Second Verse by Jennifer Walkup

Second Verse

by Jennifer Walkup

288 pages

Publisher: Luminis Books
Release Date: October 1st, 2013
Rate: Loved it

Bad things come in threes. In Shady Springs, that includes murder.

Murder Now

Lange Crawford’s move to Shady Springs, Pennsylvania, lands her a group of awesome friends, a major crush on songwriter Vaughn, and life in a haunted, 200-year-old farmhouse. It also brings The Hunt: an infamous murder mystery festival where students solve a fake, gruesome murder scheme during the week of Halloween. Well, supposedly fake.

Murder Then

Weeks before The Hunt, Lange and her friends hold a séance in the farmhouse’s eerie barn. When a voice rushes through, whispering haunting words that only she and Vaughn can hear, Lange realizes it's begging for help. The mysterious voice leads Lange and Vaughn to uncover letters and photos left behind by a murdered girl, Ginny, and they become obsessed with her story and the horrifying threats that led to her murder.

Murder Yet to Come

But someone doesn’t like their snooping, and Lange and Vaughn begin receiving the same threats that Ginny once did. The mysterious words from the barn become crucial to figuring out Ginny's past and their own, and how closely the two are connected. They must work fast to uncover the truth or risk finding out if history really does repeat itself.

Second Verse is what I like to call a creepy, supernatural read with murders, a haunted house, mystery, a relationship bound to happen and a wrenching and unexpected finale. 

Jennifer Walkup did an excellent work. Her story starts as a regular one, with a school, teenagers, celebrations for Halloween and The Hunt, an infamous murder festival where students solve a fake, gruesome murder. Everything that I just say, adds a spicy promise of creepiness in the story and a lots of scary scenes, however, it goes way beyond that.

The main character, Lange seems like a great girl. I mean, she definitely feels something for Vaughn, but she doesn't want to hurt her friend, Stace, who looks like has it bad for him, too. And I really liked her personality and how she reacted to every situation. 

Vaughn was simply amazing. He's everything I was hoping for when I started reading this book and I read about Lange and Vaughn. He is all the time there for Lange and I couldn't help but fall for him and to include him in my Unofficial Fictional Boy's list. 

What makes this book memorable is not only the level of creepiness and scary scenes that made me jump like I was seeing a movie and not reading a book, but the story is rooted in the past, bringing new and scary discoveries and entangling the story in the present even more.

And the ending was something I wasn't expecting at all. My level of "I-Can't-Believe-It" cannot even be measured. I wouldn't change a thing, well, maybe when Lange passes out. It was not the perfect moment to pass out and it stressed me out, because I wasn't sure if it would be a happy ending or a "I'm-gonna-cry-for-weeks" ending. I definitely won't tell you which one it is, 'cause you'll have to find out, Book Addicts!

I promise you, guys, that you are gonna love this book. Right now, this would be my perfect pick for a Halloween read, but since Halloween is long gone, I'd have it in my "TBR Halloween List" for next year and re-read it again! 

Full of mystery, creepy and scary situations that would make you close your eyes, an epic love story with more than one lifetime to make it unforgettable, swoony and desirable and a murder that would ravel their beliefs and would blow your mind!

When Jennifer Walkup isn’t writing or reading, she’s spending time with her husband and young sons, listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers, and coming up with costume ideas for Halloween. She’s obsessed with good coffee and new recipes and likes broccoli on her pizza, flowers in her hair, flip-flops on her feet, and the number 13. A member of SCBWI and RWA, Jennifer also serves as fiction editor for The Meadowland Review and teaches creative writing at The Writers Circle. Second Verse is her first novel.

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