Review: Return to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Title: Return to the Dark House

Author:  Laurie Faria Stolarz 
Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Publishing Date: July 21st 2015

Pages: 368
Genre: YA Horror

Series: Dark House #2
Source:  Hardcover 

 

Ivy Jensen survived the Dark House once, but can she make it out a second time?

Two months have passed since Ivy narrowly escaped the Nightmare Elf’s grip, but the memories of Parker, Natalie, Shayla, Frankie, and Garth continue to haunt her. Their killer is still out there—somewhere. The police trail has gone cold, though, and it’s up to Ivy to piece together the clues to find him.

When a cryptic video arrives in her inbox, Ivy soon finds herself back in the spotlight, this time on a twisted scavenger hunt through the dark, ancient halls of a long-forgotten Gothic school building. Ivy’s not alone, either. Taylor Monroe has returned to the scene. But can Taylor be trusted? Or is she another pawn in the Nightmare Elf’s deadly game?

Laurie Faria Stolarz crafts a mesmerizing thriller that will leave readers looking over their shoulders.

This is the second book to the Dark House Series. I am not sure if it is the last. I enjoyed this read, It was a great continuation of the first book. I was a tad disappointed. I felt it was missing the pow factor the first book had but it was still very enjoyable and flowed well with the first book.

Its been a couple of months since The Nightmare Elf had Ivy and her friends trapped, since the awful murders. Ivy misses her murdered friends. She wonders if its over, She wonders who the Nightmare Elf was. Then she receives a message, Her friends are alive. She thinks she knows who the killer is, and finds herself once again in the Nightmare Elf''s sick games. This time she has the help from Taylor. This time she will stop at nothing to find out the truth. 

This book was good. It felt a lot like the first one and that disappointed me some but it was still good for the slasher movie kind of read. There is lots of blood, lots of suspense, lots of craziness. So in that aspect I got what I was looking for. I do think it was missing a punch somewhere. Maybe it was just too similiar so nothing really surprised me. It did tie up the loose ends. It did flow smoothly with the first book. It did give me the chills and thrills and it did give me a new character that I really liked.

The story is much the same, just a continuation of the first book. This time its in the form of a scavenger hunt. Something I love to do... although not this kind.... so that was fun to read. This time it happens in a different location. An old school. There are diaries entries from the killer. That was interesting. All though its seemed to interrupt the flow of the story at times. There was a story with in the story. The killers past that unravels as the read goes on. That was interesting too. really messed up and brings to light that the killer is messed up for a reason. There is also more information given about Ivy's parents murder. So the story was a bit more complex than the first. This was good. I wasn't expecting that.

Ivy was the same character as the first book. Kind of closed off, fearful yet brave, now angrier than before because her friends were killed. She is also getting therepy... which she isn't very good at... well at least with following the rules. She only follows the rules from the Nightmare Elf. She was stupid many times in the book.... as goes the horror stories.... I didn't like her as well as the first but she had been through more so I could understsand her choices and her issues.

Taylor was a cool character. I wish there would have been more of her in the book, more of her point of view. She seemed a bit more level headed than Ivy. She lived with the guilt of taking off the first time so she is determined not to run this time and actually be of some help. She was not as solemn or closed off as Ivy and I liked her.

The ending... well it was an ending... but not all the way. It was left open again... So we will see if more comes out. 

I liked it and I would read more if more came out. Its a good Halloween read and a good anytime  horror read. 

Laurie Faria Stolarz grew up in Salem, MA, attended Merrimack College, and received an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston.
Laurie Faria Stolarz is an American author of young adult fiction novels, best known for her Blue is for Nightmares series. Her works, which feature teenage protagonists, blend elements found in mystery and romance novels.
Stolarz found sales success with her first novel, Blue is for Nightmares, and followed it up with three more titles in the series, White is for Magic, Silver is for Secrets, and Red is for Remembrance. The four novels in the "BIFN" series have sold over 500,000 copies collectively.Stolarz has also announced a graphic novel entry into the series titled Black is for Beginnings, which she published in summer 2009