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Phobic

(The Forbidden Doors #1)

Cortney Pearson (Goodreads Author)

4.04 · Rating details · 116 ratings · 56 reviews

Resistance is no longer an option.

My house has a secret. A secret kept behind a closed door. A secret that led my mom to commit murder.

Lately, the same secret has begun plaguing me. Voices ring out in the night. Visions appear of people dressed in sweeping ball gowns and elegant top hats, of quiet servants trapped in their love for each other, unable to be together becau ...more

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Paperback, 376 pages

Published August 28th 2014 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

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· 116 ratings · 56 reviews

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Jun 14, 2014 Anne Pfeffer rated it it was amazing

Piper Crenshaw is a fifteen year old girl with zits, a boy-that’s-a-friend who she wishes were a boyfriend, and a pack of mean-girl bullies on her case. Piper is completely ordinary.

Except for the fact that her mother killed a man and hid his body in their house. And the fact that their house is haunted.

In fact, Piper’s house is almost a character in this creepy, thrill-filled contemporary horror story. It alternates between protecting and terrorizing Piper, sometimes locking her in, other time ...more

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Jul 08, 2014 Morgan Shamy rated it it was amazing

Absolutely LOVED this book!!!!!!

Haunting. Intense. Romantic. Suspenseful. Compelling. I could go on…

I enjoyed this very much. Piper is a great main character, and it's really fun being in her head. The voice is great, the concept original. The house is SO COOL, because it's a character in and of itself. Just the right amount of creep/gore factor. I didn't think I could be a fan of horror, but the author does a fabulous job of balancing all the elements so it's not one-sided. Definitely five st ...more

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Jul 13, 2014 Reading Reindeer 2021 On Proxima Centauri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2014_reads, all-sci-fi-my-challenge, apocalyptic-dystopian-futuristic, a1-netgalley, a1-i-own-books, armchair-scandinavia, july-2014_reads

Review: PHOBIC by Cortney Pearson

Oh this book, this special, stunning, unstoppable, incredibly imagined, book! Can you tell how much I.loved it? I read it nonstop, truly. The characters are so.well wrought, and deal with amazingly realistic issues. Piper is a heroine of fine cattle, a girl stronger because of her turmoil.

And the horrors!!! I would categorize this as upper YA, definitely, for graphic descriptions ( and some implications). Ah, I'm ready to go read it again. ...more

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Jul 29, 2014 Tanya Pickles rated it it was ok

Shelves: netgalley

I have no idea why this book got such high scores.

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Jan 27, 2015 Veronika rated it really liked it

Shelves: ghosts, romance, dark, young-adult, death, paranormal-or-fantasy, deliciously-creepy, super-original, thriller-horror, female-pov

http://reading-is-dreaming-with-open-...

Phobic was so surprisingly awesome that I can't find words for it. Whenever I find such a hidden gem that I know I only get to read because of blogging, I feel extremely happy. At these moments I forget all the time blogging takes away from my life, or the times when I was anxious over having to read a book in time. After all that's why I do this, to find books that I'd have never ever found if I didn't join to the book blogging community and of course to http://reading-is-dreaming-with-open-...

Phobic was so surprisingly awesome that I can't find words for it. Whenever I find such a hidden gem that I know I only get to read because of blogging, I feel extremely happy. At these moments I forget all the time blogging takes away from my life, or the times when I was anxious over having to read a book in time. After all that's why I do this, to find books that I'd have never ever found if I didn't join to the book blogging community and of course to meet with you all, lovely people. :)

Let's start off with the bad, shall we? The only thing I didn't like about Phobic was the blurb. I hate when the blurb ruins a big thing in the book, and that was exactly what it did when mentioning the axing. The blurb suggests that Piper already knows about her connection to the house but she did not, until getting axed, that is. I don't like finding out things before the main character, and I hate it even more when she doesn't even get the chance to learn things before me. Besides this I had no other problems with the book.

The description of the house was perfect. I was able to imagine that creepy ass house with everything in it. And did I mention how easily Courtney Person can create a creepy atmosphere? Even though I wasn't really scared, this book definitely made me shiver at some parts. The story completely sucked me in and didn't let me go until the very end. The plot was incredibly exciting and made me want to read the whole novel in one seat. There were some parts when I felt like I couldn't read fast enough because I just had to know what was going to happen next. I never once got confused, and by the end everything was neatly closed and explained.

I was pleasantly surprised about how well I could connect to the characters. In many thriller/horror stories I find that the author concentrates on the plot rather than the characters. Meanwhile I had no problem connecting the Piper, she was all kind of awesome and while she had her immature moments she was still so more mature than her age. Todd was a great addition too, while there were many parts I didn't understand him by the end I liked him well enough.

