A Review – Seven Sins: A Thrilling Horror Novel by Miguel Estrada – Spooky Season Week, Day 3!

When I started preparing for my Spooky Season Week, I wanted to find some scary stories to read and review.

So off I went, on a search to find something to read!

And I came across this book. I mainly clicked on it because the title reminded me of the movie Seven, but I am certainly glad I did!

So, let me introduce the book, and then I shall start my review!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may get paid or receive a commission if you purchase through my link.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Several individuals connected through a series of unfortunate events find themselves as participants in a twisted game of trials set up by a hacker who has chosen them based on their cardinal sins.

This group of misfits will do anything in their power to survive and return any semblance of normality to their lives, even if it means destroying each other.

Seven Sins is an action-packed, thrilling horror that will have you on edge on every page. Grab it now to see who will survive the night!

Amazon UK • Amazon US (It's free!)

My Review!

The seven deadly sins can be interpreted in many ways, and there are many people in the world who commit these sins in their everyday lives, sometimes knowingly, sometimes without realising. This book covers them all.

When a select few people all receive messages from a hacker, using the contact information 'NV', they all find their lives quickly turning upside down. They are threatened, coerced, convinced into carrying out tasks for this mysterious person to protect themselves, and to save those they love.

Jumping between different characters, this book is incredibly fast paced. It can be rather difficult at first, to keep up with the characters, and trying to keep track of who's who, but the confusion doesn't last long, and you quickly figure out who these people are, and which of the sins they relate to. There are characters of all kinds – male, female, young, old, good, bad. For example, there are several ways to interpret the sin 'gluttony'. It could be someone who is so entranced by food that they withhold it from those who need it. Or, it could be a cannibal who prepares delicacies with his victims.

This story is very much like a detective's board, and as you progress through the story, you slowly start to add the red string, joining up one dot after another, slowly weaving the truth out of the words until you stand back, look upon everything you have discovered, and the truth unfolds itself.

While every character had their own motive, there were a few in particular that I loathed, and others that I liked a little more. Jessica and Oliver, Lust and Sloth, find their way into the spotlight as they fight for survival, and both are characters that are easy to get behind and want to survive. I also didn't mind Roger (Greed) or Trevor (Wrath) too much. They both had their motives, reasons behind their actions, and even if the things they did were considered wrong, they were both going through things, and their actions became their response. Timothy (Pride) was a character I wasn't sure about, for I found it hard to like him, but I couldn't see any glaring reasons not to. He was a grey zone, almost. However, there are also characters who are utterly repulsive, such as Matthew (Gluttony) and I applaud the author for being able to keep hold of so many characters, and for making me feel incredibly different about each of them.

I must say, I was expecting a lot more blood and gore in this book, but I'm only now finding out that it is listed in the young adult genre. While I understand this, for it is certainly suitable for older teens, I would not recommend this book to younger teens, for there is some graphic violence, and content that I would not deem suitable for a younger audience.

It is clear that a lot of thought went into making sure all of these characters had something in common, some small connection linking them all together, through one another. Another thing that must have taken a lot of time was making sure that all of the connections were not revealed until towards the end. However, there were a couple of grammatical errors, such as missed words, here and there, and some of the characters got a lot more time in the spotlight than others, so we learn more about some characters, like Oliver and Jessica, than we do others. However, this is an entertaining read, and it will certainly get you thinking at some points! I started reading this before bed, hoping to read some and then finish it the following evening, but instead ended up staying up late to find out what happens next. It is a gripping read, and I enjoyed reading it.

And done!

As I am writing this, it is the week before this post will go out. I am trying to get my Spooky Season Week scheduled, and I planned to have it all ready by now, but this is only the third of seven posts I have to write... I had better get on with it!

That's all for now...

Bye!