REVIEW: Possess by Gretchen McNeil

Author: Gretchen McNeil

Pages: 384

Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal

Publisher: Balzer and Bray

AMAZON: Possess

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.

REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars

Possess follows the story of 15 year-old half Irish/Chinese Bridget Liu who has recently lost her father, has few friends and considers herself a social outcast. She also has the rare ability of being able to cast out demons through banishment or exorcism.

Since discovering her new found powers, the only person who she has been able to confide in is her school Chaplin, Monsignor Renault, he guides and mentors her but it isn’t until new arrival Father Santos comes onto the scene that she discovers the history, past and reasoning behind her ability.

There are a number of spooky moments, mystery, secrets and confessions along with a blossoming romance between Bridget and the local sheriff’s son, Matt Quinn happening in Posses, it is a fascinating story with a number of twists and turns that really keeps the story flowing nicely.

I really liked Bridget as a character, she was feisty, kick-butt and confident. Matt the love interest was charming, persistent and tolerant despite her sarcasm and her need to constantly push him away. I have been tired of reading about instant-love relationships in the YA genre and found the slow build-up between Matt & Bridget to be a breath of fresh air; the romance was there but didn’t take away from the main storyline.

I really enjoyed each of the secondary characters and was saddened by what happened to poor Peter Kim, he was so love sick over Bridget; I felt sorry for him. Her brother Sammy was sweet and there were some great laugh out loud moments with her best friend Hector.

I enjoyed Ms McNeil’s easy flowing writing style and the solid, engrossing plot. I am not sure if Possess is part of a series but think there are still many opportunities to be explored in the world she has created.

I look forward to reading more books written by Gretchen McNeil.

Obtained: Unleash