The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen by Katherine Howe

Title: The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen
Author: Katherine Howe
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 15th 2015

Summary from Goodreads:

It’s summertime in New York City, and aspiring filmmaker Wes Auckerman has just arrived to start his summer term at NYU. While shooting a séance at a psychic’s in the East Village, he meets a mysterious, intoxicatingly beautiful girl named Annie.

As they start spending time together, Wes finds himself falling for her, drawn to her rose-petal lips and her entrancing glow. There’s just something about her that he can’t put his finger on, something faraway and otherworldly that compels him to fall even deeper. Annie’s from the city, and yet she seems just as out of place as Wes feels. Lost in the chaos of the busy city streets, she’s been searching for something—a missing ring. And now Annie is running out of time and needs Wes’s help. As they search together, Annie and Wes uncover secrets lurking around every corner, secrets that will reveal the truth of Annie’s dark past.

Review

The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen was unlike most books I have read lately. It is told through two point-of-views, Wes and Annie; it is not exactly alternating but instead the story is split into parts based on the POVs. The reader is introduced to Annie early on when Wes sees her for the first time at a psychic visit.

The pacing slows at times but the eerie storyline still kept my attention. The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen is a slow moving, slow building haunting story. Katherine Howe weaved a unique character driven ghost story all without explicitly coming out and saying it.

Parts of the romance are not my favorite, it took some interesting turns which in the end comes together but at times I felt like Wes was all over the place with his feelings. Aside from the romance, I really enjoyed the development and personal growth seen in Wes, as well as the underlying mystery throughout. The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen reminded me of a favorite of mine, Anna Dressed in Blood just without the horror/creepier supernatural aspects. I enjoyed this subtle but mysterious ghost story!

Stacking The Shelves (148) - October 31

Stacking the Shelves - hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews - features books that you bought, borrowed, rented from the library, received for review, etc.

Upcoming Reads

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Exposed (Captive #2)by Brighton Walsh
The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen
by Katherine Howe

 

What books are stacking your shelves??

Conversion by Katherine Howe

Title: Conversion
Author: Katherine Howe
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Release Date: July 1, 2014
Pages: 432
Source: BEA 2014

Summary from Goodreads:
It’s senior year at St. Joan’s Academy, and school is a pressure cooker. College applications, the battle for valedictorian, deciphering boys’ texts: Through it all, Colleen Rowley and her friends are expected to keep it together. Until they can’t.

First it’s the school’s queen bee, Clara Rutherford, who suddenly falls into uncontrollable tics in the middle of class. Her mystery illness quickly spreads to her closest clique of friends, then more students and symptoms follow: seizures, hair loss, violent coughing fits. St. Joan’s buzzes with rumor; rumor blossoms into full-blown panic.

Soon the media descends on Danvers, Massachusetts, as everyone scrambles to find something, or someone, to blame. Pollution? Stress? Or are the girls faking? Only Colleen—who’s been reading The Crucible for extra credit—comes to realize what nobody else has: Danvers was once Salem Village, where another group of girls suffered from a similarly bizarre epidemic three centuries ago . . .

Inspired by true events—from seventeenth-century colonial life to the halls of a modern-day high school—Conversion casts a spell. With her signature wit and passion, New York Times bestselling author Katherine Howe delivers an exciting and suspenseful novel, a chilling mystery that raises the question, what’s really happening to the girls at St. Joan’s?

Review

This book is undeniably well-researched and well-written. Even better, this story was inspired by real events, and I don’t just mean the Salem Witch Trials, but the modern day Mystery Illness too. I loved the in depth glimpse at both and the parallels that Howe made between them. It was really, really interesting.

I think I watched, rather than read, The Crucible back in middle school or high school. I am familiar with the Salem Witch Trials but not well versed on the subject. I’ve forgotten most of what I knew and didn’t have all of the history in the first place. That being said, I loved Howe’s rendering of this time in history. As a bit of a history buff, I loved learning about the events that unfolded and how everything escalated and spun out of control. It’s kind of crazy and sad really…

But the story takes time to build, which made for an ending that was much stronger and more exciting than the beginning. I couldn’t read fast enough when I got to the final 3rd of the book but the first 2/3rds didn’t completely pull me in. I admit that I wanted the book to move faster.

I’d recommend this book to fans of Historical Fiction, individuals interested in the Salem Witch Trials, or those who don’t mine a slower paced book. It really is a compelling story in that regard.