welcome back folks!
in honor of the new year, i wanted to start reading a bit more. so, i’m starting a “chapter-a-day” style challenge! i honestly read articles and documents for work but be forreal—leisurely reading? yeah, full transparency, i’ve been slacking since high school.
anywhos, as a two-degree’d e-princess, i’ve taken on my first book of the year. It’s titled “The Haunting” by Natasha Preston. i’ve seen her name when i was browsing for books to buy (but not read). the intention was there, however my follow through was ass.
this particular novel has about twenty-eight chapters so it should get me through the month without getting too overwhelming.
being that i am about four chapters in, i wanted to do a recap or, maybe, a review…analysis? i’m going to talk about the book so far (el oh el).
so there may or may not be spoilers (probably). i’ve also done some shorter “recaps”on twitter that i may just expand here.
let’s get into it though.
The Haunting by Natasha Preston.
SYNOPSIS: Penny knows she must forget about her ex, Nash. Ever since his father was revealed as the brutal serial killer who traumatized their small town last Halloween, Penny’s parents have forbidden her to have anything to do with Nash or his family. It’s hard not to think of him—but she’s trying.
That stops when she goes shopping with friends for a costume. What she finds instead is ripped from a horror movie: someone from school bleeding out on the floor of a dressing room. Stabbed.
People are quick to blame Nash and his sister, Grace, but as Halloween nears and the body count rises, Penny can’t help thinking this copycat killer is someone no one else suspects. . . .
so in chapter one, i learned of the main characters. there’s our protagonist, Penny, who i envision as a high school, white girl in this small town where every one knows every one. Then there’s her best friend, Adi. Adi gives the same vibe. white girl in high school. however Adi jumps to conclusions quickly and Penny takes an issues with that later on.
the book reveals early on that last year, Penny’s ex-boyfriend’s dad went to jail for some serial murders throughout the town. allegedly he killed some high schoolers folks knew. the ex? his name is Nash. So his dad, named Jackson, is in federal prison however the only clue that was mentioned so far is his hair being at the scene.
(context: Nash also has a sister named Grace.)
the setting is near the halloween holiday and the town is prepping to celebrate. at the same time, they are remembering those from the tragedy last year. Penny is having a hard time though because of this underlying tension between her and Nash.
she didn’t even want to leave Nash. she was a victim of circumstances. of course, her parents are going to keep her away from bro and her best friend is going to, seemingly, side-eye him all the time.
as i continued reading, Penny and Adi have to get costumes. Penny was going back and forth on whether to text Nash leading up to this.
this is where shit shifts.
they go to the shop in town that everyone knows about for the costumes. the shop owner runs late, however once they get in to shop, Penny is unsuspecting of what she finds as she tries to meet Adi in a section of the store.
Penny literally bumps into a dead body, bleeding out by the way, as she tries to make her way to Adi through the racks.
of course, everyone freaks out. the police are called. and guess who was spotted in the cut, outside the shop? Nash.
apparently he wasn’t doing anything sus but Penny spotted him, thinking no one else had.
now why was my boy at the scene? everybody in the town swears Nash is a villain except Penny and his sister.
spotting Nash was finally the moment for Penny to go see him. She pulled up on him and wanted to know why he was in town pretty much. of course, it was awkward because of everything that went down.
following her visit, she texts Nash. they make plans meet up late because she knows he didn’t have anything to do with the body at the store. however, based on what and how they saw the body, Penny and Adi may have a theory about a “copycat” killer.
(context: the dead victim’s name is Noah and went to school with he main characters)
so the police, obviously, think the same thing but somewhat blame Nash automatically. this is because Penny (potentially) wasn’t the only person to spot Nash at the shop. She did warn him that they’d probably come for him.
and they did.
she pulled up on him again based on the news and the police investigating at the time. this time, he was in the back of a cop car and they were hauling him off. it has not be specified yet if they were taking him in for questioning or if he was actually arrested for the crime.
Penny was too late and ended up having a brief conversation with Grace. Grace doesn’t like Penny based on her “turning away” Nash last year. they talk and at the end of it, both of them are worried with a lot of questions.
did they arrest him? will he and penny still meet up following his spotting? i will report back soon, maybe after another four chapters? or so?
overall, the book is getting pretty good and i’m hoping to see where the paranormal shows up!
-g tha e.
BabyTalkTV 
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