Title: Mary: The Summoning
Author: Hillary Monahan
Series: Bloody Mary #1
Genre: YA Horror
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Release Date: September 2nd 201
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: eARC copy received from publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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There is a right way and a wrong way to summon her.

Jess had done the research. Success requires precision: a dark room, a mirror, a candle, salt, and four teenage girls. Each of them--Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna--must link hands, follow the rules . . . and never let go.

A thrilling fear spins around the room the first time Jess calls her name: "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. BLOODY MARY." A ripple of terror follows when a shadowy silhouette emerges through the fog, a specter trapped behind the mirror.

Once is not enough, though--at least not for Jess. Mary is called again. And again. But when their summoning circle is broken, Bloody Mary slips through the glass with a taste for revenge on her lips. As the girls struggle to escape Mary's wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships are torn apart, and lives are forever altered.

A haunting trail of clues leads Shauna on a desperate search to uncover the legacy of Mary Worth. What she finds will change everything, but will it be enough to stop Mary--and Jess--before it's too late?



I love horror books, especially in the YA genre. The funny thing is I HATE horror movies, so when I come across one in print form I always seem to gravitate towards it because I am in need of a good scare. Mary: The Summoning was a book that was on my radar because it has to do with the Bloody Mary myth that we all grew up, and yes I have tried it, and no nothing happened :)

I will admit that this this book was not the best horror book i have ever read, and yes I had a few issues with the overall book, but let me tell you think. This book is grade A creepy. I mean there were some parts that I read where I cringed because it was just so disgusting. I loved the fact that the myth surrounded a group of friends and because of what was happening t them it became a strain on their friendship. I think I liked that the most was how real the friendship seemed and how the arguments and strains seemed so real.The only aspect of the friendship that I didn't like was the fact that there was one friend that seemed to not care as much as the others and cared  more about herself than her friends and I wasn't a fa of that characters and therefore didn't connect with her at all.

I will say that Shauna, our narrator was a great one. I really enjoyed her take on the whole situation and I loved seeing how much she cared for others, which was a great and refreshing thing to read. There were times when I couldn't really relate to her on the level i wanted that meant that at times I didn't connect with the story overall. But I will say that the horror aspect of this book was bang on. I loved everything to do with Bloody Mary and what happened to those girls when they called upon her. I just know that after reading this book I will no longer be going into bathrooms and chanting her name.