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Writer's pictureVanessa Bettencourt

YA Horror Amusement Park YES! MALICIA



My review

Book Tour... stop... theme park...



My review: 5

Love the cover and their names as titles of each chapter. The font is very pretty.

Teens decide to go to an abandoned theme park where an unexplainable massacre occurred a few years back.


At first, I thought this was going to be one more for the genre, but this author pushed the tropes and the classics, adding new layers and giving a refreshing spin.


Things I can't resist: haunted themed park, group of characters (different personalities) trapped and trying to survive, the author adds more by giving them secret goals.


There is a reason why these teens are there. They think they are in control, but each one has a dark goal to accomplish. Another favorite element is the paranormal, where evil exists, materialized, and the novel doesn't have what I call a Scobidoo ending. Thank you, author, for that.


The novel is a bit longer than I wanted, but there is a lot happening, and all characters (the teens) have their own chapters and POVs. In the beginning, it's hard to keep track of who is who because they all narrate in the first person, but soon we understand well who is who and their individual "missions."


The author explores a lot of folklore and horror lore, giving the Dominican version of famous creatures (for example: werewolves), making it rich in legends, darkness with demons, and horror from the culture. He adds a lot, so there are a lot of different creatures.


The teens have a very honest way of talking with curses and expressions, not in English.

Satisfying end for YA.






❓️Would you go to a haunted-themed park? Or


Current read





Book Info:

Malicia by Steven Dos Santos

Genre: Young Adult Horror/Fantasy

Publishing Date: June 4, 2024



 

Synopsis:

Four friends, three days, two lovers, and one very haunted theme park

On a stormy Halloween weekend, Ray enlists his best friends Joaquin, Sofia, and Isabella to help him make a documentary of Malicia, the abandoned theme park off the coast of the Dominican Republic where his mother and brother died in a mass killing thirteen years ago.

But what should be an easy weekend trip quickly turns into something darker because all four friends have come to Malicia for their own

Ray has come to Malicia to find out the truth of the massacre that destroyed his family. Isabella has come to make art out of Ray’s tragedy for her own personal gain. Sofia has come to support her friends in one last adventure before she goes to med school. Joaquin already knows the truth of the Malicia Massacre and he has come to betray his crush Ray to the evil that made the park possible.

With an impending hurricane and horrors around every corner, they all struggle to face the deadly storm and their own inner demons. But the deadliest evil of all is the ancient malignant presence on the island.

Content Warning: death, grief, murder

 

Book Links:

 

About the Author:

Steven dos Santos is author of THE TORCH KEEPER novels, a Young Adult Post-Apocalyptic series. Book One, THE CULLING, was released by FLUX Books in March of 2013, and named an American Library Association 2014 Rainbow List Top Ten Selection. Book Two, THE SOWING, was released on March 8, 2014. Steven is currently finalizing Book 3 of The Torch Keeper series, THE RAISING. His new novel, DAGGER, a Young Adult Paranormal Espionage Adventure, was released by Evernight Teen in September 2015! Steven is a Team Member of We Need Diverse Books and is represented by literary agent, Lynnette Novak of The Seymour Agency. Steven graduated from Florida International University with a B.S. Degree from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications Television Broadcasting program and also has an MFA in Writing from Spalding University. He is an adjunct English Professor and a passionate advocate of LGBTQ+ rights.

 

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