The Delusion: We All Have Our Demons (The Delusion Series)

First I thank God for using this author, when I say I was crying and just begging God for forgiveness. I was begging, bc this book capture the unseen world just right and more some. Like first I didn’t think it was christian book or anything like that but I didn’t stop reading it, AND DON’T STOP READING IT. It’s seem scary but Demon and thing are scary they not some cute thing that we people make it some like…..words can not describe how good and amazing this book it. First you the book is in a unbelievers view on seeing demons but he don’t know what he looking at. Like I can’t give more information on it bc then I be telling the whole book. The details on demons and thing are amazing and it give me new fire or should I say more fire for the lost soul.Even for my brother and sister in faith that have chain on them, sometime people think if u save your problem is gone but it not. You fighting against devils and his army and God is the only reason we win bc we are nothing with out God. Plus I am about to read book two yay.

I grabbed my intention and had me up way to late reading haha. Great message both about that terrible tragedy that to many families and friends go trough when one chooses suicide over living. Only if they could know the Love of God

Fans of Peretti will like. It starts stronger than it ends however.

This book was amazing! I never knew what was going to happen next. It was incredibly intense. The story follows Owen Edmonds as his senior year winds down at Masonville High School. It's a depressing place as eleven students have committed suicide and they all wonder who will be next. Owen is just trying to get to graduation when he meets a strange old man, almost dies and suddenly he's seeing chains and shackles on pretty much everyone. He doesn't believe in the supernatural but there are scary creatures everywhere and they're tormenting everyone but no one can see them but him. At first he thinks he's going crazy but he finally realizes they're not imaginary. He tries to warn people but they don't believe him. He sees a girl at school who doesn't have shackles and he thinks maybe she knows what's going on and how he can stop them.I just wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next! It reminded me of Frank Peretti's books but a little more intense with the suicides and with a teenager seeing into the other realm. I loved the spiritual conversations as Owen tried to understand what was happening. I admired Owen's determination to save people but also felt like he needed to let people make their own choices. It was heartbreaking to see people make the wrong choices and more so when I thought about real life and how people choose evil and hurtful things all the time, even to their own detriment. There was a little bit of romance. There was also an amazing ending and a cliffhanger! So now I have to wait to find out what happened until book two comes out! I highly recommend this well-written page-turner!I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

I like the book but it is a little preachy. I like that it keeps u guessing until it flat out tells u it's a religious thing.

For starters, for those who don’t know: I am a Christian (I’d go so far as to call myself born-again, though perhaps more liberal than most evangelicals). And I suffer from severe depression and anxiety. With that out in the open, let’s go…Owen Edmonds is a senior at Masonville High, which has the grim distinction of being home to a suicide epidemic. Eleven students have taken their own lives at the novel’s outset, and more deaths will come. Owen just wants to get through senior year unscathed and get out of Dodge. But when a mysterious stranger offers him water from the well on his property, Owen gains the ability to see into the spiritual world. And what he sees is utterly terrifying.People are shackled in chains with cords dangling from their head, each chain or cord bearing the name of a personal sin or person who has harmed them. Ugly, deformed, decaying-looking monsters prey on these chained people, driving them into self-destructive thoughts and actions. The only people who seem immune to their effects are the Lights—glowing people who turn out to be those who are sincere Christians, or young children who have not yet knowingly sinned. Owen comes to the slow realization that the suicides are not just a tragedy—they are part of a conspiracy by forces of spiritual evil to bring Masonville to its knees.OK, so, positives: this novel is definitely gripping. The premise is intriguing—very much in the vein of the influential This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti, though for a younger audience. Owen’s disbelief and slow realization that his visions are real is convincingly rendered. The demons and their effect on people are absolutely bone-chilling. Gallier has a real gift for imagery, and her depiction of spiritual warfare was both scary and deeply thought-provoking. It certainly made me wonder what shackles I had on me, and what dark thoughts I was allowing to hold me back. The plot pulls you in, and each chapter ends with a cliffhanger, propelling the reader forward. It’s the kind of novel that could easily be read in a day.For negatives: on a purely craft level, the language was nothing special, the high-school drama was a bit over-the-top, and the characters felt one-dimensional. But all that pales next to the biggest, most glaring flaw in this novel: its deeply troubling implications about mental health.Gallier seems convinced that mental health is an entirely spiritual matter. Creepers only attack those who aren’t “real Christians”: as if whether one suffers from mental illness or not is a matter of having enough faith. The narrator frequently refers to mentally ill people in a derogatory manner—Reads with Rachel has a whole video review on this book that tackles this far better than I could here. The implication that mental illness can be solved with faith and prayer is one that is deeply harmful to mentally ill people in the Christian community. To be fair, Gallier briefly acknowledges that “real Christians” can have problems in life—the story’s pure Christian character, Ray Anne, has a brother who committed suicide due to bullying, and her parents are struggling in their marriage. But that is only touched upon briefly. The implication seems to be, if you suffer from mental illness, you must not be praying hard enough and it’s your fault. And a very very scary demon will come and get you. And, if you aren’t saved, literally drag you kicking and screaming to Hell. Yes, that happens to an unfortunate girl in this novel.Not exactly a healthy set of ideas to impart on a young person.OK, so you can probably tell by now that mental health in the Christian community is a topic near and dear to my heart. Can I share a little of my story? I was friends with, and deeply influenced by, a fundamentalist Christian family in college. My mental health started to fall apart at that time, and I was told that I needed to read the Bible more and pray more, or even rebuke the demons in my room, to make the depressive thoughts go away. Even though I cut off contact with them eventually, I still carried around the attitude that my depression was my punishment from God for not having enough faith. I prayed. I fasted. I read the Bible and as much evangelical commentary on it as possible. Nothing helped. I only pushed away everyone close to me. Eventually I sought out a more moderate Christian counselor and went on medication. My life isn’t perfect now, but it’s a lot better. My experiences with the toxic attitudes towards mental illness in the Christian community very nearly led me to deconstruct my faith entirely. So when I read a book like this it just…well, leaves me with a really dark, heavy feeling. I had to put the book down before finishing it.I’ve listened to an interview with Laura Gallier on the Hope Prose Podcast, and it’s clear she feels called by God to do the work she’s doing. Teens have testified that her book has literally stopped them from committing suicide, which is great. If it’s her calling, and God is doing great things through her book, I don’t want to challenge that. It’s…a struggle. I did NOT like this book or its message, but maybe for someone else it is just the message they need and could literally save their life. I don’t know.It just makes me now want to go and write a mental illness positive Christian fantasy.Interestingly, Huntress by Julie Hall covers some very similar territory: people being preyed on by demons, the power of prayer, questions about why God is present or absent, even a school shooting with some demonic activity involved…but I absolutely adored Huntress while I kind of loathe Delusion. Why’s that? Hall’s work has a much gentler touch, doesn’t say anything derogatory about mental illness, and has a realistic heroine who actually struggles with doubts. It’s also just a much better-written work with interesting characters and a beautiful setting, which offers the reader positive reasons to believe in and seek God rather than just fear. Stay tuned for my 5-star review of that book.Artistic value: 2/5Christian value: 5/5General values: 2/5Entertainment value: 4/5Naomi’s choice: 1/5Naomi’s outSpecLOGOS

This book is a bone chilling reminder of how strong sin and our human addictions are in this life. But it also shows those who have Christ and how we are protected against evil.

Great book. Came in perfect condition and quite quickly too.