Their friendship was really sweet. I loved that I had the chance to take a look at their childhood and see how it all started. The romance was pretty awesome too, considered to a thriller. I found their love believable and sweet, something that I'm sure every teenager dreams of.

All considered Phobic is recommend to all of those who love a good creepy YA horror story with real characters. Do not think for a moment that the characters' age makes this any less good than other YA horrors because it does not.

The story idea: 4/5
The realization of the story: 4/5
The cover: 4/5
The characters: 4/5
Enjoy factor: 5/5
Final Rating: 4/5 ...more

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Jul 12, 2014 Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) rated it liked it

Shelves: kindle-books, arc-book-read

2.5 Stars
I couldn't resist this one after seeing the creeptastic cover and reading the synopsis. I was hoping this would be the perfect read to freak me out without scaring me too much. I pretty much got what I was hoping for but..it took awhile to get there.

Even though I knew the author needed to set up not only the atmosphere and characters for this story, but give the house that Piper resided in a personality of it's own, it felt like it took forever to get there. In fact I wasn't even sure a ...more

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Jul 14, 2014 Rowan MacBean rated it really liked it

Shelves: arcs, ya-mg-na-kids

I received PHOBIC as an ARC through netgalley.com.

3.5 stars.

PHOBIC is a YA supernatural horror/thriller with a romantic subplot. For many readers, that's enough to tell them if they want to read it or not. But this book is more than its labels.

I do have some criticisms (for example, some repetitious descriptions seem to be there because the author doesn't trust the reader to remember character names) but, for the most part, I found PHOBIC to be a fun and tense read. I was hooked right from the b ...more

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Jan 06, 2015 Aly rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley

In this book, so far we have met Piper and Piper has a very strange house that protects her. Piper doesn’t get to have many friends over because her house is so weird and she is not always sure how the house will respond. The house is haunted and this is a good book about Piper and her haunted house. I really like ghost stories so this one is one of the good ones. A very good creepy and gripping book. I would read the next one. * This book was given to me by author in exchange for honest review*

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Sep 08, 2014 Maxine (Booklover Catlady) rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Young Adult Readers, Ghost Fans

Shelves: paranormal-supernatural, young-adult-read, ghostly-happenings

I love a good ghostly book and even better if it involves a super creepy house dating back to the 1800's, and let's go one better because this house is ALIVE.

Yes indeed, the walls breathe and the house listens. Phobic is a young adults book that blends the drama of high school life, crushes on your male best friend with a house that does weird things and has a mind of it's own.

Fifteen-year-old Piper Crenshaw knows her house is strange. It’s never needed repairs since it was built in the 1800s, ...more

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Jul 21, 2014 Sally Balboa rated it it was amazing

I found that Phobic was a very well balanced novel, not too much gushy romance and not too much gore, just enough gore to frighten you but not to sicken you. It’s rare to find a good balance like that; basically it was a PG-13 version of horror movies today, but with a real twist of an ending.

Phobic starts out with Piper, who finds herself ugly because of her zits and weird because of her haunted house. Not the creaky, just old haunted a house. The house locks her in on a whim and takes care of I found that Phobic was a very well balanced novel, not too much gushy romance and not too much gore, just enough gore to frighten you but not to sicken you. It’s rare to find a good balance like that; basically it was a PG-13 version of horror movies today, but with a real twist of an ending.

Phobic starts out with Piper, who finds herself ugly because of her zits and weird because of her haunted house. Not the creaky, just old haunted a house. The house locks her in on a whim and takes care of its own maintenance. People are aware of this weird house, and after a bad mistake on Pipers and her best friend Todd’s part, all the other weird demons in Pipers closet come pouring out (Parents included), including an 137 year old secret.

This was definitely a horror YA book, nothing to graphic and perfect for ages 13 and up who like ghost stories with a hint of romance. I know quite a few who enjoy this sort of thing. Because it was a YA book there were some less than mature things in the way the characters spoke, but they are in high school and rarely do you meet a sophisticated high school student, so their vocabulary consists of, ‘duh’, ‘like’, and other overused words. Try not to be annoyed because some of the characters actually fit quite well into their dialogue, even if some of the things they say make you raise your eyebrow, wondering if people really speak like that. They do.

I was so afraid that this was going to have a stupid ending and for a moment I thought it did, and I started to get so frustrated that it would end that way then I saw that this and at least 20 more pages, I’ve rarely been so relieved. Nothing is worse than a good storyline with a bad ending. So rest assured the ending is a good one.

I understand that people can be cruel in this world, conniving and other horrible things but I felt like Piper was just a little too much of a victim. First there was her mother, then her father, her distant brother, and the snotty kids at her high school. All giving Piper the short end of the stick (sometimes unintentionally), making her personality frail and victimized in everything. Sometimes it was annoying, because it almost seemed like she wanted to be the victim. Being a victim kind of made up her personality too (up until the end), she fails at most things then runs away crying. However that is my only fault with Piper as a character, other than that she’s nice, courageous (sometimes), and overall a very decent heroine.

