Title: Spirals
Series: Mary Hades (set before Bk#0.5)
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Ghosts,Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: 4th May 2014
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The origin story of Mary and Anita in the fire. This novella takes place before My Daylight Monsters.
(Spirals is not yet available, but will be very soon!)
Series: Mary Hades Bk#0.5
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Ghosts,Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: October 2013
BLURB from Goodreads
I always thought my demons came out in the day, rather than at night. I’ve never been scared of the dark. I’ve only ever been scared of real things: getting ill, having injections, physical pain… death. Those are my monsters, not ghosts or vampires or whatever else can hide under your bed at night.
I was wrong.
The dark makes everything worse.
When Mary’s psychiatrist advises a short stay at a psychiatric unit, her worst nightmares are confirmed. How can she get better in a place that fills her with dread? When she meets the other patients, she begins to gather some hope, until she realises that the death toll in the hospital is rising without explanation. Something sinister stalks the corridors and maybe she is the only one who can stop it…
Mary has to confront the Things that she sees if they are to stand a chance. But will she survive a confrontation with death itself?
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
(My Daylight Monsters is also available within
Mary Hades The Beginnings Box Set)
Series: Mary Hades Bk#1
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Ghosts,Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: 4th May 2014
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Not many seventeen year old girls have a best friend who’s a ghost, but then Mary Hades isn’t your average teenager.
Scarred physically and mentally from a fire, her parents decide a holiday to an idyllic village in North Yorkshire will help her recover. Nestled in the middle of five moors, Mary expects to have a boring week stuck in a caravan with her parents. Little does she know, evil lurks in the campsite…
Seth Lockwood—a local fairground worker with a dark secret—might be the key to uncovering the murky history that has blighted Nettleby. But Mary is drawn to him in a way that has her questioning her judgement.
Helped by her dead best friend and a quirky gay Goth couple, Mary must stop the unusual deaths occurring in Nettleby. But can she prevent her heart from being broken?
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
(Mary Hades is also available within
Mary Hades The Beginnings Box Set)
Series: Mary Hades Bk#1.5
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Ghosts,Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: August 2014
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In 1997 Isabel Quirke sits down to write a letter to her sister. A letter she never intends to send. Within the pages of that letter she describes the frightening events that lead up to the disintegration of their relationship.
Susan Quirke, before she became Susan Hades--mother of Mary--goes through a transformation so extreme it changes her forever. Her younger sister Isabel can only watch.
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
(Sister is also available within
Mary Hades The Beginnings Box Set)
Series: Mary Hades Bk#2
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Ghosts,Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: 4th December 2014
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Mary Hades is drawn back into the world of the macabre as she moves with her family into the mysterious old house, Ravenswood. The mere mention of Ravenswood induces terror among the locals, and when strange things begin to occur, Mary and Lacey decide to get to the bottom of the secret hidden in the historic house once and for all.
As a dark power gathers, Mary finds her life becomes interconnected with the disturbing events that transpired in 1847 to eleven year old Liza Blair. The more Mary is drawn into Liza’s story, the more she realises someone close to her is in grave danger from the sinister energy at Ravenswood.
Set in the backdrop of an unsettling forest, and with strange neighbour Emmaline Delacroix obsessed with death and séances, Possess will take you even deeper into the murky depths of Mary Hades’s unusual life.
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
(Possess is also available within
Mary Hades The Beginnings Box Set)
Series: Mary Hades Bk#3
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Ghosts,Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: 6th October 2015
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My memories keep me awake at night. The nightmares come in the morning, when the first hint of sunlight creeps in through the curtains.
Summer is almost over, and now Mary Hades has to start a new school in the sleepy village of Ashforth. Making friends is tricky to balance with paranormal activity. Mary must tread carefully when a vengeful ghost haunts her first day at school.
With dead best friend Lacey, Mary finds herself in the middle of a tangled web of secrets and lies spreading through Ashforth. Things are not what they seem, but is it the dead or the living who are the most dangerous?
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
Series: Mary Hades
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Ghosts,Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: 20th January 2015
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From My Daylight Monsters, to Possess. This box set features two full-length novels, one novella and two short stories, all arranged conveniently for maximum enjoyment. Immerse yourself in the macabre world of Mary Hades, a YA horror series with a difference.
