ARC Review: The Unleashed by Danielle Vega (Out July 7th)

You guys probably already know I’m a little obsessed with the work of Danielle Vega, so I was beyond stoked to receive an invitation to read the eARC of her new book, The Unleashed, from Penguin Teen. Thank you again so much to Penguin Teen for sending me this one – I love YA horror, but especially Vega and I’ve been looking forward to this title! I can’t wait to grab up my own copy when it releases on July 7^th.

So The Unleashed is the sequel to The Haunted, which you may have read my review on last year. Our MC had a pretty tough time enduring the shenanigans of Steele House in that book, and sorry to say, but the sequel isn’t going to be any easier for her.

Everything in The Unleashed begins when Hendricks and her very trendy friends try to summon Hendricks’s dead boyfriend from beyond the grave on the burnt out grounds of Hendricks’s former haunted residence—because, you know, that’s what teens in Danielle Vega books do.

Unfortunately, instead of summoning Eddie, our friendly neighborhood bad boy with a heart of gold, Hendricks, Portia, Connor, and the rest of the gang end up summoning something that’s just downright bad.

This sequel reads like a lot of the fun teen horror movies so many of us enjoy, with a supernatural twist. Think Ouija or maybe the first Unfriended. For me, the formula teens + séance/Ouija board/ghost hunting/supernatural investigation (or camping trip, but that’s a whole other thing unto itself that we will discuss at another time) + chaos ensues will always = something I’m interested in. Sign me up. I’m down.

The Unleashed has all those fun ghostly, supernatural, “what-did-I-get-myself-into” moments with a splash of 80s flavor as Hendricks summons a ghost from another generation and relives (sometimes literally) the dark traumatic, experiences of a girl named Samantha (yes, hi, hello) and her own brushes with evil. It tells the tale of a young man who kidnaps and attempts to sacrifice a young woman on prom night in order to obtain her medium powers, so it also has those classic teen movie prom feels. Everything about this book gave off those classic teen horror vibes from the 80s vibes to the ill-advised forays into summoning the dead to the glitzy prom setting to the scene where Hendricks pretends to be “touring” a mental health facility for her “uncle” in a fantastically trope-y ruse to gather information about Samantha and her past.

This is not a subtle horror—this is definitely more of a gore-y, ghoul-y type of horror. There were moments in this book that were dripping with cheese like the pizza in A Goofy Movie, but let me clear: I love some cheesy horror. While some have a staunch aversion to it, I’m always down for a little cheese.

Well, actually, I’m vegan, but you know what I mean.

As is usually the case with Danielle Vega’s books, I absolutely tore through this one. I started it one night and finished it the next day. I maintain that nothing compares to The Merciless or its sequels, but I always enjoy her books and make short work of them. They’re fun, ghoulish reads and I have no doubt I’ll be a returning fan. I think my favorite thing about The Unleashed was Hendricks’s realization that it may not be just Steele House that’s haunted—there really might be something else going on here. And it definitely left the door open for more books after this one.

And you know I’ll read those, too.

This is another four out of five for me—not a perfect five, kind of trope-y, but I love these books and I’m always interested in YA horror. I would definitely recommend these, especially for people who love modern ghost stories.

The Unleashed gets unleashed onto the public on July 7^th, so be on the lookout!

What does everyone think? Are you interested in more of Hendricks and the ghostly gang? Will you be picking up this sequel? Let me know in the comments! <3