The Merciless by Danielle Vega

"The Merciless is chilling. Think Mean Girls meets The Exorcist."—MTV.com Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page of this thrilling debut novel. Fans of Asylum by Madeleine Roux and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will devour this terrifying series. Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream. Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed. Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls...unless she wants to be next. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us? “Pretty Little Liars fans, get a sneak peek at your new favorite book The Merciless…a nail biting thriller.”—Seventeen Magazine

Summary:

The daughter of a military mom, Sofia only stays at a school for a couple of months or years at a time before she has to pack her bags again. Sofia has just started at her new high school, and on the first day of school, Sofia is already becoming friends with the popular group and the outcasts. This book is a serious case of “Mean Girls” meets “The Craft,” which is something that many readers have already pointed out.

Sofia befriends Brooklyn, the local weirdo — at least, that's what the popular girls call her. Riley, Alexis and Grace (religious popular girls) get close with Sofia and convince her that Brooklyn is doing black magic. They tell Sofia that Brooklyn is in dire need of their help — and for the sake of her well-being, she needs an exorcism.

From there, the torture and craziness start.

Final Thoughts from my notes:

Though I enjoyed the book, and I'll probably read the sequels I wouldn't say this is my favorite series or book. I'd rather borrow them from the library than buy paperbacks, for sure. I liked the author's writing because it was easy to visualize what was happening — show us, don't tell us. But at the end of the book, I was ready to read something else. The Merciless was a page-turner, but it isn't something I see myself reading religiously — lol.

I'm not sure if I'd recommend this book. Maybe I'd recommend it to someone who is starting to get into reading and is into paranormal horror stories. I wouldn't recommend this book in general though — I didn't think it was that great.

THIS BOOK HAD ME SO SPOOKED NO THANKS BUT ALSO GR8

this is so fun! i might continue reading the series idk

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was very well done and I can't wait for Vega to release another book.

Things I liked:
- How well written the gruesome scenes were. It made me absolutely terrified and my heart was racing at times.

Things I disliked:
-The characters were so deranged that they seemed almost unrealistic. The girls performing the exorcism were delusional for thinking that it was ok to torture another person and call it an exorcism.

Overall:
-This book is very obviously a YA horror novel. It is like what Rachel said, “Mean Girls meets the devil.”

If you are squirmish towards horror I would not recommend this book. If you are not a fan of reading something that has satanic ideas I also would not recommend this book although there isn't much satanism in this novel I still wouldn't recommend if you don't like reading anything about that topic.