Monahan, Hillary. Mary: The Summoning. Disney Hyperion, Sept. 2014
Horror isn’t usually one of my favorite genres, simply
because too often it seems silly rather than scary or trite rather than
original. And Mary: The Summoning could
have easily fallen into either the trite or silly category, based as it is on
the premise of the Bloody Mary urban legend/slumber party game. But it doesn’t. Instead, author Hillary Monahan takes her
source material and weaves a tale that is genuinely creepy with characters who
are authentic, interesting, and relatable.
Mary is one of the most intriguing examples of young adult horror I’ve
read in recent years.
Shauna, the story’s narrator, is a part of a group of four high
school friends who are encouraged/cajoled/badgered by group leader Jess
McAllister into attempting to summon the ghost of Bloody Mary in a bathroom
mirror. Like Shauna, Kitty and Anna are
somewhat reluctant but intrigued, and the attempt is made. And, to their great surprise, Bloody Mary
herself appears in the mirror. Be
careful what you wish for, they say, you just might get it.
But once isn’t enough for Jess. “It was supposed to be a cool thing,” Jess
says later, “but it went weird.” Weird
is an amazing understatement for the horror that Shauna’s life quickly becomes.
The next summoning attempt is both a success and a disaster. Mary appears again, but this time she is
stronger and much more dangerous. Shauna
is more than physically hurt when Mary escapes the mirror; she’s haunted now,
by an angry specter that can appear anywhere there is water or a reflective surface. And she not only wants Shauna; she wants her
to suffer…and everyone she knows is suddenly at risk. And Shauna is desperate for help, and
answers.
But Monahan is careful to make Mary more than the villain of
the piece. How did this young woman from
nineteenth century New England become the monster in the mirror? And if Mary died in 1864, why do the legends
of her hauntings not begin until the 1960s?
Letters written by Mary to her sister, letters about a young girl
bullied and abused by the church pastor and others in the church, offer
glimpses of a sweet young heart driven to madness, perhaps even dreams of vengeance? But how did Mary die? And where does her power come from? Like Shauna, the reader needs the answers,
needs to understand how this could come to be.
Is Mary a demon or a victim? And
can solving that mystery help Mary, and Shauna, find peace?
Mary is brilliantly paced; the story moves quickly as events
unfold in a few short days. Supernatural
horror mixes seamlessly with teenage relationship drama, family relationships,
and negotiating high school. Shauna is
an excellent narrator, an authentic teenage voice trying to hang on to sanity
in the midst of a situation which makes no sense, but which must be endured and
raged against if she wants to survive. The
supporting cast – Jess, who is keeping secrets that may prove deadly; Anna,
quick to blame and anger, but still willing to fight to help Shauna; Kitty,
distracted by her on and off relationship with football hero Bronx but firmly
on Shauna’s side; and Cody, the last girl/woman to successfully summon Bloody
Mary, whose willingness to help is tempered by a fear of Mary reattaching to
her own life – all surround Shauna with actions and opinions that both help and
hinder her fight to find the answers that will free her from Mary’s bony grasp.
If I have a complaint about this novel, it’s the fact that
it doesn’t end; it just stops. Yes, I
realize that the Book 1 subtitle implies that it’s part of a series. I like series. But, I like authors who write series books
like J. K. Rowling. I like books where
each volume is both a complete story AND part of the larger story arc. As a reader, I need a sense of resolution,
some kind of closure to feel the author gave me at least part of the
answer. Cliffhangers annoy me on
television, but they’re worse with books because book 2 may be a year or more
away. That’s a long time to wait for
resolution, especially since book 2 may lead to book 3…or book 7.
But, I confess I will be eagerly watching and waiting for
Book 2, because I do want to know what happens next. Monahan convinced me to emotionally invest in
her story and her characters, not merely Shauna and her friends but in Bloody
Mary too. I want to know what happens
next, and that, in my mind, is the proof of a story well-told.
ARC received from NetGalley.
