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-Synopsis-

She has been praying since before she could speak. Now she is the only thing standing between the ones she loves and a darkness determined to destroy them.

Thirteen years ago, Stephanie Hudson and her family vanished without a trace, and her best friend Mariah feared the worst. Now Stephanie and her two daughters have stepped back into Mariah’s life, fleeing a distant, abusive husband… and a generations-old secret hidden behind the walls of Hudson’s Tavern.

As darkness closes in on the young family’s hiding place, the fearless faith of thirteen-year-old Rebekah becomes the main defense against the forces of a cursed bloodline, a mysterious spirit, and hate crimes threatening to destroy their small town. With her estranged father’s fate hanging in the balance, Rebekah and a small circle of believers must face the powers hunting them before the darkness claims their family for good.

-Review-

Trigger Warnings: Satanic worship/abuse, murder, apparent racially motivated hate crimes, kidnapping, apparent and mentioned human trafficking, stalking, demonic possession/influence.

To begin, I would like to thank both Melane Bower and New Heaven Publishing for allowing me access to a free eBook edition of The Portal, in exchange for my honest review. Even though this book came out earlier this year, I am fortunate I was able to read this story. Thank yall!

The Portal was a book unlike any other I have read thus far. It has heavy Christian elements, and relied heavily on faith and redemption themes. This book does not shy away from the more grittier content, in fact it forces the reader to face intense spiritual warfare head on. The fact the characters were still able to find even a modicum of peace with everything happening, shows how powerful having a relationship with Christ truly is.

The writing follows the perspectives of basically every single main character in the story, with even a few side characters taking over time to time. Even though I found the sheer number of POVs a tad overwhelming, you get to experience the whole spectrum of spiritual maturity and faith of each character. It makes you realize how everyone’s walk of faith (or lack thereof) can differ so drastically. Particularly in the face of true darkness and evil.

This book mainly takes place within historic Delaware in the USA. As the story progresses, the more infamous aspects of the history become relevant to the main plotlines. These plots not only effect Stephanie and her daughters, but the whole Hudson family line, along with the greater northeastern area of the United States. The whole idea of generational curses was one of the more interesting aspects in this book for sure. It truly makes you second guess how well you know of where and who you came from.

Being somebody who enjoys a good creep factor in media, the supernatural elements are very much present. There are ghostly apparitions, disembodied footsteps, demonic rituals, and poltergeist activity throughout. Having read this book right before spooky season was such a nice dive into these scarier themes.

Even though the darker themes are a big focus, hope is the overarching message in The Portal. That hope is shown mainly through the characters’ belief and faith in God. Prayer is the biggest method this faith is used and is very much a sword against the darker forces. As someone who shares the belief of the main characters, I am very much aware with how powerful prayer is particularly when you are going through a tough period. The way this is personified, felt so powerful.

The main reasons behind the four star rating included my struggle with so many POVs at times and the fact there were some questionable decisions made by the characters that did not feel so realistic given the circumstances. That being said, I enjoyed all the characters the vast majority of the time and sometimes those reckless decisions turned out positive in the end.

All in all, I would recommend The Portal to anyone who enjoys a great gritty Christian horror story. I would not say you have to be Christian to enjoy the story, but I do think having that commonality would allow you to relate to the overall story all the more. There is a sequel to this book that is due to release this year, The Legacy, with some of the same characters with a different story. I would love to read this one as well.

Once again, a big thank you to Melane Bower and New Heaven Publishing for allowing me access to this eBook in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

-About the Author-

In addition to crafting novels of Christian suspense, Melane has been a professional copywriter since 2005, specializing in creating fundraising letters, website copy, and newsletter content for nonprofit organizations throughout the United States. In 2015, she refined her writing to include freelance ghostwriting and book editing services, including for a Christian book publishing company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “The Portal” is her debut novel.