[Series Review] Experiment in Terror, by: Karina Halle

EXPERIMENT IN HORROR

by: Karina Halle

   

  

   

Format: Kindle Edtion

Total of Pages: 3,761

overall rating:

Before I start talking about this incredible series, have you heard the song called "Big God" by Florence + The Machine? If not, go hear it and then come back to this review. I basically read this whole series with that song ON REPEAT. Now I cannot hear the song and NOT remember some scenes in this series.

I have said before that I am not a person who likes things that make me afraid. I don't see scary movies and I don't read scary books, but I had to read this series. Something was calling me. Something was telling me that I had to because it was going to be a hit in my reading habits. Damn, that voice was right. I might still not watch scary movies, but scary books are another deal now. I'm not afraid of a lot of things, but when you have a wild imagination and the description is good, things get scary. But no matter, KH got me through thanks to her romance and the "what the fuck is going to happen now" thing.

Backpedaling to what the story is. Perry Palomino is not a normal girl and everyone knows it. She's afraid of herself because of the things she can see, hear and do. Yes, she sees the dead people and even when she admits it, she still thinks she's crazy. Her best moment in life is when she bumps into Dex Foray. If she thought seeing ghosts was crazy, he will bring her insanity... the good and bad kind. These two embark on a journey of catching these "crazy" things on camera, in a show called Experiment in Terror. These two will find things that want them dead, and other things that just want them (which is way worse).

Almost every book in this series is settled in different places, such as New Mexico and Canada. But most of the plot spins around Portland and Seattle. In every book, there's a major problem that gets resolved at the end of that book, but the romance "problem" or the "out of this world" problem are not actually resolved until the last two books. I feel like the whole series was a rollercoaster, so I advise you to keep reading the whole series because the end is worth it. You may feel, in the middle of it, that you shouldn't continue because it's not going the way you would like, but have hope. KH puts you through hell just to give you the best heaven possible.

My favorite book of the series has to be Ashes to Ashes, I think. I cannot explain it without telling spoilers, which I will not offer. BUT the book I most hate the whole series was On Demon Wings and I cannot tell you how much I wanted to be over with it. I finished it in less than four hours, and let me tell you is not a short book (almost 500 pages). I hated what Perry went through, but what came out of all of it was something worth reading it as fast as I did.

Also, I have to admit that I was not interested AT ALL in reading most of the novellas/short stories in this series. I only read The Benson because it was really short and it went along with the timeline. The others were about things that already happened (that I had no desire in reading again in another perspective) or things that I was left better without knowing. I know myself, so I stayed away from those. Maybe you should read it, but I just couldn't.

It might not be part of this series, but I also read Veiled. Perry has a sister, Ada, with the same "powers" as hers, so obviously, KH had to write about her. But I read that she might actually give up on giving her, Ada, a full series so reading this book was disappointing. The end is happy but things don't get an actual end. Is sad to let the series go like that, but there's nothing I can do. I liked the whole vibe of Ada and Jay, so obviously I wanted more, but oh well.

To conclude all this [review], I have to say again that this series opens a window for me to read more "scary" stuff. Meaning stuff like ghosts, and maybe even demons, but no more. This gave me the idea that KH should write more scary stuff like this. It doesn't mean her cont-rom books aren't good because they are, but I loved how she wrote these books and this genre needs good authors like her (totally making this comment without a base because I'm not an expert in the genre). Whatever the case, the series was perfection and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Here is a snippet, because you just need to read how Dex and Perry act:

    "Is that why you like me?"

    "Who said I liked you?"

    His eyes shone playfullly, turning his irises a deep cocoa. "That's why I like you, you're a challenge."

    I folded my arms and leaned back on one leg. "Oh, so that's why..."

    "Well, that and your ass."

    My cheeks flamed. "Thanks."

    "And your breasts."

    "Got it."

    "And what's between your-"

    "Dex", I warned, cutting him off.

    He grinned and stepped toward me. He took his hand of out his pocket and ran his finger down the length of my nose. "What's between your gorgeous eyes... your cute little nose."

        --- Into the Hollow

That's my piece, bye.