Title: The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall
Author: Katie Alender
Publisher: Point
Publication: August 25th 2015
Cover Rating: 5/5
The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall is a very good book to read around Halloween. It is creepy and suspenseful and has a mystery that needs to be solved. I have seen a few people saying that they couldn't enjoy the book because they couldn't get passed the guilt and sorrow that Delia's parents and sister must have felt. So let me say this. If you are extremely emotional and let your emotions block out your ability to read or comprehend then don't read this book. It annoys me that people are using that as an excuse to give the book a low rating. Just because you are overly empathetic doesn't mean you have the right to give anyone a bad rating. That is on YOU. Not the author.
Delia was a complex character. She was very misunderstood by her parents and she didn't know how to communicate very well with anyone. I do admit that her family was infuriatingly horrible towards her. They treated her like crap and her little sister got away with anything. Including blaming her for cuffing her to a bed. Her father got overly mad at the stupidest crap and there was no discussing anything with him. He just made me so angry I wanted to throw the book.
I found it funny that, even after death, groups still exist. You know how when you are in school and you see those groups of kids? Well, the ghosts acted like that. I don't know if it was like popular vs nerdy or whatever but I could tell that the bad ghosts were sanctioned off and the other two "good" ghosts were the popular kids. It is so weird to think of if like that but after thinking about the book for a while that sort of popped into my head. And like with every popular group, there was definitely a MEAN girl. Which proves that ever being ghosts doesn't change someones morals.
I loved Maria. She was so sweet and helpful and I am glad that Aunt Delia formed a bond with her. If it wasn't for that then I don't think Delia would have gotten as much information as she had about the house and the THING that was keeping all the ghosts there. But I also know that nothing would have happened if it wasn't for Delia being as brave as she was. Yes, okay, she was dead, but she could still get deformed and the house showed her many times that it didn't want her snooping around. I wonder if the house knew that Delia was more of a threat dead than alive. I doubt it would have killed her then.
I wasn't expecting the ending to be the way it was. It was terribly sad and I didn't think life could get much worse for a ghost. Delia's life didn't exactly "get worse" but she ended up losing her family and that was what she was holding on to the most. But on the other hand it was a good thing that she let go of them. Hopefully they can let go of her.
One thing that stood out to me was how did Aunt Delia survive in the 'house' as long as she did? I know over the years she got very smart about using salt and such but how did she survive long enough to acquire the smarts? Delia was killed on the first day. She didn't have any chance at all to learn how to guard herself against the onslaught of spiritual happenings. Was the house mad the Aunt Delia got away? Was it taking its anger out on Delia and her family?
Overall, I gave the book 5/5 stars.
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