Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Summer's End


Just in time for Halloween, Lisa Morton's Summer's End is a spooky thrill ride! The author herself is the main character of the story, which I thought was very clever. She is an expert on Halloween and is called upon to consult on an ancient Druid manuscript circa 350 C.E. The manuscript sheds light on the true nature of Samhain, which our holiday of Halloween is largely based on. Lisa's belief system is challenged, as the manuscript reveals that all the myths surrounding communion with the gods during Samhain are, in fact, real. She tries one of the spells and finds that it really works and thus is swept up into a real life Halloween adventure to try and appease the dark god "Bal-Sab" and restore peace and balance to our present day world.

This is a very enjoyable, horrific story that kept me on the edge of my seat until the end. SPOILER ALERT! The ending disappointed me the first time I read it, and I originally planned to complain about it in my review. I had wanted something spectacular to happen, but after complaining to my husband and then rereading the end aloud to him (to make my point!), I decided it is an appropriate ending because the uncertainty of this time we live in is part of what makes it so hard to deal with. Lisa protected her own integrity by backing out of the human sacrifice part of the ritual, but she is never completely sure that she made the right decision or if she should have weighed the fate of one individual as insignificant compared to the fate of humanity. She also is not sure whether Conor will find some way of completing the ritual without her and wonders if some day she will wake up to a more peaceful world as a result. This really causes the reader wonder, what if…

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror or who wants to learn about the history of Halloween.

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