I feel that the author has the whole storyline written very well, not jumpy, and nicely paced and I’m satisfied and even excited knowing that this is not the end of the series. I’ll be picking up the next book in the series first chance I get.

Received copy from Netgalley.
...more

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Apr 20, 2015 Kristina rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015, paranormal-mystery

Phobic by Courtney Pearson is the first book in The Forbidden Doors series. It is a young adult paranormal horror story. Piper Crenshaw is fifteen years old, has terrible acne, father died ten months ago, and her mother is in prison for murder! Just your typical teenager—wrong! Her older brother, Joel is her guardian and Todd Dawes, who lives next door, is her best friend. They live in a beautiful old Victorian home that has been in their family for a couple of generations. When they changed tow Phobic by Courtney Pearson is the first book in The Forbidden Doors series. It is a young adult paranormal horror story. Piper Crenshaw is fifteen years old, has terrible acne, father died ten months ago, and her mother is in prison for murder! Just your typical teenager—wrong! Her older brother, Joel is her guardian and Todd Dawes, who lives next door, is her best friend. They live in a beautiful old Victorian home that has been in their family for a couple of generations. When they changed towns to get away from publicity regarding the murder, their father moved the house. In all the time they have owned the house they have never needed to do repairs or replace anything in the home. Everything in the house still looks brand new. They do not have to do yard work. Their home is alive.

Piper is starting to have visions while in the house. She can see scenes from the people who lived in the house when it was first built. Augustus Garrett, his maid, Ada, and driver, Thomas are in the scenes. Garrett was a nasty man who was cruel. He killed people in the basement for parts. Pipe does not know what is going on? There were certain rules her father had in place. Do not go into the basement and do not open the door behind his desk in the library. Unfortunately, Piper violates both rules. Then ten horrible teens from school come to the house one night. They want to know what is behind the door to nowhere (a door on the outside of the house above the library). When one of the teens takes an axe to the door, Pipe starts bleeding from her stomach! What is going on? Why when something happens to the house it happens to Piper? Then her brother goes missing. What is going on with the house, Piper, and where is Joel? What was Augustus Garrett doing with the body parts? Piper along with Todd set out to find answers to their questions.

I give Phobic 3.5 out of 4 stars. The book is okay, but it did not flow smoothly. It was very stilted (that is the only word that comes to mind). There is graphic violence and gore in the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

...more

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Oct 23, 2015 Luccia Gray rated it really liked it

Phobic is an enjoyable, paranormal novel for young adults. It is narrated in the first person and in the present tense, which makes for a very dynamic reading experience. First person narrators are unreliable, because they just can’t be everywhere and know everything, yet they are more authentic, because the reader knows and accepts their limited yet honest version of the story. On the other hand, the combination of their unique voice and the use of present tense, if it’s pulled off well, can be ...more

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Jul 10, 2014 BookLoversLife added it

Shelves: on-my-kindle, for-review, netgalley

Have to put this aside. Couldn't get into it. ...more

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Jul 02, 2017 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Piper has zits and is bullied at school. Her house is haunted and full of secrets. Piper has been told not to open certain doors. Why? Piper wants to discover the secrets of the house. She doesn't know why the house never needs repair. What are the secrets? Piper starts seeing ghosts from the past and hearing voices. Will she be able to solve the mysteries of the house?

The novel is creepy and full of surprises. It is suspenseful. The novel is definitely paranormal but can also be considered. Hor ...more

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Jul 18, 2014 Jessica rated it liked it

Shelves: ebooks, new-releases, book-boyfriends, net-galley

I received an Kindle ARC copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Death isn't the end. It's only a doorway."

This was such a fun book to read. I was so excited when I got approved to read this through NetGalley because books like this are right up my alley. I love horror novels, but I especially love YA horror. I enjoyed this book more than I disliked it, but because I did receive this book at no cost to me in exchange for an honest review, I'm going to do just that. ...more

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Jun 21, 2017 Donna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: towerteam-v, 2017challenge, june2017tbr

This was an interesting story. I like how the house was personified and made into a character all of its own. I had a bit of trouble getting into the story. It was a bit slow to start. The story was a bit weird but it was still good. Definitely not something I would normally read but enjoyable.

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Sep 30, 2018 Virginia Allen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Not bad

It isn't my favorite book but I'm not the right age for it either. To me there was a bit much about school and being picked on but again I'm not a teen. The end was pretty good. ...more

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Jun 23, 2017 jeanne tessmer rated it liked it · review of another edition

Phobic

I liked this book. It was slow starting but then it was good. Would read more of Cortney Pearson's books. ...more

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Nov 24, 2017 Ola Adamska rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-2017

Great and enjoyable story. This one is a Mix of horror, suspense, romance, strange Powers.
I enjoyed reading this book.

