Cold As Marble
Mischa and McKenna meet up and debate whether destroying the locket really ended the curse. MicKenna doesn’t think it did or else Violet wouldn’t be handing out death readings. McKenna tho, believes the curse is over because she didn’t die by the new moon. McKenna tho, convinces her to go with her to an occult bookshop to speak with someone who specializes in curses. McKenna finds out that a classmate went missing after a jog.
Since Mckenna started going to the boarding school, she’s now hearing voices in her head that warn her against danger. The voices lead her to a letter in Emory’s mail. There’s a letter there from a law firm which is what it seems the voices want McKenna to see.The Emorys arrive home not long after. McKenna tells Trey to try to get out at 1 to go with her and Mischa abut a Violet thing. (His mother reminds him and McKenna that she and her mother agree it’s not a good idea for them to see each other). MecKenna's mom feels the same but luckily Mrs. And Mr. Emory get called away for other events. Unluckily, Henry arrives with Mischa and wants to help. So they head to Sticks and Stones to try to find out how Violet got her powers.
At the store, Mckenna is drawn to a white stone (selenite). The sales lady who doesn’t have time for wanna-be magicians tells her she’s draining the rock and she doesn’t have time to answer beginner’s questions about curses. Kristen finally get the truth about how playing Light As.. killed their two friends. She has Mckenna hold a pendulum to get the feel of the tool. While doing this the truth also comes out about Olivia’s spirit haunting her roo to Henry (whose shocked and a little hurt no one told him). When the pendulum swings in a different way than usual, Kristen announces that Mckenna is a medium. Kristen gets there information and says she’ll speak to her boss (who knows more about this) and she gives them a book called “Understanding the Spirit World”. Henry buys the pendulum for Violet and Kristen gives Mischa a seven-day candle.
Mckenna starts to ask it questions. Did Violet know about what would happen to Olivia and Candace (yes). Did the prayers from the nuns block Violet’s cure from Mischa (yes). Were they still praying for her (No). Kristen then performs a truth spell using the picture of Violet on Henry’s phone and two mirrors. In it each victim appears before falling. An image of Violet’s mother appears as is. Kristen comes to the conclusion that a new victim is sacrificed every month to save Violet’s mother. Kristen also gives Mckenna a few sticks of palo santos and the information to a guy that teaches about out of body exper should she ever want to learn more about her skill. Kristen surprises McKenna by telling her that Mischa is the next to die because unlike hers, Kristen can’t see Mischa’s aura. She also tells McKenna that when she blew out the candle the smoke drifted toward Trey (indicating he can’t be trusted and is connected to what’s going on).
On the drive back, the voices tell McKenna to take a certain road. They're waiting for her in the form of “Bloody Heather” is her sister Jennie. She tells her that to kill Violet she’ll have to kill the five other sisters. When asked if Mischa is next she says there are two more in line and one more is about to die. She says that she has to get Violet to play the game again and then she will tell her how to finish her off. They discuss the occurrence and conclude that maybe Violet has five dead sisters. Because McKenna told her mom she was going to look for a present for her she drops off Mischa and she, Trey, and Henry go to Henessey’s. Mckenna overhears Violet telling somone on the phone she was scheduled to go to Saint Bart's but her mom got sick with the flu. She comes to the conclution later that Violet didn’t make a sacrifice this month (and her mom got sick as a result) because she thought that Mischa would be next, but when that didn’t happen she had Stephanie killed. Trey reminds McKenna as they part, Violet is a month behind. McKenna thinks of the conversation she heard of Violet and her friend Tracey. Violet said she hoped Tracey was better in time for an NYE party. That night the voices tell her “the ice”. McKenna remembers the letter and sees that Mrs. Emory is being sued for something she did eighteen years ago. That’s why she’s selling the house. McKenna realizes that Violet’s father is either Trey’s father or uncle. “The eyes.” While in the store she noticed Mr. Simmons's eyes. They look just like Trey’s. Maybe Violet’s father was the client seeking payment from Trey’s mom. McKenna wonders if Trey knows who his real father was. Maybe Trey was helping Violet to get on good terms with his sister and father.
Trey comes by on Christmas morning and says Stephanie died. She fell through the ice when ice skating. McKenna confronts Trey about his father and he says he really doesn’t think of him as his father as the reason he didn’t tell her. Trey says there’s a lot more but it's not the time. McKenna as in confirmation, receives a call from Cheryl (Tracey’s cousin) who says she’s in the ER for bacterial menignitus. So, McKenna makes plans to go to the hospital the next day with Cheryl. That night McKenna asks the pendulum if an object could be offered for protection (yes), would it need to be cursed (yes), and if she gave Tracey something of Jennie’s would that work (yes).
So she takes a denim belt loop to Tracey. She takes this and sews it on the inside of a cute, stuffed, puppy she finds in the gift shop. Tracey is skeptical at first but accepts the gift. Then she starts talking about how McKenna missed out on the chance to know Violet and the great deal she got for the ski trip. McKenna realizes how many accidents she could cause at a ski resort. Tracey and her mom argue about getting out in time to go to the NYE party, Violet shows up with roses. She’s there visiting her mom. She says her fever spiked but she’s on the mend. Cheryl, Mckenna, and her mom say their goodbyes. Violet asks to speak to McKenna and then when in private and then warns McKenna to stay away from Tracey. She says she knows what she’s up to. Mckenna plays dumb and leaves. Later at home, there’s a tapping on McKenna’s window, and then steam starts forming a picture. Mischa is on the phone telling her about Violet’s mother who had daughters that kept dying on the same day. The pictures on the windows are of girls. There were four baby girls before Violet. Mischa theorizes that maybe the sisters are controlling Violet Or maybe they’re pissed that Violet survived. She says maybe the fifth was a miscarriage and not registered. They figure the party is the best chance to get Violet to play the game. Mckenna said the pendulum were the drawings in the window Jennie’s (yes). Did Violet have a fifth, dead, sister (yes)? Did Violet’s mom get sick because no one got sick in Nov (yes).
McKenna finds out that Trey had a dream that Olivia would go to the mall and something was coming for her. That’s why he went to Green Bay (in an attempt to rescue her). McKenna suggests that it could be the sisters and Trey thinks this sounds about right. He also hears voices. Mckenna tells him about her voices and suggests that he has a link with the spirits also. Trey doesn’t think McKenna should try to go to Violet’s party. Two incidents happen. While discussing plans to get into Violet’s party undetected and force her to play the game, Henry, Misha, and McKenna find that an icle has shattered Henry’s windshield. They get home and find out that McKenna’s mom’s car breaks gave out and she hit Mischa’s mom’s car. Clearly both warnings from the spirits to stay away from the party.
Mrs. Simmons gets released from the hospital. McKenna finds out from Trey that the letter is in regards to Mr. Simmons's lawyers offering her money to terminate her pregnancy. Later, McKenna finds out from a journal of hers that Mrs. Simmons cast a spell on Violet’s mother. Kristen said it looks like someone else also cast a spell on her and the two didn’t mix well. At the party, they find that Violet is handing out predictions. Violet already knows they’re coming and promptly has some guys kick them out. A text from Olivia sends McKenna to believe Mischa that Violet will make her next move at the ski resort. Cheryl wants to help so Violet tells her to go on the ski trip and keep an eye on Violet for her. Mischa gets invited to stay with Kristen in Chicago. On the way to the ski resort, Trey and McKenna realize that maybe someone put a spell on Violet’s mom that she would have a healthy.. They finally reach the ski resort. They finally find Violet on the slopes and confront her. McKenna tells her she knows how to end the curse. A teacher interferes and says the police are on the way. Violet tells them there is no way to end it. Before long there’s an avalanche.
McKenna survives the avalanche. Henry discovers Violet’s body in the snow. McKenna thinks she must have predicted the avalanche. McKenna realizes they’re running out of time, and convinces Violet to play the game. (Even though she needs medical attention. They use the surface in Trey’s ski goggles. McKenna asks the pendulum if it can show her Violet’s future death. McKenna thinks it’s her reflection she sees but it’s Jennie’s. She shows her a doctor’s office. The dr is telling her some test results. She’s older. She sees him mouth the word cancer (colon). She was told she had less than a year to live. She vows not to have treatment and enjoy the last few months she has with her children and grandchildren. McKenna chants “Light as a feather cold as marble”. Violet's body rises. She marbles and freezes to death. Jennie also shows Trey’s coffin buried by Violet. McKenna then sees five forms in the mirror and then Violet. The pendulum confirms they’re done. Violet says after that if they didn’t go get who they wanted they’d kill her mom. They’d punish her if she said no. She doesn’t know who they are. She doesn’t know if they’re the spirits of her sisters or someone pretending. They told her they died so she could live. She says Trey knows. They told her if she doesn’t do what they say they make her mom sick and sometimes they get greedy.
Later, Violet stops by McKenna’s and says it had been happening for a year. She saw them the first time after her grandmother died. They were blue orbs. They told her they wanted her to get one. They levitated one of her stuffed animals. Violet told herself it was a hallucination. She didn’t tell her parents. One day at school, a guy at school was playing with a deck of cards. She then could see “stories” of how certain friends would die and asked her friends to pick a card. This happened again but she refused. After this her mom’s dryer electrocuted her. She says her paternal grandmother was into tarot and might have used herbs or done something. She says before her (her) grandmother was the one supplying the deaths but she worked at a nursing home and only gave names of the terminally ill. Kristen says Violet’s grandmother asked the three souls before her to protect her life and she planted three rose bushes. Violet’s mother’s spell turned them into portals and three evil things came through. The grandmother planted two more at some point. She says that if the rosebushes are still there the spell may not be over. At the end of the book, Mckenna is sent to Florida and Trey back to Willow. The curse is now transferred to Mischa.
My Thoughts
This one was decent as well! I forgot to comment on the end of “Light As A Feather”. I felt like it was a lil *too* over the top. It almost felt like I was watching Set It Uff. They didn’t rob a bank! They got in a fight with a girl and stole her necklace. So, the police chase was WAY over the top. They didn’t hold her at gunpoint (rolling my eyes).
In this one, I liked the use of the pendulum. The pendulum was a character in itself. It was such an effective tool that it made me wonder if I should be using the one I bought more often for answers. McKenna might not realize it (and I know it seems a little scary) but I don’t think *all* spirits have evil intent So, I did agree with Kristen that being a medium could be a good thing. I can 100 percent attest to the fact that if allowed spirits can be extremely helpful if one chooses to work with you and intercede in your life. but you have to be open-minded. So I hope that by the end of the series, McKena takes Kristen up on her advice and tries to seek help to develop her gift.
I also liked how the other spells played a part of the story, Such as the mirror spell they did in the occult, book, store. I really wish there was one of those where I lived. But since I’m from the South and as we all know the South tends not to recognize anything but Christianity no such luck of that ever happening. I admit tho, while I was aware of Light As A Feather (Stiff As a Board) to a small extent, “Light As A Feather, Cold As Marble” kind of threw me off because it was new. I was trying to wrap my head around how the “spell” practically froze her to death to the point where it took Violet to the other side but didn’t finish her off. When she came to I was thinking hunh. I thought the point *WAS* to kill her. Didn’t Jennie give the impression that to end the curse Violet had to die? And if someone freezes you from the outside inward I don’t know. As much as I despise the cold, I surely would have died on the spot.
The rose bushes as portals were an interesting touch. I’m interested in reading about the demons perpetrating Violet’s sisters. I hope the next book gets more into (well we know how they came) but why they picked this family to demand sacrifices from.
Rating: 7