I tried reading this and despite how many attempts I made i was unable to fully immerse myself in the reading. Whether from writing style or a lack of interest in the plot/characters I'm not 100% sure, but this was, unfortunately, a book I didn't care to finish reading.

This really should have been a shorter book.  There is so much buildup but then the ending comes rushing in and is condensed to the very last part of the book.

I tried reading this book but sadly I didn't make it very far while reading this book. I think that the different point of views made it a bit difficult to understand . I usually love this author's books and I hoped that this one would work out for me.

A chillingly bizarre tale that only Cyn Balog is capable of.
Readers will quickly become enthralled by the mysteries of this dark and chilling thriller. Seda is an interesting protagonist that readers will want to keep peeling back the layers to to get to the bottom of the mysteries. The ending was fabulous and leaves reads pondering over everything they know. It is not 100% black and white, which works perfectly for this type of book. 
An easy binge-worthy read.

A copy of the book was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

Oh but this was a twisty little read!  Fast paced, quick amd easy, it slid down like a perfect guilty pleasure.  Just when I thought I had seen the twist coming, it surprised me by turning the other way and looping around.  

It took me back, reminiscent of some of the gritty young adult books I read in my younger days, where everything doesn't turn out hearts and rainbows and love triangles.  

Absolutely worth a read!

Books like this are what makes me love the YA genre so much. This is was a gripping page-turner. It was so well-written and unfolded at the perfect pace. A great nail-biting reading experience.

This is the perfect set-up for a chilling tale -- an isolated mansion in the mountains, a lonely teenage girl with an oblivious family, and an unwelcome group of visitors trapped by an impassable blizzard -- and Balog puts its familiarity to good use, gradually building tension, manipulating reader expectations (through clever use of classic horror references), and subtly winding from one possible horror to another. She sets up several possible endings, yet still manages to end with a shocker. This mix of Clue, The Shining, and a host of other horror and slasher films could have been cliched--instead it felt surprising.

So creepy and I loved that! The characters were all fun, diverse and engaging and the setting was just so creepy - which sets the mood right from the get-go. Loved the twisty, freaky plot. Overall, great read!

Loved the twists and turns, bloody scenes, and scary parts!  Fun, crazy characters and a creative plot make this a fun, colorful, action-packed read that keeps you guessing till the end.  The setting alone is scary enough to create lots of emotion and ghosts coming out of the walls.  The snowstorm also adds to the thrilling scenes.  Teens will love the diverse cast and ways the story flows and changes.

This is my first book I have read by Cyn Balog. I have to say it had me going from the beginning. She convinced me multiple times of what she wanted me to believe. Seda is a teenage girl who once had a twin, a twin who she still talks to. When her family gets stuck in the mountains trying to sale an old murder house. Seda feels safe and more relaxed, alone and secluded her brother has been quieter. That is until some teenagers show up out of the blue needing a place to stay out of the storm. Then the games begin but what is the truth and who will have to pay to find it. 

This story was such a good and quick read. Once I started it I didn't want to stop. It convinced me of a different "truth" a couple different times. The Scavenger hunt and the twists and turns along the way made this a different story from what I have read previously and I loved it. I want to read more from this great author.

What made me pick this book up: 
I was looking at books we need to review and the cover combined with the title definitely caught my eye.

What did I like about the cover: 
It's kind of creepy looking. Gives you kind of a freaky feeling when looking at it. What's behind the door? What's hiding?

What made me read this book: 
Well. We needed to review it. 

But besides that it sounded great. 

First of all, a horror themed hotel?! Yes please! I need to go like NOW. 

And it's a horror book. I love horror. 

What did I like the most: 
First I loved reading about all the things in the horror hotel. It sounded amazing. I loved hearing about the props, the stories, the things they did. I want to go to one so bad now! I didn't even ever think those kinds of things could exist.

The story was good. An aunt and uncle dies. They're the ones who owned the hotel. So when they died they gave it to Seda and her family to fix up and do what they want with it.
The mom doesn't want to sell it to someone who is just going to turn it around and make it a regular boring hotel. So they decide to stay there for now. Seda is alone with her mom and her siblings. Her dad had left and they don't know where he went.

