Summer of Fear by Lois Duncan

Title: Summer of Fear

Author: Lois Duncan

Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Acquired: Received free for an honest review

Age Group: Young Adult

Grade: 82% or B-

From the moment Rachel's family takes in her orphaned cousin Julia, strange things start to happen. Rachel grows suspicious but soon finds herself alienated from her own life. Julia seems to have enchanted everyone to turn against her, leaving Rachel on her own to try and prove that Julia is a witch. One thing about Julia is certain-she is not who she says she is, and Rachel's family is in grave danger.

My Thoughts::
When I read the description to a book like this I always get apprehensive. There is no way for a mystery book to include a description without giving a little away. So right when I picked it up I knew what I was basically in for. Unfortunately this made is hard to read. I hate stories where one character gets turned on for no reason and it is someone else's fault why it is happening.

I enjoyed the book but I also had a few problems with it. I couldn't really follow Rachel's train of thought. There wasn't much proof that Julia is a witch until she admits it. Also, a lot of the proof that Rachel did had was way too coincidental and convenient. The truth is though, even though we knew Julia was bad, she wasn't targeting Rachel as much as the description led me to believe. Sure, she did some things to her, but she wasn't actively trying to turn everyone against her.

Julia was a really bad person! Thankfully, she was supposed to be. We're supposed to be hating her along with Rachel and figuring out the whole mystery. The mystery, by the way, is pretty freaking good. I did not expect the outcome of it all, but looking back all of the clues were there. I'm not sure why I didn't figure it out sooner, but I'm glad that I didn't.

The novel flowed pretty well, and dull moments were few and far between. The characters were decent but maybe a little flat. I really liked the epilogue at the end of the book, like I usually do. I'm, not a reader that likes everything left up to my imagination, sometimes I just like to know hat happens next.

Overall I thought that this book was a true mystery that has you rooting for the main character throughout the entire book. I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a short summer mystery that will keep you guessing.