The Survival of Molly Southbourne

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: The Survival of Molly Southbourne

The world of Molly Southbourne has been torn apart. The farmhouse has burned to the ground and she is trying to start over. But her mind cannot handle reality anymore and imaginary mollies are following her every step. But the mollies aren't her only problem this time. The agency that once kept her safe is now trying to kill her and a woman named Tamara has taken an interest in Molly. Tamara swears she only wants to help Molly, but how much does she know? Can she be trusted? Molly must use everything she has learned to stay alive and try to piece together what is real and what is fantasy.

The novella had a strong start. Molly's memories and insecurities wage a war in her mind causing a psychotic break. The first book was the perfect build up to the explosion Molly must deal with in part two. Dealing with the years of guilt and constant anxiety takes its toll on Molly and she now has imaginary mollies to worry about on top of everything else.

Things start to go astray as Tamara is introduced. Molly ends up getting involved with a group of people who, to some degree, understand what makes her different. But instead of holding onto the macabre that made the first book so brilliant, it becomes more of a typical fantasy novel with big action scenes and fewer mind games. The story strays away from focusing on Molly and tries to do more of a big picture look at people who have the same ability. There just wasn't enough page time for this to affect.

By the end of this book, there was no closure on major events. It felt like the book suddenly stopped, leaving too much behind without an explanation. I think this one was a bit too overreaching and had too many subplots for the page count.