Well one day before a blizzard a couple teens get stranded there. They invite them in. And they find out it's Halloween, and Seda's birthday is the day after Halloween. Her mom decides to throw her a murder mystery/scavenger hunt birthday party.

That's when **** hits the fan. People start dying. No one knows why or what's happening.

The ending was really good. You have absolutely no idea what's real, what isn't. You're constantly questioning yourself and your thoughts and what's going on. 

This book wasn't really the horror book I thought it would be. More like a thriller. It did have blood and gore and obviously murders in it. But I didn't get scared. I just had to find out what was really happening. 

The characters were written well. None of them were particularly annoying. They didn't make me want to roll my eyes or hit someone. So there's that at least. 

And I love her little siblings. There's a fake intestines that was from the murder hotel and they like to sleep with it. Like a stuffie. It's fantastic. 

What didn't I like: 
It took about 2/3 of the book before something finally started happening. It took a lot of build up a lot of explaining and back story and then it finally started to get good.

I wish that it would have started happening sooner instead of taking over half the book. 

Oh and I figured out kind of what was going on pretty quickly. However, it did have me questioning myself. So that was a plus.

But that's really the only thing I didn't like. And it's not even that it was slow or anything, the pace was good, for the most part. 

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Yes! 


This was a really interesting and crazy read, Quick but left a great impression.

I'm really uncomfortable with the way mental illness is presented in this book, as well as the fact that I do not enjoy the writing at all. I won't be recommending this one.

Creepy, creepy, suspenseful book. My lovers of horror will gobble this one up even as they ask me questions because they read it too fast. Careful reading is required, but hard to do because it is so suspenseful.

really great idea for a book. Cyn is great at keeping you guessing and throwing something at you from left field. The tension racks up and knocks you on your side.

When Seda's mom inherits an old murder-mystery-themed mansion, Seda and her family trek to the Appalachian Mountains to clean it up in order to sell the secluded property.  What they didn't bank on was Seda's mom falling in love with the place and refusing to sell it to anyone who wouldn't uphold its macabre tradition.  This The Shining-esque obsession drives Seda's father back to Boston and leaves the rest of the family struggling to find a sense of normalcy amongst the fake severed limbs and grotesque architecture.  Seda has a struggle all her own, too -- the twin brother she "absorbed" in the womb, as her mother puts it, keeps invading her thoughts with evil.  When a group of teenagers Seda's age are stranded at the property, Seda just knows something bad is bound to happen.  There is evil lurking at every corner, and Seda doesn't know if it's coming from outside the mansion walls, or within herself.

Thoughts:  Balog's Alone channels suspense and horror in a way I haven't seen in YA since R.L. Stine's Fear Street series.  Alone has all of the staples of a great horror story -- scary and original setting in a secluded area, the stereotypical yet 21st century-updated teens (cough, GoPro, cough), and a main character with a dark backstory and even darker secrets.  Throw in a murder mystery experience that turns all too real, and readers are treated to one heck of a creepy ride.  And just when you think it's all over, you'll find a sentence or two that will have you hearing evil laughter long after you've turned the last page.  Beware, readers:  Alone is one book you won't be able to forget...

**Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley in exchange of an honest review**

This was a quick read and I think it's really suited to a shorter novel.. Although it started out slow, I was still intrigued by the story for the most part and it held my attention in the sense that I wanted to figure things out.

Overall I liked it, it wasn't the best book ever but I enjoyed it.

I'm sorry but this really wasn't for me. It took a long time for anything interesting to happen and the explanation/ending came all of a sudden in the last couple of pages.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

This was an okay book,  I was not blown away, but I did not hate it, either.  It was a pretty quick read with a good storyline.  I just couldn't really get into this book.

Now this was a very well thought out horror and suspense novel! The creepy build up of terror and the unreliable narrator, as well as the spooky mansion setting. Sheer delight for me and should be the same for other horror fans!

I had this book on my "to read" list for so long and decided to finally read it after a friend suggested it. What was I waiting for?!? This book was great! I was a bit concerned after reading the first chapter or so, but the storyline quickly captured my attention and I was hooked