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Nov 04, 2020 Deborah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Cool story

Very teenage story with typical high school concerns of dating, zits & bullying but the haunted house plot is very cool & keeps you reading non-stop to the end

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Apr 25, 2015 Rachel rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2016

Disclaimer- I was sent this by the author for review, but as always, thoughts and opinions are my own!
*3.5 stars*
I thought this was an entertaining and creepy read! I went in expecting that, and that’s what I got from it, so I think this book did what it was trying to accomplish. This isn’t a book that I’m going to remember years from now or anything, but it’s something different than what I usually read, since I don’t read a lot of YA “horror” books.

Plot- The plot for me is what drove this stor Disclaimer- I was sent this by the author for review, but as always, thoughts and opinions are my own!
*3.5 stars*
I thought this was an entertaining and creepy read! I went in expecting that, and that’s what I got from it, so I think this book did what it was trying to accomplish. This isn’t a book that I’m going to remember years from now or anything, but it’s something different than what I usually read, since I don’t read a lot of YA “horror” books.

Plot- The plot for me is what drove this story along, as I think it should be in mystery novels like this. Even from the first few chapters we get a nice introduction to this house, the house that’s at the crux of all the strange happenings in the novel. From the beginning we know something isn’t right, and then the mystery just keeps unraveling as the plot moves on. The plot was entertaining, but not necessarily the most original. Enjoyment wise, that didn’t bother me, but I think it’s something worth mentioning. With that said though, I still think it was an interesting take on the “haunted house” set up. There were some predictable parts here and there, but overall I was kept wondering what was going to happen next, and I thought the different mysterious aspects melded well together. As a horror book, I think it did its job. I’m one that doesn’t get scared by books, so I wasn’t expecting to actually be frightened after reading this, but the plot had enough “spooky” moments to keep the reader on their toes, but not too many that it just felt overdone.

Writing- As I’ve said before, it’s hard to critique writing unless it’s either really good, or really bad. The writing in this was neither of those, it was a happy medium. It was fine to read, and I didn’t have any issues with it, but there was nothing particularly mind-blowing about it either, which is totally fine because I doubt this book’s focus was supposed to be on the writing.

Characters- For me, this was the book’s weakest link. The characters in this weren’t bad, but they all just felt pretty average to me. None of them stuck out to me, and they just seemed kind of generic. Take our main character, Piper. She wasn’t a bad main character, and I didn’t dislike her, she just felt like your average misunderstood teen girl that just didn’t seem quite real to me. Being in high school myself, I often am more critical when I see it portrayed in books, because it just doesn’t seem real. I’m just getting tired of seeing the “mean girl” trope used, so when I saw it here it disappointed me a little. I can see the point of it, objectively, it’s just not something I’m into as a reader. The same goes for Todd, I thought he was a fine love interest, but his character just seemed really convenient and typical. With that said, I’d much rather have a Todd than a romanticized abuser boyfriend, so I appreciate that she made the love interest actually be a decent person.

The House- I decided to put this in its own category, because I consider the house in this book its own character, and I all I say about the other characters in the book doesn’t apply to this one. The house was my favorite part of the book, and I think the author really succeeded in creating a character of this house, and making it fleshed out like any other human character, which really elevated the plot.

Overall- This was a nice break in between some heavier things I’ve read / am reading at the moment (Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man for example), and even though this isn’t the best thing I’ve read all year, it was entertaining and something different. It’s not that I’m not a fan of the horror genre, it’s just that I don’t find myself delving into it very often, but whenever I do read it, I always have a good time, so I’m glad to have read this. If the premise sounds interesting to you, I would recommend it because even though the characters were a bit of a letdown, I think it does deliver on the enticing premise.
...more

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Sep 21, 2014 ✿ℎazℯℓ - thℯ ℛock Cℎick ℱairy✿ rated it liked it

Shelves: arc

I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DISCLAIMER: If you have been following my reviews, I think I already said this somewhere along the way... I started reading books with the horror / mystery / suspense genre. I'm a fan of Stepehen King, R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike etc. so I hope you'd all understand that I had sky high expectations for this book.

