Alone by Cyn Balog

🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
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…

^{*I received this copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*}

I loved how powerful the first sentences of the book were. How could I not continuing reading when the first sentence was "sometimes I dream that I am drowning". The first few pages were filled with powerful, attention grabbing internal monologue that I loved. I think that it will easily draw readers into the story and make them want to read more.
My issues with the book began fairly early on within the book. I didn't understand what the author was trying to convey or where she was going with things. I assumed that Seda was going to end up doing something bad or that the author was trying to make readers think that when in reality someone else is the villain. Things got more confusing when the group of teens show up in the book because Seda began acting odd and the teens were acting odd as well. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to think. I also found Seda's mother odd. I'm not sure if this was the author's intention or not but all of the characters seemed a bit awkward to me. It seemed to turn into a typical horror movie with the typical characters that break down on the side of the road and come upon a creepy house thinking that everything is fine when all of the sudden they start getting picked off one by one. All that I will say concerning this plot point is that all is not what it seems. I did appreciate the fact that the author attempted to do something different but she also attempted to keep a thriller-esque vibe with a twist ending. The issue that i have with that is there was no enough background or hints in order to take the book in that particular direction. It didn't make a lot of sense. Frankly, the explanation behind another one of the twists in the story didn't really sit well with me either. There were subtle hints that something wasn't quite right but other than that there is nothing to go off of.