The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman (thoughts)

The Waking Dark was one of the creepiest, darkest books that I have read in a long time!  Wasserman creates a thriller that not only gives the reader chills but also makes you think about the society that we live in.  This is one of those books that sticks with you, and I've been thinking about it every since I finished.  Wow!  This was a really good read but quite disturbing!

I don't want to give too much away so I'm going to use the Goodread's summary for this book:

"They called it the killing day. Twelve people dead, all in the space of a few hours. Five murderers: neighbors, relatives, friends. All of them so normal. All of them seemingly harmless. All of them now dead by their own hand . . . except one. And that one has no answers to offer the shattered town. She doesn't even know why she killed—or whether she'll do it again."

How eerie and dark does that sound?  Oh my goodness, it was all of those things and so much more!  The tension and suspense begin from the very beginning in this novel and continue to build the further it goes on.  Before I knew it, I was so wrapped up in this book that I just couldn't put it down.  I had to see what was happening and even more importantly why it was happening.  The author creates this menacing atmosphere that just creeps up on you, and it doesn't let up until the last page.  I couldn't help but imagine if this could really possibly happen.  And scarily enough I suppose that it could.  I know that I'm not giving you a lot of details but I just don't want to spoil this book for anyone.  This is a book where it is best to be experienced without knowing much about it.  I think that it makes the reading experience that much more unnerving.  I really appreciated the ending of this book as well because it didn't just tie everything up in a bow.  I liked this book that much more because of it!

Overall, this book was spine-chilling and one of the best young adult books that I have read recently.  It is books like this that make me glad that I'm planning on reading more YA this year.  I will definitely be reading more by this author because wow!  Just wow!  She managed to really blow me away with this book so of course I want to read more.  And I will!  I'm just curious to see what she comes up with next and if it will be as scary as this book was!  I could see this one being made into a movie (which I would definitely want to see).  Highly recommended to fans of horror and dark thrillers!

Bottom Line:  A chilling read that is both dark and terrifying!  Read it!

Disclosure:  Checked out from my local library!  What a great choice!

P.S.- I saw that this author has been compared to Stephen King and what a compliment!  I have to agree on the fact that they both used horror in a way that makes you think about society as a whole.  Nicely done!