Review: The Bargaining by Carly Anne West

The Bargaining by Carly Anne West
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: February 17, 2015
Purchase: Amazon

The fact that neither of her parents wants to deal with her is nothing new to Penny. She’s used to being discussed like a problem, a problem her mother has finally passed on to her father. What she hasn’t gotten used to is her stepmother…especially when she finds out that she’ll have to spend the summer with April in the remote woods of Washington to restore a broken-down old house.

Set deep in a dense forest, the old Carver House is filled with abandoned antique furniture, rich architectural details, and its own chilling past. The only respite Penny can find away from April’s renovations is in Miller, the young guy who runs the local general store. He’s her only chance at a normal, and enjoyable, summer.

But Miller has his own connection to the Carver House, and it’s one that goes beyond the mysterious tapping Penny hears at her window, the handprints she finds smudging the glass panes, and the visions of children who beckon Penny to follow them into the dark woods. Miller’s past just might threaten to become the terror of Penny’s future…. 

My thoughts:
This was CREEPY!!!  Like The Ring, The Conjuring, and Children of the Corn creepy and I loved every minute of it!  I have been on the look out for a book that puts the creepy first and everything else on the backburner and The Bargaining does this flawlessly!

Penny having just been shipped to live with her dad after another incident at school learns she has to endure a summer with her stepmom.  The summer will bring renovations on an old house and hopefully a new beginning for Penny.  She isn't happy about her situation, but she goes and well things get extremely strange from there.  The whole town refuses to help them and before long Penny realizes things aren't what they seem.  Four kids went missing in the exact woods that her new home for the summer is located.  These four kids miraculously showed back up six months after their disappearance only nobody could figure out where they went and what really happened to them.  Somebody knows though and through flashbacks and a terrifying mural Penny finds out just what happened in the North Woods.

I had chills pretty much the entire time I read this.  It was scary, intense, spine tingling, and at times really gross.  And yes I loved it!  The only thing that felt off was Penny's friend Rae. I know Rae was a huge part of Penny's story I just don't get how she fit in at the end.  I would have preferred a different conclusion to her part.  Everything else in the story fit, but her.  Even at the time I was reading I kept thinking where does she fit in and when the big bomb dropped I just felt like it was a jumbled mess.  I didn't need her in that part and I felt like Penny really didn't get to resolve her feelings.

Other than that though I loved this.  I really liked Rob, Penny's stepbrother, and I even liked Miller.  I would love to have one extra chapter to see what Miller's life was like after his decision.  I am really curious how that all played out, but I can use my imagination to fill in those blanks.  I have a feeling if I did get that last chapter I would be terrified to sleep at night!

If you are looking for creepy then you have to give this one a try!  Carly Anne West is a master at this genre and I am definitely going to read the rest of her books!

4 snowflakes