't get too much more into that because it had me cringing even, but sadly it did fit well into the story and building up the events.

This book definitely took a darker turn than I expected! There was a twist I was not prepared for and it only continued to escalate after that. While this book didn't have the sort of monster-horror theme that my last few reads did, it does have a darker tone to it. One that felt more real and that made it all the more terrifying.

I found myself unable to put this one down. It was a read that completely hooked you in and you're racing through the pages eager to see what will happen next and what the eventual outcome would be! And just whoa! I'm eager to dive into the next book which appears to be a prequel to the first two books. That makes me more curious again to see what book four will be about! 

If you're looking for a read that is positively bone-chilling this Halloween season, I highly recommend any of Danielle Vega's books! You won't be disappointed!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars