Review: The Devouring - Simon Holt

Synopsis: Reggie Halloway, a mousy girl and avid horror fan, discovers a strange journal while working at an occult bookstore. Upon investigation, she learns about the Vours, horrific demons who feed on fear and take over the body, morphing its host into a cold, cruel creature. When, as a prank, Reggie and her friend Aaron attempt to summon a Vour, things go horribly awry and a Vour takes over the body of her little brother, Henry. Reggie then must battle the Vours to try to get her brother's soul back into his body.

The Devouring was my kind of book. As an avid horror fan myself, I couldn't put this book down. I finished it in two hours, although it is a short book. This is one of the most graphically violent books I've ever read. People vomit up their intestines, get beheaded, and dismembered, among other things. If the book was a movie, it would definitely be given an R rating. The main character Reggie is very strong willed, and will stop at nothing to get her brother back. Her relationships with the people around her are believable, and drive the story. I enjoyed the book, and can't wait to read the sequel!

The cover didn't really draw me in... I'm not a fan, but am glad that I didn't judge this one by it's cover alone.

Recommended if you like: Devilish, The Demon's Lexicon, Cirque Du Freak, The Demonata series