Review–Darkhouse (Experiment in Terror #1) by Karina Halle

 Darkhouse (Experiment in Terror #1) by Karina Halle Summary: There’s always been something a bit off about Perry Palomino. Though she’s been dealing with a quarter-life crisis and post-college syndrome like any other twentysomething, she’s still not what you would call “ordinary.” For one thing, there’s her past which she likes to pretend never happened, and then there’s the fact that she sees ghosts. Luckily for her, that all comes in handy when she stumbles across Dex Foray, an eccentric producer for an upcoming webcast on ghost hunters. Even though the show’s budget is non-existent and Dex himself is a maddening enigma, Perry is instantly drawn into a world that both threatens her life and seduces her with a sense of importance. Her uncle’s haunted lighthouse provides the perfect catalyst and backdrop for a horrific mystery that unravels the threads of Perry’s fragile sanity and causes her to fall for a man, who, like the most dangerous of ghosts, may not be all that he seems.
Source: I purchased a copy for Kindle while it was free.
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Review:
So, this is like THE series that everyone keeps talking about and recommending. I knew there were a ton of books, so I snagged them all during some crazy sale and I have ALL of the books. And if I’m being honest, I really hope I don’t regret that decision. I hate reading a series that is long when I don’t have all of the books, but I also hate buying all of the books without knowing if I’ll like it. And after book one, I still don’t know if I like it. I sense potential, but I wasn’t blown away by Darkhouse at all. I’m intrigued and I’m eager to see where the series will go, but I’m not sure that I liked it.
Perry wasn’t one of my favorite characters. Most of the time, she seemed petty and jealous and had a serious case of bad self esteem. And it didn’t improve. While I can see how she got that way, it got really old seeing her constantly put herself down and make snarky remarks about skinny people or successful people. I liked her narration when she wasn’t being that way, but I’m really hoping she grows up and stops acting like people who have their lives together are messed up. Her attitude was just really crappy.
I’m also not sure I really like Dex. I mean, he made me laugh and I loved his jokes, sense of humor, and all around attitude, but there was also something extremely annoying about him. He was really moody and not just that whole “I have sexual tension because I’m into this person” moody, but like this-guy-might-really-be-freaking-crazy moody. And the way Perry described him throughout the novel, while she was super attracted to him, I wasn’t sure I was buying it. He doesn’t seem very attractive to me at all. I guess I’m missing something.
I’m also trying to figure out why or how other people found the ghost story scary enough to creep them out. Now, I know I like horror and I’ve read some pretty creepy stuff, so maybe I just expect more from something that promises to be creepy, but I guess I wasn’t as impressed as everyone else.
I will continue on because it was a quick read, entertaining, and I own all of the books now. I hope it gets better. I predict that Perry and Dex will grow into better people and finally figure out how they work as a team as the series goes on and I really need that to happen.
I do recommend this to people who never ever read actual horror and still find the idea of ghosts and shows like Ghost Hunter really scary. It seems like most people who raved about it are those who never really read horror.
In the book’s defense, I read it because I just got finished with Poison Princess and Endless Knight by Kresley Cole, which are both awesomely horrific and totally romantic and I was craving a good paranormal romance to sort of stack on that mood. Those books were fantastic and I AM admittedly suffering from a book hangover and may be expecting too much from this one.