Title: Possess
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 384
Goodreads

Summary: 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.

How much did I love this book? Let me count the ways… Okay, I know, cheesy. But seriously… I’ve been in such a rut the past few weeks that I was discouraged. I didn’t want to start anything because I was afraid I’d be disappointed with how it turned out.

And after a string of meh-so-so books, this was a complete turn-around. It had everything I like in a book: a main character that didn’t annoy me, humor, cute boys, romance and a kickass story. Which I wasn’t sure about at first… Though I’ve always been a huge fan of supernatural paranormally type stuff, especially when it comes to Angels and Demons and possession, I had yet to find one that actually interested or intrigued me. When I was a kid, my brother and I had a huge love for horror films and even though most times they scared the crap out of me, I still wanted more. That’s what this book was for me. It wasn’t particularly frightening, but there were some seriously creepy moments that definitely had me looking into dark corners looking for shadows. Or talking dolls…

Let me tell you a little about what happens. Our MC, Bridget, is still reeling from the death of her father when she discovers she has the ability to communicate with ghosts. Specifically: demons. After learning about her ‘ability,’ she sets off on a journey of discovery: about her power, about herself, about love… and about what really happened the night her father died.

There are a few moments that are a bit predictable. There are a few points where Bridget’s immaturity shines through (but come on, she’s fifteen for goodness sake), but there were so many other highlights for me that it didn’t even matter. I enjoyed the ride and I didn’t want it to end. Sadly… it did, but it ended well. No cliffhangers! No questions! A real life beginning, middle and end! I’ve started to think authors don’t know what those are anymore… Of course, the possibility for a second novel was left open (which makes me happyhappyhappy), but I’d be fine if there wasn’t one. (Even though I would love to see more demon buttkicking and of Bridget and Matt together)

Bridget was a little badass with a sharp tongue and great wit, she had me laughing and crying and cheering her on. There’s one line in the status updates I posted that still owns me right now. It was seriously perfect.

And the boy… Matt Quinn. God, he was sweet. And I still can’t get the picture of him in the fedora out of my head. What is it about a damn fedora that’s so appealing? His feelings felt genuine and real, and I may have swooned more than once at his persistence for Bridget’s attention (definitely need more closet time in book 2, just throwing that out there).

It wasn’t just them, though. There were so many great characters in this book. Sammy, Bridget’s little brother. Hector, her gay best friend. Sergeant Quinn, Matt’s father. Fumbly little Father Santos. Poor, poor Peter Kim with the crush. Loved them all.

It’s been a while since I’ve thrown out the five-star rating, and in this case, I feel the book deserved it. If for nothing else than it really renewed my love for young-adult fiction at a time when I didn’t think there was a book left out there that would have everything I wanted in it. I hope you decide to give it a chance and read, and even if you disagree with how much I loved it, I’ll be happy if you take the chance.

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