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    Alone
    Alone
    Alone
    Audiobook6 hours

    Alone

    Written by Cyn Balog

    Narrated by Emma Lysy

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    You're never really alone?

    This must-read for lovers of Stephen King's The Shining will leave readers breathless as Seda and her family find themselves at the mercy of a murderer in an isolated and snowbound hotel. Get ready for what Kirkus calls, "A bloody, wonderfully creepy scare ride."

    When her mom inherits an old, crumbling mansion, Seda's almost excited to spend the summer there. The grounds are beautiful and it's fun to explore the sprawling house with its creepy rooms and secret passages. Except now her mom wants to renovate, rather than sell the estate-which means they're not going back to the city . . . or Seda's friends and school.

    As the days grow shorter, Seda is filled with dread. They're about to be cut off from the outside world, and she's not sure she can handle the solitude or the darkness it brings out in her.

    Then a group of teens get stranded near the mansion during a blizzard. Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter, even though she knows danger lurks in the dilapidated mansion-and in herself. And as the snow continues to fall, what Seda fears most is about to become her reality . . .
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateOct 30, 2018
    ISBN9781541448537
    Alone
    Author

    Cyn Balog

    CYN BALOG is is the author of many young adult novels, including Alone, which received a starred review from VOYA Magazine. She lives outside Allentown, Pennsylvania with her husband and daughters. Visit her online at www.cynbalog.com.

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    Reviews for Alone

    3.5/5

    33 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 4/5
      Set in an isolated and disquieting mansion during a snowstorm, Alone by Cyn Balog is a suspense-laden young adult mystery that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

      Seda Helm is not at all pleased by her mom's decision to remain in the creepy home she inherited. Despite her plans to sell it, she keeps rejecting offers for the onetime hotel turned murder mystery mansion. Cut off from the outside world due to no cell service, internet or landline, no one has heard from Seda's dad since he abandoned the family months earlier due to his frustration with his wife. Seda's much younger siblings still take great delight in the rundown mansion, but Seda is more than ready to return to Boston.  When a group of teenagers are stranded at the decrepit home during a blizzard, Seda's mother stages an elaborate murder mystery scavenger hunt that takes a deadly turn.

      Seda is a bit of an unreliable narrator who spends a lot of time in her own head.  She is great with her younger siblings despite the fact she feels a little overlooked by her parents.  The longer she and the rest of her family remain at the mansion, the darker Seda's thoughts become. She also misses her dad and she is growing increasingly irritated with her mom's refusal to return to Boston.

      When the teenagers find themselves stranded following a minor car accident, Seda reluctantly allows them to remain on the property as long as they stay out of sight of her mother.  The group's leader, Heath, ignores the edict and her mom ends up not only welcoming the teens with open arms, she convinces them to take part in a clever murder mystery. Seda is initially a reluctant participant in the game, but since she is paired up with the very attractive Heath, she eventually becomes more invested as they figure out what the clues mean. Slowly but surely, the hunt becomes more sinister and after she and Heath make a startling discovery, Seda makes a shocking admission.

      Although a little slow paced in the beginning, Alone is an engaging mystery that readers of all ages will enjoy. The storyline is entertaining and the characters are interesting.  Although observant readers will most likely pick up on few subtle clues that hint at some of the upcoming plot twists, Cyn Balog brings the novel to an absolutely jaw-dropping conclusion that will take readers completely by surprise.
    • 5/5
      "Sometimes I dream I am drowning... .I'm insane. Batshit. Nuttier than a fruit cake."This is my first novel by Cyn Balog, and I was not disappointed. I like the scenery that this book takes place in. A deserted mansion at the top of a cliff that needs a bit of fixing up. And Seda, plus her family are there to do just that. Definitely, a page-turner and it does have its creepy moments. The ending was such a good twist. I mean I couldn't believe what I read. I was really like WTF? haha I see why Seda, in this story was really skeptical about making friends in her new hometown. Secrets she didn't want to be revealed to anyone. Psychological thriller at it's finest. And I definitely put this book at the top of my list of 2019 reads.Anyone that is willing to give this book a read. DO IT. You won't be disappointed.
    • 4/5
      Awesome thriller book! Story about a young girl stuck in a spooky house with her family. She has an imaginary friend who is not really very friendly. Strangers get stranded at the house and it gets crazier and crazier. Ending has a great twist that I could not guess.
    • 5/5
      Fifteen-year-old Seda thought it was cool to spend the summer at the old mansion her mother inherited, but now it's starting to snow and she just wants to go back to Boston, back to school and her best friends and her crush, back to civilization. The mansion is in the middle of nowhere, it's falling apart, there's no cell service, no landline and it's just plain creepy especially since it was last used as a murder mystery hotel. And Seda's mother won't sell it unless the new owners will keep it as a murder mystery hotel. When a group of teenagers show up as a result of their car going in a ditch and nowhere else to go, Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter - even though she knows something bad is going to happen.

