Scan barcode
A review by marvelouspyt
Scream Site by Justina Ireland
3.0
Scream Site is a young adult novel detailing a teenage girls search for the truth. Sabrina Sebastian is a freshman student with a passion for journalism, hoping to score an internship with a local paper. For the internship application, Sabrina has to submit a original published article but she doesn't want to submit a puff piece that she has written for her high school paper. Her best friend, Evelyn, suggests writing about an urban legend of sorts about a website owned by popular Hollywood directors dedicated to finding this next big horror movie director. The premise of the site is for budding directors upload their own horror short films and for visitors to vote on their faves. According to the rumor, there are a group of teenaged girls that have gone missing after uploading their videos. Sabrina decides to check out the rumor and finds clues tying the missing girls to the website. However, her cop uncle doesn't think there's much merit to her findings and doesn't take her seriously. At least not until Sabrina's sister, Faith, goes missing after posting her own video.
What I liked about Scream Site:
1. The book was not very long and can be easily read in one sitting. Due to work and school, it did take me a few days to read it but not because it wasn't interesting or too long.
2. The story did lag a bit in the beginning but eventually gained speed and keep it. Once the story really got going, I was intrigued and was disappointed I had to stop reading to "adult"!
3. The diversity of the characters was refreshing. It was nice to not have a white main character as it is so rare in YA. The fact that there wasn't a love story intertwined with the mystery was also refreshing. Having a story where the girl is focused on the task at hand with no distractions of a hot guy left the focus on Sabrina and the mystery she was trying to solve.
4. The end but will touch on that more later
What I didn't like about Scream Site:
1. The Asher character felt random. It was as if he was just a prop that feed Sabrina a little information here and there.. He could have been more developed as a character and could have even been a help to Sabrina but the character just kind of hung there. Plus there was no real closure for his character. HE was once considered a "person of interest" but he might have only gotten a total of about 3 pages of "screen time". While I appreciate Asher not being a love interest, I feel he could have been more than just a "prop".
2. I have a love/hate reaction to the ending.. I liked that there was a twist to the story and the "bad guy" wasn't expected; however, it was rushed and too neatly closed. I'm glad that the "missing" girls were found before any real physical damage could be done but the How & Why left much to be desired.
In conclusion:
Scream Site is a decent read that I would recommend for reluctant readers or those who want a quick and/or easy read but that's about it. This is the type of book for a casual reader or someone who reads on infrequent occasions, not an avid reader.
What I liked about Scream Site:
1. The book was not very long and can be easily read in one sitting. Due to work and school, it did take me a few days to read it but not because it wasn't interesting or too long.
2. The story did lag a bit in the beginning but eventually gained speed and keep it. Once the story really got going, I was intrigued and was disappointed I had to stop reading to "adult"!
3. The diversity of the characters was refreshing. It was nice to not have a white main character as it is so rare in YA. The fact that there wasn't a love story intertwined with the mystery was also refreshing. Having a story where the girl is focused on the task at hand with no distractions of a hot guy left the focus on Sabrina and the mystery she was trying to solve.
4. The end but will touch on that more later
What I didn't like about Scream Site:
1. The Asher character felt random. It was as if he was just a prop that feed Sabrina a little information here and there.. He could have been more developed as a character and could have even been a help to Sabrina but the character just kind of hung there. Plus there was no real closure for his character. HE was once considered a "person of interest" but he might have only gotten a total of about 3 pages of "screen time". While I appreciate Asher not being a love interest, I feel he could have been more than just a "prop".
2. I have a love/hate reaction to the ending.. I liked that there was a twist to the story and the "bad guy" wasn't expected; however, it was rushed and too neatly closed. I'm glad that the "missing" girls were found before any real physical damage could be done but the How & Why left much to be desired.
In conclusion:
Scream Site is a decent read that I would recommend for reluctant readers or those who want a quick and/or easy read but that's about it. This is the type of book for a casual reader or someone who reads on infrequent occasions, not an avid reader.