Book Review of "The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall"

By Deann Corbett

January 26th, 2018 - Greenville, New York Arts and Culture

               The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender was not one of the best books I have read, but it has a good plot and it was well-written in a way that kept the reader intrigued throughout the story.

The story opens with the protagonist, Delia, her sister, Janie, and her parents driving to the house she inherited from her recently deceased grandmother. When she arrives they realize that the house that has been given to Delia is actually an old home for ‘troubled’ girls. After Delia explores around the house, she realizes something is not right and tries to leave but instead gets attacked by smoke, which kills her and traps her inside the house. She wanders around the house until she finds a music box on the second floor in which she sits and listens to for years until her sister and mother show up again. The house shows interest in Janie, and the smoke starts attempting to attack her. Delia must stop the house and protect her sister with the help of her friends.

There are many messages within this story, but the theme that I seemed to understand was the idea that change starts with you. Delia was inactive against the house for the majority of the book, but once she decided to become active, others helped her with defeating the house.

I rated this book 5/5 and would recommend it to teenagers that like horror stories.