First off, things that I liked about this book:

PHOBIC is a good take on the "haunted house" theory. I always love a good ...more

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Aug 05, 2014 Nicole Wolverton rated it liked it

Shelves: self-published, horror, ya-lit, netgalley

So, Phobic. I’ll start with the good. I was initially sucked into the novel because of the house in which Piper, the protagonist, lives. It deserves to be considered a character in the novel and was very well done. There’s a good progression of what the house can do, beginning with creaks and groans and the spare disembodied voice, and progressing to attacks on people, and, finally, a creepy symbiotic connection to Piper. The external plot having to do with the house and its history and the curs So, Phobic. I’ll start with the good. I was initially sucked into the novel because of the house in which Piper, the protagonist, lives. It deserves to be considered a character in the novel and was very well done. There’s a good progression of what the house can do, beginning with creaks and groans and the spare disembodied voice, and progressing to attacks on people, and, finally, a creepy symbiotic connection to Piper. The external plot having to do with the house and its history and the curse on/promise of those who own it was interesting and layered, and it was extremely well paced. The twists were plentiful and, for the most part, unexpected. For varying reasons, this part of the novel reminded me of a cross between (a less artsy) House of Leaves and the 1999 movie version of The House on Haunted Hill, but toned down for a younger YA audience. If I were reviewing the novel solely on the external plot, I'd probably give it a 4 or a 4.5.

Unfortunately, the secondary plots--the relationship Piper has with her best friend Todd, Piper's acne trauma, and the bullying issue--just weren't for me. Todd suffers from an excess of uneven characterization, I think. Truly, characters can be changeable; however, I expect a certain level of consistency, and Todd was all over the place. He is, by turns, the classic supportive best friend, totally clueless, borderline cruel, remarkably straight forward, sexually aggressive, etc, etc. In many ways, I feel as though Todd is used (and his personality changed according to need) as a plot device to insert additional drama. (view spoiler) The acne situation . . . so, Piper has what I'm assuming is cystic acne or something like that, and the kids at school--Todd's friends, no less--make fun of Piper mercilessly. That part is perfectly believable, and I was able to suspend disbelief (view spoiler). The bullying was perhaps a bit over the top at times, and I think maybe I had problems buying that particular subplot because I had issues with Todd.

After initially being sucked into Phobic, the novel largely lost me at the 40 percent point. I stuck around to see what would happen with the house because that part was so well done. The writing was itself was generally fine, although there were some stylistic choices (primarily some really wacky adjectives) that drew my attention away from the action. I didn't mind the present tense storytelling (normally something I dislike) told from Piper's POV (first person) because there was a fair amount of fast-paced action that made it an appropriate choice; that said, there were two random chapters toward the end of the book told in third person, present tense from Todd's POV that made for some awkward reading.

Lastly, I cannot figure out why this novel is called Phobic. No one in the novel has a phobia. Huh.

Netgalley. Self-published.
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Mar 07, 2015 Lena rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya-mg, ultimately-forgettable, received-for-review

Received from NetGalley for honest review.

This book sounded so good. And I really wanted to like it. Really. It started out well enough. A girl in her haunted house. And I did like all the parts about the house, the weird things it did, and it's twisted history. I also liked that our protag had zits! Acne, to be more precise. A heroine who's not flawless and doesn't know it--how refreshing. And the love interest, Todd, was adorable. Loved him. The other characters were all pretty one-dimensional Received from NetGalley for honest review.

This book sounded so good. And I really wanted to like it. Really. It started out well enough. A girl in her haunted house. And I did like all the parts about the house, the weird things it did, and it's twisted history. I also liked that our protag had zits! Acne, to be more precise. A heroine who's not flawless and doesn't know it--how refreshing. And the love interest, Todd, was adorable. Loved him. The other characters were all pretty one-dimensional and seemed just thrown in so our gal wouldn't be the only person in the universe. Even her brother was so weird (and kind of creepy) that I wasn't sure I should root for him and didn't really understand why our protagonist freaked out when he went missing. I mean, of course she did--he's her brother. But for the amount of love shown between them, or even interaction, he could have been a random book lying around the house that she picks up a couple times.

But I've read many a novel with a one-dimensional supporting cast. Not a huge issue for me (though supporting characters who outshine the heroine are my favorites!) so I kept reading. Great secondary characters are more like a huge bonus, not an essential for me, if the plot and main characters are fascinating enough.

What really lost me was about 3/4 of the way through, when the author begins explaining the house, why it's haunted, and more importantly, just HOW the haunting works. Now, I may not the the sharpest tool in the shed, but you tell me a logical story, and I'll follow along. It doesn't matter if it's about flying magical beans or dancing alien bugs. If it makes sense, I'll get it. And this book just...didn't. For starters, the house heals itself. And the girl who lives there. Okay, got it. So when someone AXES the house, and instead, the wound is magically transferred to our girl, I could follow. BUT WHY DIDN'T SHE HEAL???? Then she cuts her hand (AFTER THE AX) and shows her bf how it immediately heals. BUT THE AX WOUND DOESN'T! I need consistency in order to suspend disbelief. You can't just throw stuff in whenever it's convenient. And from there, pretty much everything was just...jumbled. I couldn't follow at all. Being a huge fan of Stephen King, I was reading this book and one of King's at the same time. And I kept thinking, a big fat SK book explained everything so spot-on I never had to stop reading and try to figure WTH IS GOING ON!!?!