      I was at the halfway point when I crawled into bed, thought I'd read a chapter before I fell asleep. I was beyond tired. I ended up finishing the book before I could go to sleep that's how good it was. It was so well-written that everything flowed together and I couldn't set it down because what happens next??? How does it end? The suspense! I absolutely loved the creepy old mansion with its many added on wings and secret passageways. And it was used as a murder mystery hotel! That obviously made the book what it was - which was amazing!

      Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for a copy of this book.
    • 4/5
      Deliciously creepy, this novel builds tremendous empathy for the protagonist.
    • 5/5
      ***This book as reviewed for Sourcebooks via NetgalleyAlone by Cyn Balog is one dark, creepy psychological thriller. Bismarck-Chisolm House, a grand old mansion on Solitude Mountain, was once a murder mystery mansion, but has fallen into severe disrepair. Seda and her family inherited the home upon the deaths of her aunt and uncle. They intended to spend summer vacation to get it ready for sale, but Seda’s mom decided that she would only be willing to sell to buyers who would keep the mansion as a murder mystery hotel. Summer passes to fall with still no buyers, and storms snow them in, blocking the roads. An accident deposits a carload of teens at the mansion. To make the most things, Seda’s mom, a horror and mystery aficionado, decides to set up a murder mystery to pass the time. But there's an extra guest only Seda is aware of- Sawyer, and Sawyer plays for keeps.I loved Seda’s family. Her siblings are adorable. All four of them. Two sets of fraternal twins. So glad they weren't identical! Talk about messed up. Dr Helm seemed a bit spacey though. Like, it seems the adult should notice psychopathic/sociopathic behaviour. Even high-functioning ones show aberrations. #justsayinBut, overall, the characters were well-drawn, with rich personality. Even the ‘mystery’ guest. You don't see much interactions with Sawyer during most of the book, but those you do give a good idea of his personality. It's great that the best 'actor’ of all wasn't even supposed to be one. This was one creepy read, paying homage not just to Stephen King’s The Shining, which I've seen mentioned places before, but also to Hitchcock’s Psycho. The story seems to be going one way, then darts a different way, and back another way. Every time I thought I figured things out, something would happen that was quite unexpected. Looking back, though, clues to the final truth are scattered throughout. I loved the attention to detail with the mansion, and the backstories for the different rooms. I really don't think I'd like to live in a home with all those spooky props. The symbolism with the snow globes was appropriate. They are as trapped on Solitude by the blizzard as the scenes in the snow globes. And all it takes is one person to upend the perfect little scene and send flurries of panic spinning around. ????? highly recommended for fans of horror and psychological thrillers
    • 2/5
      This book was provided to me for free and I am voluntarily reviewing it.By the end of Alone, I felt angry, uneasy, and disturbed. For several days after finishing it, I found myself thinking about the climax and trying to figure out how it could have ended any other way. Are you still not sure if I liked this book or not? I didn’t. The characters, even the small children, were not terribly likeable, the foreshadowing was not subtle, and the wrap-up was ridiculous. Every character made decisions completely lacking in common sense, and, in some cases, basic humanity. The book was more confusing than scary, and I had to keep forcing myself to go back to it after I put it down.