Following
the devastating blaze at Steele House, Hendricks and her friends are
trying to return to normal. Prom is coming up and the school is in full
preparation mode. Hendricks tries to pitch in, to mimic Portia’s
enthusiasm, but the events of the last few months still haunt her.
Steele House. Raven. Eddie.
Hendricks believes Eddie is still out
there. She just has to find a way to reach him. Together with her
friends, she forms a circle of seven and attempts to summon his spirit.
Suddenly things start happening again. Flickering lights in the school
library. Mysterious girls roaming the halls. The same song playing on a
loop wherever she goes.
It all culminates in a violent attack and
Hendricks realizes what they summoned may not be Eddie at all. The one
thing she does know is that Steele House was only the beginning. And
whatever they’ve unleashed is more dangerous than anything they’ve ever
seen before.
Having finished Danielle Vega's The Haunted, I immediately picked up The Unleashed eager to see what would happen next after that explosive ending! It was an incredible sequel overall! While I would've wished for different things to happen...in the long run, none of those things would have made sense or been truly right for the story. But man was this yet another thrill ride and creepy to boot!
We pick up a few months after the events of The Haunted, and I will warn you here and now there are spoilers for the first book since this is the sequel! After Eddie sacrificed himself to save Hendricks, Steele House was destroyed, Hendricks' friend Raven is in a coma, and things just haven't been the same since. Hendricks and her family stayed in town and are renting a place nearby while they work to rebuild Steele House despite Hendricks' convictions that it's not a good idea, but try telling your parents it's because that house was haunted and it just feels wrong to build upon it. But money is money.
Hendricks still mourns Eddie, but she believes that he's still out there and can be reached somehow. So she manages to get her friends to do a seance to try to reach Eddie, but when nothing happens she is left even sadder. But then that same night, her friend Portia is attacked and claims it was a ghost that looked very much like Eddie. Despite how everyone felt about Eddie, thinking him some dangerous criminal without a care, Hendricks knew better and she knows that Eddie would never hurt someone, even someone who made fun of him. She suspects that whatever attacked Portia is something else entirely, something truly evil.
And so begins another ghostly mystery that will bring frights and possible delights...if you like all those jump scares! I can handle it with books, but not movies, go figure! Lol. This one was positively creepy! Hendricks is being haunted with nightmares and some are quite terrifying that it sort of suspends reality, is she dreaming or is something else happening? All she knows is that whatever spirit is out and about and attacking Portia, it's something that needs to be stopped and possibly even clear Eddie's name, even in death.
I have always loved how creepy Vega's books are! They are downright spooky! I especially love when there's a paranormal element to them versus a thriller type read, though I still enjoy those too! I guess one thing that still kind of threw me was how the ghosts here always seem so corporeal. They are able to literally hurt people and throw things around, like people, so easily! I mean, don't get me wrong, I totally believe they can manipulate objects and make them move or fly across the room, I guess I thought the ability to hurt people might be a little beyond their reach, but I suppose nothing is out of the realm of possibility. I guess I just haven't encountered too many books where it seems like the ghosts can actually make physical contact with the living. I guess I can chalk it up to that fact when all is said and done. But a fictional book is still a fictional book, so I can't say that it was unbelievable that the ghosts could toss people across the room. So don't think I'm baffled at the laws of physics and such when it comes to fiction...I'm merely adding up what I've learned from other fictional books! Lol. So yes, I need more books where ghosts can do things like this with what feels like ease!
I truly felt Hendricks' pain in this one! I was devastated when Eddie died at the end last time. He was such a wonderful character and I loved seeing his development, however short it was in the first book. I wish we could've had more time with him but alas, it's just one of those things. I was, I guess, somewhat baffled that Hendricks' parents seemed even less involved this time around then last time. They were in and out in the first book but this time it just seemed like they were gone most of the time and even Hendricks' baby brother didn't seem as present either. I mean, I know these were her stories, but she's still a teenager, so I guess I thought her family would be a tad more present, especially after everything that happened to her last time around. But again, Hendricks kind of had to be on her own for the story to work. But yeah, definitely noticed that slight difference.
All in all, this was yet another wonderful ghost story! Many exciting things happened, new secrets were uncovered and revealed, that a mystery or two! Plus all the chills and thrills! Omg, so many times this book had me jumping and gasping! It was quite the exciting read and I devoured this one so quickly because I did not want to put it down for anything! Thank goodness for weekends! Lol!
If you are wanting to read something super creepy this spooky season then look no further than Danielle Vega! You can pretty much pick up any of her books and get a good old fashion thrill, but nothing's spookier than a good old fashion ghost story complete with haunted houses and graveyards!
Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars
