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Reviewed by Marc Lalonde for Readers' Favorite
Hidden horror comes to life in The Salvation of Kora by Yolanda Olson. Young adult Lily struggles to establish a normal life and move on from the traumas of her past, burdened by the twin losses of her mother and sister to different fates. Being thrust into the care of her cold, sneering father doesn’t make it easy to move on, not when everyone seems to shun her because of her past. She finds solace in a local church, shepherded by the kind Father Whittaker, although her faith is shaky. The potential romantic interest, flirty Devyn, gives her further hope of normalcy until events make it clear that she can never truly escape her past. She can’t run away; she can only run back to where it all began and confront the terror that stalks her.
I was intrigued by the book’s opening: an exorcism from the subject’s point of view, with paragraphs intermixed with Latin invocations. This established the religion-tinged horror that forms the heart of the book but left me yearning for more details. Exactly what happened, and to whom? Lily’s reluctant journey of discovery draws the reader along. The story maintains a haunting tone, with slow-burning fear gradually rising as the story rolls towards its climax. I savored each piece of information, painstakingly doled out, uncertain as to whether the narrator could be trusted. The Salvation of Kora by Yolanda Olson does a terrific job of creating low-level fear and anxiety for the reader to parallel Lily’s experience. The final shocking revelations about both the past and the present left me breathless. Great story, very chilling. What terrifying cover art!
