Paranormal Pick: After Obsession-Guest Review

After Obsession

Carrie Jones and Steven E. Wedel
Bloomsbury
288 pages (the arc is 288 pages; actual page count may be different when published)
Available: Sept 13, 2011

This is the cover of the arc; the final cover may be different.
(guest reviewer: Leslie Rush, high school teacher instructional coach and avid ya reader)


Aimee Avery is finally getting past her image as a freak. The whispers surrounding her mother’s mental illness and suicide have died down, at least publically. Privately, Aimee still struggles with unanswered questions about her mother’s unusual abilities, which she seems to have inherited. Aimee has dreams that sometimes come true, and hands that sometimes can heal. But no one needs to know about that.

And no one needs to know that sometimes Aimee hears footsteps and smells her mother’s perfume, and that she wonders if she inherited her mother’s mental illness, along with these abilities. Especially now, when the small Maine town is still reeling from another tragic drowning. Aimee’s best friend Courtney has lost her father, and refuses to believe he is dead.

Enter Alan, Courtney’s cousin from Oklahoma, who comes with his mother, Courtney’s aunt, to help the family. Alan is half Navajo, and besides his athletic good looks, has some unusual abilities of his own.
The attraction between Alan and Aimee is almost instant, and feels like destiny.

But an evil force is lurking, rising through the river from the depths of time, gathering strength to unleash its destruction throughout the town. Strange shadows, mysterious sounds and smells, and growing tensions grip the town.

Courtney emerges as the target of this malevolent, ancient spirit. Aimee and Alan must figure out how to save Courtney before the evil possesses her completely, and destroys them all. As they battle to save her soul, and their own lives, they will confront questions about good and evil, and love that can transcend death itself.

Told by both Aimee and Alan, in alternating chapters, this book has a good ear for authentic teen dialogue, and family relationships.


Recommended grade 8-up; age 13-up. Some PG language, sexual situations.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this arc from the publisher and my good friend and fellow wannabe writer and fledgling reviewer Leslie Rush offered to review this book for me. Leslie wants to start her own blog and review books for publishers. I encouraged her to try her first review, and this is it! Way to go, Leslie!