My Daylight Monsters (Bk#0.5) (Amazon bestselling Kindle Single):
I always thought my demons came out in the day, rather than at night. I’ve never been scared of the dark. I’ve only ever been scared of real things: getting ill, having injections, physical pain… death. Those are my monsters, not ghosts or vampires or whatever else can hide under your bed at night.
I was wrong.
The dark makes everything worse.
When 17-year-old Mary Hades is admitted by her parents to a psychiatric unit, her worst nightmares are confirmed. How can she get better in a place that fills her with dread? Her friendships with the other patients — her wacky roommate Lacey, her protector Mo, and the mysterious, green-eyed Johnny — begin to fill her with hope, until she realizes that people in the hospital are dying without explanation. Something sinister stalks the corridors, and it’s up to Mary to stop it. But the closer she gets to the answer, the more perilous her situation becomes, and Mary discovers the only way to get out alive is to confront the things that scare her most.
Mary Hades (Book One):
Not many seventeen year old girls have a best friend who’s a ghost, but then Mary Hades isn’t your average teenager.
Scarred physically and mentally from a fire, her parents decide a holiday to an idyllic village in North Yorkshire will help her recover. Nestled in the middle of five moors, Mary expects to have a boring week stuck in a caravan with her parents. Little does she know, evil lurks in the campsite…
Seth Lockwood—a local fairground worker with a dark secret—might be the key to uncovering the murky history that has blighted Nettleby. But Mary is drawn to him in a way that has her questioning her judgement.
Helped by her dead best friend and a quirky gay Goth couple, Mary must stop the unusual deaths occurring in Nettleby. But can she prevent her heart from being broken?
A spine-tingling tale with romance, readers will be shocked and entertained in equal measure. With some scenes of horror and some strong language, this book is best suited for readers aged fifteen and up.
Shadow - A short story
When Mary visits her Aunt Izzy's remote seaside bungalow, past and present collide. She soon realises a dark shadow hangs over her childhood memories, leaving her a task she would rather not complete... A haunting ghost story that explores the delicate relationships between women.
Sister - A short story
In 1997 Isabel Quirke sits down to write a letter to her sister. A letter she never intends to send. Within the pages of that letter she describes the frightening events that lead up to the disintegration of their relationship.
Susan Quirke, before she became Susan Hades--mother of Mary--goes through a transformation so extreme it changes her forever. Her younger sister Isabel can only watch.
Possess - Book Two
Mary Hades is drawn back into the world of the macabre as she moves with her family into the mysterious old house, Ravenswood. The mere mention of Ravenswood induces terror among the locals, and when strange things begin to occur, Mary and Lacey decide to get to the bottom of the secret hidden in the historic house once and for all.
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah grew up in the middle of nowhere in the countryside of Derbyshire and as a result has an over-active imagination. She has been an avid reader for most of her life, taking inspiration from the stories she read as a child, and the novels she devoured as an adult.
Sarah mainly writes speculative fiction for a Young Adult audience and has had pieces of short fiction published in the Medulla Literary Review, PANK magazine, Apex Magazine and the British Fantasy Society publication Dark Horizons. Her short story ‘Vampires Wear Chanel’ is featured in the Wyvern Publication Fangtales.
Sarah mainly writes speculative fiction for a Young Adult audience and has had pieces of short fiction published in the Medulla Literary Review, PANK magazine, Apex Magazine and the British Fantasy Society publication Dark Horizons. Her short story ‘Vampires Wear Chanel’ is featured in the Wyvern Publication Fangtales.
AUTHOR LINKS
MY REVIEWS
Series: Mary Hades (set before Bk#0.5 so Bk#0.4 maybe?)
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Ghosts,Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: 4th May 2014
BLURB from Goodreads
The origin story of Mary and Anita in the fire. This novella takes place before My Daylight Monsters.
Goodreads Link
INITIAL THOUGHTS
As I really loved reading the novella My Daylight Monsters I naturally put this one onto my Want To Read List. I wanted to learn more about the character of Mary before moving onto the novels too. To be totally truthful the whole ghost aspect of the book is not my usual genre to read but there's something about this series that is calling me to read it.