I'm fine with books that make me stop and think. Not ones that make me so frustrated I stop trying to figure out what's going on bc it just makes no sense. An author's job is to grab me and not let go. NOT to make me spend a lot of time just not caring about the book bc it's so convoluted and inconsistent that it makes no sense. So for me, this book was just not a home run. Good concept, weird execution.

Other random sidenotes: Everyone and everything in this book is always 'cleaving.' To each other, to things, etc. It was an odd word to overuse. Also, the writing could be really odd and sort of disjointed. Word choice often left me shaking my head. Example: "Ada's gleaming orbs pour with desperation to Thomas dangling in the opposite corner." Maybe it was just me, but sentences like this were common and a bit off-putting to me. I get that saying, "she glanced at Thomas in desperation" may not sound as fancy, but sometimes, less is more. ...more

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Apr 06, 2016 F. Doe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-reviews

i've given pearson's novel 4 stars in the same way i'd give a less-than-full endorsement to a lottery ticket that i knew was a winner but i hadn't yet cashed in.
pearson's mastery of the metaphor is simply divine. while reading Phobic i highlighted so many perfect examples that i can't include them all here. however, i want potential readers to grasp fully the extensive breadth of pearson's imagination, so consider these four:
"His lips leave echoes on mine."
"Chills tiptoe from the bottom of my sp i've given pearson's novel 4 stars in the same way i'd give a less-than-full endorsement to a lottery ticket that i knew was a winner but i hadn't yet cashed in.
pearson's mastery of the metaphor is simply divine. while reading Phobic i highlighted so many perfect examples that i can't include them all here. however, i want potential readers to grasp fully the extensive breadth of pearson's imagination, so consider these four:
"His lips leave echoes on mine."
"Chills tiptoe from the bottom of my spine up to my neck."
"He follows her like he’s a kitten and she’s catnip."
the main character, piper, has "huge caverns on her face," which is how she describes her inner perception of her acne, so when the 15-year-old walks down the school hallway, passing other students, she feels their "gazes stick on the back of my neck like sap."
not only are her metaphors delicious, but her humor, although too seldom exercised, is appetizing. ("Visiting my murderous mother in prison isn’t exactly a prime dating opportunity.") i suspect in her later works pearson develops her humor to where it can contend with her imaginative descriptions, and i'll be reading more of her work if only to confirm my assumption.

pearson also exercises her talent for analyzing human behavior and concisely stating truths. consider four examples:
"His brain tries to flick back to its factory-setting of denial."
"Todd’s lips spread into a small i-don’t-know-what-else-to-do-so-I’m-smiling smile."
"I’m glad the kids at school know about it. Now I have nothing to hide. I don’t have to be ashamed."
"My life was stolen from me. You barely live yours."
brilliant stuff.

unfortunately, pearson's zest for fine writing sometimes produces clumsy, even indecipherable phrases. consider three:
"My jaw grits like a vice." while "vice" might work in some arcane manner, i'm comfortable that pearson meant the homonym "vise." but when does a vise—or a vice—grit? when does a jaw grit?
"His curls froth to the sides of his head like a perfect ice cream scoop." okay, when i replace "curls" with "waves" i can see waves frothing, so that nearly works, but "like a perfect ice cream scoop?" i find that outrageously funny, but i can't conjure any accuracy from it. the humor, unintended, comes from the juxtaposition of incomparable images: wavy hair and ice cream scoops. (yes, i'm being picky, but every time clumsy writing usurps my attention, i lose the story thread, and i have too much confidence in pearson's ability to leave small stones unturned.)
"Ada’s gleaming orbs pour with desperation to thomas." huh? okay, okay, pearson is saying that ada's eyes are, uh… huh?
remember this: pearson's on-point fare far exceeds her bloopers. don't assess her enthusiasm to delight her readers as a flaw; her booboos will fade toward nothingness while her love of writing further blooms, delighting all of us who love fine writing.

finally, i'll take exception to pearson's personal portrayal of her work as appealing to a YA market. i'm older than the bible, and i enjoyed "Phobic." maybe tadpoles and nymphs are the coolest market segment, but the mature writing, thinking and character interactions demonstrated in Phobic require a broadest marketing effort.
like the uncashed lottery ticket, i can't be 100% certain of where pearson's talent will lead her—but if i was a betting man? i'd bet large; i'd bet often. ...more

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Jan 17, 2015 Britt Kunkle rated it it was amazing

I RECEIVED THIS BOOK FOR FREE FROM NETGALLEY FOR REVIEW IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST OPINION. IN NO WAY DID GETTING THIS BOOK FOR FREE CHANGE MY THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS OF THIS BOOK.

