All her life, seventeen-year-old Chessie has had recurring dreams about a little white farmhouse. Quaint? Not quite. The house is the site of the unsolved murders of Villisca, Iowa, where eight people were slaughtered in 1912. With her parents on the verge of divorce, Chessie is stuck spending the summer with her grandparents in Villisca—right across the street from the axe murder house.
She’s …
She’s soon hearing voices calling out for help and begins unraveling a link between herself and the town’s bloody history. And when she falls for a cute boy harboring a big secret, the pieces fall into place as she at last discovers the truth of Villisca’s gruesome past…
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When I read the blurb, I had to see the inside of the book as well.
And wow! The book was even more intriguing than the blurb … in fact, I completely could not put it down. I read this in one sitting, absolutely unable to take a break until I knew how it turned out.
It stars characters who, though teenagers, aren’t just conveniently wise and mature beyond their years. The FMC has maturity and wisdom but also thinks very much like a teenage girl. The MMC’s situation is explained and I won’t get into it here due to spoilers. My point is, the author is brilliant at character development.
The book packs young love, deceit, corruption, mystery, just the right amount of supernatural elements, small-town feel, and more. There were a couple little details that could’ve been explained better and the lack thereof did make think it was convenient. This in no way takes away from the reading experience, I’m only mentioning in order to explain why I’m rating this 4.5 stars instead of 5.
Epic read. I hope to read more from this author.
I was able to borrow this one from my library … hoping they get her other works!
4.5 stars.
Note:
I read the audiobook and absolutely recommend this narrator. 5-star performance, perfect voice for a young adult.
I loved this book. Being from Iowa and having visited the Villisca ax murder house I understand and know the story of the family and the two girls that were staying the night that were murdered by someone in 1912 with an ax that has never been solved. It’s a sad and haunting story and you help maybe someday they’ll be able to prove who actually did these murders. This story was inventive, refreshing and well written. I would recommend this book to everyone.
Seventeen-year-old Chessie has had lifelong recurring dreams about a century-old mass murder that occurred in the house across the street from her grandparents. When its ghostly victims call out to her, she unravels a link between herself and the crime, and will have to trust a cute boy harboring a big secret in order to bring closure to the victims. An easy read with some romance and some paranormal activities. I recommend this book.
Well written. Haunting. Even the inst-romance felt right.
sounds good ideas girl and I liked her it’s about a sort
Welcome to another Off Theme Review, my lovelies! This week’s read was an utterly fantastic Young Adult ghost story from Entangled Teen by one of my Speilburg Literary Agency sisters in arms! As many of you know, YA reads are a bit of a struggle for me. However, Rachel Rust’s 8 Souls was superbly handled. The characters were believable for their age—not overly adult or painfully young—and their interactions and relationships felt true to the high school age group.
I was, to be quite honest, blown away by the descriptions in this book. Ms. Rust did a wonderful job of showing over telling, and there was more than one time I got literal goosebumps while reading her words. I also had to turn a light on because ain’t no way I was reading this in the dark!
This was a genuinely enjoyable read. The pacing was on point, the characters were relatable, and the plot drew me in. I sat down to read it and, as I said, had to turn a light on because day turned into night and I couldn’t put the thing down! And don’t get me started on the twist… I didn’t see it coming, and that was such a delicious little treat! It’s not too often an author manages to trick me, but I was left agape over this one.
I would absolutely recommend this to any lovers of YA. It is an exceptional example of adolescent characters written to be adolescent characters. (That is one of my biggest pet peeves, in case you can’t tell, and Ms. Rust left me very pleased with her portrayal!) I think many urban fantasy and paranormal lovers would enjoy this as well, even if they aren’t big YA fans. And while it’s billed as a romance, I would definitely say it’s more of a subplot than anything that takes center stage. Ergo, I wouldn’t recommend it to those who are specifically seeking romance, but it’s a great read for those who aren’t big fans of the genre.
I was looking for something different to read that I haven’t read before and found it in 8 Souls by Rachel Rust. This book has a mixture of mystery, paranormal and horror in one for a Young Adult book.
The main character Chessie is forced to stay in a small town called Villisca, which is located in Iowa for a while until her parents handle their divorce. Chessie though is not looking forward to the visit since her recurring dreams/nightmares are about the town or specifically about one house. This house happens to be across from her grandparents’ house, and it had a gruesome murder there back in 1912. Eight people were slaughtered, and the killer was never caught. Now Chessie is at her grandparents’ house, and she’s starting to see and hear things in her closet. Her summer at her grandparents’ house may become her worst nightmare, or she could finally find out why she keeps having the dreams about the gruesome murder of eight people. She’ll end up making friends along the way that believe her and want to help her, but can they be trusted.
I was immediately intrigued by the story since it had a mystery to solve with the murders and who killed them back in 1912 and why Chessie had dreams about it. Along the way the author threw in twists and turns I was not expecting, which is why I kept turning the pages until I found out the truth. Poor Chessie though went through a lot in this book for a seventeen-year-old. She witnessed a lot too. I enjoyed where the author went with the story though. I won’t go into details since I could end up spoiling something and I don’t like spoilers.
If you are looking for something different to read that involves nightmares, ghosts, murders, kidnappings, and secrets than this book is for you, it is a Young Adult book, so it will not have any steamy moments. It will have some sweet moments though between the main character and a particular character who she ends up meeting.
The only thing that bothered me about the book was how quick it wrapped up at the end. I wanted more. Now, though I’ll be checking out other books that Rachel Rust has wrote since I’m always looking for new authors to add my TBR and auto-buy list.
Story Rating: 4 stars
Standalone or part of series: Standalone
Do I recommend this book? Yes. If you are a fan of Young Adult with Mystery and Paranormal elements.
Will I read other books from the author? Yes
Tropes/Elements: Mystery; Murder; Paranormal; Kidnapping