MY REVIEW
I was given a free copy of this novella via the author in exchange for my honest review. The cover of Spirals is bright orange which represents the fire that features in this novella's plot. The girl looking lost, I would say is Mary Hades. The fact the female on the cover looks somewhat lost and unhappy also fits well with the way Mary is reacting and the confusion and mood she is feeling in this novella.
So would the cover make me pick this book up from a book store shelf? I think the cover would interest me enough to pick up the book to read the blurb, which would then encourage me to purchase this novella. I think the cover really fits a possible scene within the plot, as well as representing the character Mary's emotions throughout the book too.
So I should now admit I read My Daylight Monsters before Spirals (it wasn't available at that time) though the author assures the reader Spirals can be read at any point during the Series. This novella is set before My Daylight Monsters so it is a pre-prequel. The main character in this novella is Mary Hades, the good geeky girl who goes to every class, dresses in whatever clothes she has to hand (so not a slave to fashion), doesn't smoke or drink, and whose father is already coaching her for her inevitable Oxbridge interview. However Mary changes when she becomes friends with Anita Bridgewater, a girl who Mary admires and wishes she could be more like. Anita is popular, wears trendy clothes and has a don't care attitude, she drinks and smokes if she wants to, skips class, and isn't afraid of talking back to the teachers. It's quite a coincidence how they meet in the school yard, and Anita invites Mary to go to the park with her instead of class. A small thing to Anita but a much larger leap for Mary who has never skipped a class in her life. They go buy chip butties and sit in the park and become friends almost immediately. Though Anita is confident she lacks the social skills that Mary takes for granted, whereas Mary is naive and Anita is streetwise. Though she may not show it Anita does immediately value Mary's friendship. The two girls share a drink of the bottle of gin Anita has inside her jacket. The problem with the girls friendship is that it involves Mary becoming more and more involved with drinking, smoking and skipping school. Some would say that Anita is leading Mary astray I guess, but on the other hand Mary has a mind of her own and though she questions her own actions a few times, she is the one who ultimately decides to go ahead and do all these things she knows that her parents would not approve of. The wagging (skipping school) and drinking increase with Mary using one of her more geeky friends Diana as an alibi whilst she sleeps off her drinking at Anita's house.
The other thing that is drawing Mary from the straight and narrow is Mike Parkinson, the guy she crushes on who hangs out and drinks with Anita and her friends too.
Mary's other problem is she keeps seeing zombies.....yes zombies! They are dressed in grey, have green tinged skin,brittle balding hair and a bloodshot eye. The first time it happens is in the classroom and the zombie manages to communicate via writing on the black board to Mary that something bad is going to happen. The second time Mary see's a zombie, the situation is even more dangerous. . .will she decipher the zombies message in time. . . who will survive? . . . who will die? And how will all this affect Mary?
I enjoyed reading this novella, learning more about Mary and how she went from high grade student to ending up in a psyche ward. I really adored the character of Anita too. The way she tries to match make her friends, whilst holding her own secret, which I didn't think of until it was revealed in the book. Anita's secret shows you a smaller, more vulnerable side to her loud larger character. I will admit I wasn't keen on Mike throughout the book at all, and I felt justified in this by the ending of the book too.
So did I enjoy the novella? Yes, I did, it gave me a more in depth view of Mary, how she had changed and why she was like the was she is. Would I recommend the novella? Yes, I think it would be an enjoyable read no matter whereabouts in the series you read it, as I said above it gives a more in depth view of Mary's character. Would I want to read more of this series? After reading this novella it has certainly encouraged me to want to read more of this series, even though if I'm totally honest I don't usually read much horror/ghost type books. Would I want to read other titles by this author? I do actually have more titles by this author on my tablet/kindle that I have purchased over time, that I intend to read when I can.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Wow! we learn a lot more about Mary Hades, no wonder she ends up on a psyche ward. What with the near fatal accidents, fires and seeing zombies, it's no wonder she thinks she is crazy herself too. Looking forward to reading both more of this series and more titles by this author. All I need now is 2 or 3 hours extra every day just to devote to my reading.
Ooo I also have to add I loved the Yorkshire-isms in the book too!
Series: Mary Hades Bk#0.5
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Ghosts,Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: October 2013
BLURB from Goodreads
I always thought my demons came out in the day, rather than at night. I’ve never been scared of the dark. I’ve only ever been scared of real things: getting ill, having injections, physical pain… death. Those are my monsters, not ghosts or vampires or whatever else can hide under your bed at night.