The book Phobic is about this girl named Piper. She lives in this house that her mother killed someone in, and stuffed them into this cell in their floorboards. That’s not the only secret that is hiding within the walls of this household. There’s something going on with the house and Piper needs to find out what. Soon she I RECEIVED THIS BOOK FOR FREE FROM NETGALLEY FOR REVIEW IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST OPINION. IN NO WAY DID GETTING THIS BOOK FOR FREE CHANGE MY THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS OF THIS BOOK.

The book Phobic is about this girl named Piper. She lives in this house that her mother killed someone in, and stuffed them into this cell in their floorboards. That’s not the only secret that is hiding within the walls of this household. There’s something going on with the house and Piper needs to find out what. Soon she realizes that the house is alive and that all the ties are connected to her somehow. She has to find out how to stop everything that is going on before it is too late.

This book was such a riveting read. It drew you in with the characters and it made you stay for the plot. The whole premise of the book was extremely interesting. There was a lot of character building for the characters. Especially with Piper and Todd. It was really great to see that everyone in the story had their own story about their life and how it played out so well within the book. You’d think that this book would be just a typical cliché book about haunted houses, but this is a new twist on haunted places and freaky stuff.

I really got attached to Piper and her brother Joel, but also was really attached to Todd. When one of them went through something heartbreaking it tugged on my heartstrings and made me feel sad too. Which, was really hard, especially when everything played out. This was also really amazing because this gave the book a sense of having every aspect in it. You get to see the horror/thriller side with the secrets of the house, the paranormal side because of the house, there’s also a relationship/love aspect to it between two of the characters which made it all the more better. This book had everything in it.

There was really no dull moments with Phobic. It was one of those books that whenever you thought you knew something it would change it up on you. It was so fast paced and was never leaving you not sitting on the edge of your seat, or in my case on the edge of your bed. This book kept me up at night being scared, for one, but also, making me want to read it even more. As each chapter ended I just wanted to read even more and more and more of it. It drew me in and made me want to know what happened next.

There was one thing I didn’t like about the book was that the ending was a bit anti climactic at parts. I mean this in the nicest way possible. The only reason I’m saying this is because what happened at the end dealing with Ada and Piper and what Piper had to do. It was really dramatic, but what happened after with Todd and Piper was just too cliché. Other than the lack of climactic acts at this one part, the book was terrific.

If I were to recommend this to anyone, I would definitely recommend it to people who have read Anna Dressed in Blood, but also anyone who really just loves creepy horror thriller books. It wasn’t as scary as I was expecting, but that’s okay, because this book definitely helped me realize that the hype that I had for this book was well deserved. If I were to rate it out of five stars it would be 5/5! Everyone should go read this book!
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Dec 29, 2014 Kristin rated it it was amazing

Fifteen-year-old Piper Crenshaw knows her house is anything but ordinary. The walls groan, doors slam on their own accord, and once, her room turned upside down. With a dead father and a mother in prison, Piper’s life has been torn apart by events that happened years earlier. Teased and tormented by the popular kids at school, Piper clings to her best friend Todd and her talent at playing the clarinet. But when things start to get incredibly creepy at her house, and Piper starts seeing the dead Fifteen-year-old Piper Crenshaw knows her house is anything but ordinary. The walls groan, doors slam on their own accord, and once, her room turned upside down. With a dead father and a mother in prison, Piper’s life has been torn apart by events that happened years earlier. Teased and tormented by the popular kids at school, Piper clings to her best friend Todd and her talent at playing the clarinet. But when things start to get incredibly creepy at her house, and Piper starts seeing the dead former inhabitants of the old home, she knows there’s a mystery that needs to be unraveled. A mystery that propels her into another reality and becomes a matter of life and death.

I was pulled into this book from the first page. Cortney's writing is beautiful and descriptive while still maintaing that important young adult voice. Here are some of my favorite lines from the book:

“My best friend Todd’s red pickup appears at the curb, spewing exhaust like the truck has a cigarette up its backside. I jerk up. My pulse kicks at the sight of him. That’s been happening a lot more lately, my insides flaring up and doing some sort of spastic dance whenever I catch sight of his alluring smile and dark curls.” -Piper Crenshaw

In reference to high school:

“I don’t get how one place can offer Spectacular for some and then Suckfest for others.”
-Piper Crenshaw

This book is a mixture of creepy, intriguing, mysterious, and romantic. As the reader, I felt for Piper and this crazy life she’s living devoid of parents to love and protect her. When the haunted aspects of her house intensified as did the ridicule from classmates, I wanted things to work out for Piper, including her “getting the guy.” Piper has a great teenage voice, especially when she talks about Pop-Tarts, the popular kids, and school in general. Cortney did a fabulous job of capturing the teenage mind and putting it onto paper.

