164. Creepover Book 1: Truth or Dare by PJ Night

Creepover Book 1: Truth or Dare by PJ Night
Published May 2012 Hachette


From the publisher:
During a round of Truth or Dare, Abby Miller confesses her crush on Jake Chilson. The only people who know her secret are her friends at the sleepover - and whoever sent her a text message in the middle of the night warning her to stay away from Jake...or else! But Abby isn't going to stay away from Jake, especially not after he asks her to the school dance. As the night of the dance comes closer, some very creepy things start happening to Abby. Someone definitely wants to keep her away from Jake. Is it a jealous classmate or, as Abby begins to suspect, could it be a ghost

I will again admit that it was the cover that made me want to read this book!  I know, I am terrible.  I am asked all of the time for ‘scary books’.  They don’t really want anything too scary, but just a little scary.  This new series will fit the bill, but as sleepovers are the theme, the books are aimed more at girls.  

In this first book, Abby confesses to her friends at a sleepover, that she has a crush on her neighbour and classmate Jake. Later that night things start to get weird.  Abby receives a text message from a number she doesn’t know telling her to “LEAVE HIM ALONE.  HE’S MINE!!! DON’T MAKE ME TELL YOU TWICE!” The message itself is creepy, but Abby is sure that she turned her phone off before she went to sleep.

This is just the beginning of the creepiness.  There are noises in the woods, the feeling that someone is watching her, a face at the window, emails from a dead girls’ email address and her new top being slashed, not to mention the lock of hair in her drawer.  There’s a good reason that Abby thinks that this could be the work of a ghost.  Last year Jake’s girlfriend, Sara, was killed in an accident, it looks as if she’s not ready to give him up!

It has all of the makings of a good girly ghost story, sleepovers, truth and dare, boys and jealous dead girlfriends!  I really enjoyed this book, more than I expected to.  As I was reading it I actually started to believe that there was an actual ghost.  I couldn’t see how else to explain what was going on?  I can’t say too much without giving away the ending, but I will say that I was happy with the way things turned out.

If the creepy cover and the Creep-O-Meter (this one is rated ‘Hide Under the Covers’) on the back of the book aren’t enough to entice those looking for a scary read, then maybe the ‘blood’ dripping from the top of the pages will do it for you, it’s not in colour, but it’s still blood!

Who will like this book: Girls age 10+

Read it if you like: Ghost stories