I was wrong.
The dark makes everything worse.
When Mary’s psychiatrist advises a short stay at a psychiatric unit, her worst nightmares are confirmed. How can she get better in a place that fills her with dread? When she meets the other patients, she begins to gather some hope, until she realises that the death toll in the hospital is rising without explanation. Something sinister stalks the corridors and maybe she is the only one who can stop it…
Mary has to confront the Things that she sees if they are to stand a chance. But will she survive a confrontation with death itself?
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
(Also available within
Mary Hades The Beginnings Box Set)
INITIAL THOUGHTS
I decided to read this novella as a distraction from another book I was reading and having problems getting into. I have been wanting to try reading something by Sarah Dalton for a while, I do have the first book in her The Blemished series sitting on my kindle awaiting me reading it. When I saw this novella and the first book of the Mary Hades series available on Netgalley I couldn't resist, so I requested them and received them within a few hours. I honestly don't usually read "horror" as a genre but there was something about this series drawing me to it. Which is why I decided to read the novella as an introduction to the series.
MY REVIEW
I received a free e-copy of this novella via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. The cover features a young female looking out over a field, with a rather stormy looking sky, flinging what looks like a wrap or shawl of some sort in the air. Would the cover make me pick up the book in a book store? I think I would pick it up to learn more about it.
The main character is Mary Hades, her parents are taking her to hospital. Both her parents and Mary are worried about her going into hospital they know she needs to go in because of how she handled what is referred to as an "incident", she hasn't been "right" since. Mary has "visions" and is naturally very scared of them. The visions come along in the day time too, not just at night. Mary is going to be staying on the Magdelena Ward whilst her medication is worked out. Mary meets the other teens on the ward who have a wide variety of "problems from Yasmeen and Anka who are anorexic, Helen, a depressed over eater to Natalie who regularly attempts to commit suicide, and some of the male teens are Frankie who just screams and screeches out for no apparent reason and Tom who has a borderline personality disorder. They all have their own issues that they are trying to learn to live with by spending time on the Magdelena ward at the mental hospital. The main nurse on the ward is Nurse Frances Granger, she attempts some humor to appear to be "down with the kids" on the ward. Mary's bag is immediately removed even though her mother insists that it doesn't contain anything Mary could harm herself with. The hospital still goes through the bag. Mary says a difficult goodbye to her parents with the promise she can just stay for the one week. Nurse Granger shows Mary around the ward, the community area, the therapy rooms, and the hatch where Dr Gethen hands out everyone's medication from. Then Mary is shown her room that she has to share with Lacey Holloway. Lacey is manic and talks non stop, never even giving Mary time to talk, not that Mary wants to talk.
Mary finds some of the other patients really odd, the way they are playing a game with chocolate and crisps as currency. Mo seems to be in charge of the game that is being played. When Mary asks more about it, she finds out that they are guessing about how many deaths there will be in the week. as the Magdelena Ward is opposite a palliative care ward. Mary thinks the occupants of Magdelena ward all seem to have a camaraderie and a morbid sense of humor, but Mary does fit in quite easily. I also enjoyed the interactions between Mary and Johnny, though I did guess what was so "special" about him before it was revealed in the novella.
As I have said previously within this review the book is very different to my normal reading, but I did find myself really enjoying it. Sarah Dalton's description of the dreary, gloomy looking hospital as Mary views it through the pouring rain really has you visualizing it. The detailing within the description of how her mum uses an umbrella in the rain, yet her dad just sort of hunches over and pulls his jacket collar up as men do when its raining heavy. I grew attached to Mary's roommate Lacey, the way she talked and talked constantly, making up for how quiet and withdrawn Mary can be.
So did I enjoy the novella? I really did enjoy the novella from beginning to end. The novella definitely made me want more. . Would I recommend the novella? Yes, even if you think it's not your usual reading comfort zone , give it a try. I wasn't sure I would like it with it being categorized as horror and I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Would I want to read more of this series? Undoubtedly yes. Would I want to read more books by Sarah Dalton? I am absolutely going to checkout her dystopian series called The Blemished as well as more of this, Mary Hades one too.
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