As a fan of romance, I loved the romantic elements of the story. Piper and Todd have been friends for years, but suddenly the heat kicks up between them. They are more “aware” of each other and yet, neither of them is willing to admit it. And of course, there’s feelings of jealousy and betrayal that only adds to the conflict of the story.

Cortney weaves a tale rich in language and description with a full-blown mystery that needs to be solved. Add to that a teenage girl tormented by her peers and a romance blossoming between her and her best friend, and you have an enthralling read. Of course, there are those characters you love to hate, and without giving anything away, all I can say is they definitely get what they deserve. I would recommend Phobic for anyone who loves a good YA novel with a compelling story that makes you want to stay up way too late reading it. ...more

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Jan 22, 2016 Kory rated it really liked it

“When I was six years old, I found the man my mother murdered stuffed under a trap door in our kitchen. The smell gave him away.” Pearson immediately captivates readers with these first two lines in her debut YA horror novel, PHOBIC.
The main character, Piper Crenshaw, has a lot of secrets—secrets she keeps from her best friend, Todd, her brother, Joel, and even from the reader. Nearly the entire novel is written from Piper’s point-of-view, so the reader only knows as much as Piper reveals thr “When I was six years old, I found the man my mother murdered stuffed under a trap door in our kitchen. The smell gave him away.” Pearson immediately captivates readers with these first two lines in her debut YA horror novel, PHOBIC.
The main character, Piper Crenshaw, has a lot of secrets—secrets she keeps from her best friend, Todd, her brother, Joel, and even from the reader. Nearly the entire novel is written from Piper’s point-of-view, so the reader only knows as much as Piper reveals through her dialogue, action, and narration. Because of this, Pearson is able to keep her readers speculating and on-edge while suspense mounts throughout the course of the story.
There are several scenes in which I felt like I was watching a stereotypical horror movie where the audience is screaming at someone who is obviously walking right into the path of imminent danger. It’s as though Piper lacks enough common sense to NOT investigate horrifying noises, otherworldly visitors, and paranormal occurrences; her bravery can be mistaken for stupidity and, unfortunately, this makes her a little bit less likeable or authentic. (Is death really a better option than having someone not believe what is happening to her?) She constantly ventures into dangerous places and doesn’t confide in her older brother (and legal guardian) Joel about strange and near-death experiences in their house. Piper doesn’t want to upset him, and she’s afraid he won’t believe her, yet at one point her hands are covered in blood (which should compelling evidence that Piper isn’t imagining circumstances that she can’t explain).
Pearson masterfully slips a red herring into her story, distracting readers from what is actually happening, and she does this so seamlessly that I was overcome with an I-can’t-put-down-this-book-until-I-know-what’s-really-going-on attitude. Well played, Pearson, well played. This is an element of well-crafted storytelling that has PHOBIC taking on elements of suspense and horror that will thrill fans of writers like Lois Duncan and Caroline B. Cooney.
Suspense, mystery, the supernatural, and a romantic undercurrent all collide in PHOBIC, making this novel a compelling story for a wide variety of readers, and I look forward to reading many more books from Pearson in the future.

NOTE: I WAS GIVEN A FREE COPY OF PHOBIC IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW OF THE BOOK.
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Sep 30, 2014 Majanka rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, horror, reviews-september-2014

Book Review originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/reviews/...

Let’s start with the good. In Phobic, fifteen-year-old Piper Crenshaw lives in the strangest house imaginable. It was the place where her mother committed murder, the house repairs itself, sometimes rooms change of their own accords, and the lights flicker whenever Piper says something. When she opens up a forbidden door, that’s when trouble really starts.

The plot about the house, the history of the house, and the con ...more

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Jul 17, 2014 Giulia rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley-reads

SLIGHT SPOILERS

When I first read the summary for this book, I thought it was going to be really intriguing, and that looked great.

Honestly, this book could have been a LOT better. Yeah, the creep house starts right from the word go (which, in this case, was GOOD), and (YESSSSS!) there was already a characer set up for me to hate.

However, both Piper and Todd (the two mains) got on my nerves. Oops. Piper was just too whingey and angstey about EVERYTHING, and the whole "Romantic Subplot" that she h ...more

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About Cortney Pearson

Cortney Pearson

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Cortney Pearson is the USA Today bestselling author of the Stolen Tears series. She writes fantasy worlds brimming with adventure, loyalty, and romance, from wizards, to ghosts, to pirates. She is the mom of four cuties, loves classical music, chocolate, slow-burn kissing scenes, and sparkles. Not necessarily in that order.

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