Review: Possessions by Nancy Holder

Title: Possessions
Author: Nancy Holder
Publisher: Razorbill
Pub. Date: 2009
Genre: YA
Main Themes: Spirits, Popularity, Hauntings, Possessions, Friendship, Love
Pages: 295
Plot (from back cover):

possessions: me

one standard-issue map of the creepy Marlwood campus

one army jacket that screams "I so don't belong here."

a ton of Qs - like what's up with Mandy and her twisted pranks?

possessions: them

everything (personal chauffeurs, ponies, Greek Island villas, the list goes on)

Troy. the guy who saved us at the Operating Theater the other night. gorgeous. untouchable. He belongs to Mandy

countless stories about some ghost in the lake. haha, guys. very funny.

New girl Lindsay can't figure out what's oing on with popular Mandy and her followers. And what Lindsay doesn't know can hurt her. Long ago, someone at Marlwood made a grave mistake - and girls died because of it. Now spirits who were silent for two hundred years have waken up. These spirits need to take possession. And they must have their revenge.

Possessions was a quick, creepy read that I liked overall, but I felt lacked depth in some aspects.

I thought that Nancy Holder did a great job of building tension and mystery around the evil elements of the plot line. Lindsay's past mixed with the boarding schools mysterious and deadly history mixed well. I liked not knowing if something sinister was really happening or if Lindsay was imagining everything. I really didn't know what the truth would be until I finished the book.

My one major complaint is about the characters and their friendships. Lindsay names her roommate as her best friend, but I didn't feel that the relationship was very believeable. After all, these two girls had just met and really didn't seem to have much in common. I could see Lindsay being protective, as she is older, but the sudden closeness wasn't believable.

I also didn't really think it was necessary to paint the popular girls as rich. The back cover notes this fact, but it was kind of irrelevant information. The girls were creepy and controlling - their socioeconomic status wasn't really that important. It wasn't something that really mattered in the grand scheme of things, I just felt like that could have been edited out.

I did like the romance, even though it was only a minor part of the plot line. Holder didn't focus on Lindsay's romantic interest all that much, but I thought it was a cute side story.

Ratings (out of 10):

Plot: 9

Characters: 8

Writing: 10

Romance: 10

Originality: 9

Total: 46/50 (A-)

I'll definitely read more of Nancy Holder's books. I'm not sure if there is a sequel to Possessions, but I would love to see what happens to Lindsay next.