Schasm is an incredibly intense psychological thriller/ fantasy/ new adult romance...yeah, that about sums it up.  Nineteen year old Chloe has essentially been a prisoner in her own house since she was seven years old due to a psychological condition that doctors can only describe as " temporary fugue-state dissociation."  This intense day-dreaming is where Chloe 'drifts' into another place and possibly another time, but she can feel, get injured, interact and fall in love with people just like in real life.  Chloe's mom takes her condition to the extreme, rarely letting her leave the house and eventually placing her in an institution.  

The idea of 'drifting' really intrigued me in this story.  More than dreaming, but having your consciousness be in two places at once.  At first, the worlds that Chloe drifts to seem to be nothing more than intense dreams or made up worlds, no thanks to Chloe's mom who abuses her to get her out of her drifts. Then, the drifts turn into something more, it was a little hard to follow towards the end with worlds upon worlds and things happening in the drifts affects reality.  It was a little difficult to get to know Chloe's character since she has not been allowed to have a life other than in her own drifts, but as Chloe drifts more and begins to interact within her drifts and control her drifts, she begins to develop. I also didn't mind that Chloe is a potentially unreliable narrator, l like that there are many possibilities of what is really going on in the story and not really knowing. I had absolutely no tolerance for her mother's abominable character, even after some background is learned.  The romance with fellow drifter, Alex was a little fast for me.  There was background there, but it needed a little more time to develop.  Without giving any spoilers, there are still a lot of questions that Schasm left unanswered at the end, so right now I'm going to hop directly into Fissure Free. 


This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

Fissure Free, the second book in the Schasm series picks up shortly after Schasm.  This book has an entirely different feel than the first, there is still a bit of mystery and thriller aspect, but most of it is centered around Chloe and Alex setting up as normal of a life as possible in their drift states.  In reality, they are chained up below a mental institution by Chloe's multiple-personality bearing and drift capable uncle, Franco. Franco is keeping them alive and in their drift state in return for information on the location of an object.  

Since most of this story takes place in Chloe and Alex's interpretation of Paris, it almost seems like a normal romance with a little bit of a psychopathic killer plot on the side.  Some of the psychological thriller was lost in this book for me. Of course, there's a lot more going on than that, but most of this book was Chloe and Alex solidifying their relationship.  Their romance still had an element of cheesiness to it which was very present in the first book, but now that they are living together more about each of their personalities comes out.  A lot more is revealed of Chloe's Uncle, along with a lot more questions,  and another family member is added to the mix.  While everything seemed a little more simplified in this installment, there are still questions to be answered from the first installment and the ending is a different kind of cliffhanger, so I will have to see where the third book goes.  

This book was provided for free in return for an honest review. 

This is exactly the type of supernatural thriller that I love (and I read in one sitting)!

Throughout history a patch of land in the quaint village of Oakwell has been cursed. 
1500's- A tribesman mysteriously kills all of his people and sets them, his village and himself aflame.

1800's- A stubborn business man insists on building a large house in the middle of the woods with the help of slave labor.

Present Day- Steve and Melody Samson are looking to escape from city life.  They find a cheap fixer-upper in the middle of the woods that Melody is drawn to.  Steve thinks it is plain old creepy.  As soon as they move in, Steve begins to hear strange whispering and is having nightmares.  The townsfolk are very reluctant to tell them anything about the house's history.  Can you hear the woods whispering for you?  If you can, it may already be too late...

I really enjoyed this ghostly thriller.  I thought the pace of the build of suspense was just right.  The plot was unique with the both fear of the supernatural and the natural.  The characters were believable, but definitely were making some weird choices (isn't that always the case with horror stories?)  The supporting character of Donovan gave me chills!

Whisper was received for free in return for an honest review. 

"They drove down the single track road in silence. Even the radio could no longer help, the signal fading to a static hiss in the bowels of the forest. As much as they didn’t want to, they switched it off, and finally there was just the sound of the trees to accompany them. It was against their every instinct to continue on. Every fiber of their beings told them to turn and get as far away as possible, and yet they knew it wasn’t an option."

I really enjoyed the first book of the Whisper Trilogy and I am really happy to have won the second book, Echoes.  The first book was doused in the suspense and mystery of what was in the forest, however, in Echoes we know what is going on and the driving force on the horror spectrum is the question: 'What will happen to Melody and Steve when they return to the Hope House sight?"

Seven years have passed since the horrific events that almost took Steve and Melody's lives.  Now they are struggling to pay bills and to live their lives with their young son.  The town of Oakwell, the sight of the infamous Hope House, is now a paranormal hot spot, gone are the idealistic mom and pop stores, now McDonalds and ghost hunter shops line the streets.  When Melody and Steve are approached to come back to Oakwell to be in a paranormal investigator show to take place in a brand new hotel on the Hope House site, they adamantly refuse.  The evil forces on the land won't let them get away that easily, though and soon they are blackmailed into returning to the one place they never wanted to go. 

Like Whisper's I enjoyed the blending of the fear from the natural and the supernatural in the book.  Even though there is not as much mystery in Echoes, there is plenty of suspense building with new construction on the site and Steve and Melody's return.  I was surprised to see the return of Donovan's character, but he did make everything worthwhile. There was plenty of gore and action in the last part of the book that made me keep reading on through.