The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street ~ Lindsay Currie (earc) review [@lindsayncurrie @simonkids]

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street
Aladdin
October 10, 2017
304 pages
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A girl unravels a centuries-old mystery after moving into a haunted house in this deliciously suspenseful mystery.

Tessa Woodward isn’t exactly thrilled to move to rainy, cold Chicago from her home in sunny Florida. But homesickness turns to icy fear when unexplainable things start happening in her new house. Things like flickering lights, mysterious drawings appearing out of nowhere, and a crackling noise she can feel in her bones.

When her little brother’s doll starts crying real tears, Tessa realizes that someone—or something—is trying to communicate with her. A secret that’s been shrouded in mystery for more than one hundred years.

With the help of three new friends, Tessa begins unraveling the mystery of what happened in the house on Shady Street—and more importantly, what it has to do with her!

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street is a fun ghost story and story of friendship. Tessa has to deal with a mix of both the normal things (new school and new friend anxieties, missing her best friend, cold weather, everything being unfamiliar) and the not so normal (flickering lights, drawings appearing on her sketchpad, strange noises) when her family moves from Florida to Chicago.

Even if everything were normal, with no paranormal happenings, the move would be a lot for the twelve-year-old. Add in the weird occurrences and she's ready to go back to Fort Myers.   If her new friends can help, maybe she can stay - and like it.

I really enjoyed the blend of Tessa's adjustment to a new town, new house and new school with the supernatural elements. The way they worked together from how Tessa's feelings about her house impacted her feelings about Chicago to it all gave her something to talk to her potential new friends about, was done very well.

There were a few inconsistencies or inaccuracies that pulled me out of the story a bit. They were not things that really affected the story but they were distracting.

The relationship Tessa has with her parents was nicely done. Though her character could, at times, feel younger than twelve, I liked how the situation (the move first, then the weird events at the house) allowed us to see different aspects of their relationship than we otherwise would have. The author also did a nice job including different types of parenting while having them all be loving and involved.







digital review copy received thanks to publisher, via NetGalley

Top Ten Tuesday: Ghost Stories

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Ten:

this week it's a Halloween Freebie so my top ten is . . .

10 Ghost Stories

Sisters of Blood and Spirit (#1) by Kady Cross

review

Dead and Buried by Kim Harington

review

Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell

review

The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee

review

Texas Gothic (#1) by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Goodreads

The Girl from the Well (#1) by Rin Chupeco

review

Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan

review

The Restorer (#1) by Amanda Stevens

review

Silence (#1) by Michelle Sagara

review

Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire

Goodreaeds

Also? You should watch the Casper movie today. (Or any day really.)

Please leave a comment and let me know your favorite ghost stories - or ghost characters!

The Graveyard Apartment ~ Mariko Koike (earc) review [@StMartinsPress]

The Graveyard Apartment: A Novel
by Mariko Koike, translated by Deborah Boliver Boehm
Thomas Dunne Books
October 11, 2016
325 pages
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A terrifying tale of a young family who move into an apartment building next to a graveyard and the horrors that are unleashed upon them.

One of the most popular writers working in Japan today, Mariko Koike is a recognized master of detective fiction and horror writing. Known in particular for her hybrid works that blend these styles with elements of romance, The Graveyard Apartment is arguably Koike’s masterpiece. Originally published in Japan in 1986, Koike’s novel is the suspenseful tale of a young family that believes it has found the perfect home to grow in to, only to realize that the apartment’s idyllic setting harbors the specter of evil and that longer they stay, the more trapped they become.

This tale of a young married couple who are harboring a dark secret is packed with dread and terror, as they and their daughter move into a brand new apartment building built next to a graveyard. As strange and terrifying occurrences begin to pile up, people in the building begin to move out one by one, until the young family is left alone with someone... or something... lurking in the basement. The psychological horror builds moment after moment, scene after scene, culminating with a conclusion that will make you think twice before ever going into a basement again.

Teppei and his wife Misao are thrilled when they find the Central Plaza Mansion apartment listing. The price lower than they expected, and the building seems like it will be perfect for them and their young daughter Tamao - it will even allow their dog, Cookie. Sure it's bordered by a cemetery, a Buddhist temple and a crematorium, but that can be ignored, right?

The apartment is supposed to be the perfect, new start for the Kano family. And for a bit it is.

Then, it most definitely is not.

The Graveyard Apartment was creepy and scary in a wonderful way I Wasn't expecting. It is not full of shocks and starts, things designed to startle and surprise you. Scary things do still happen but we often didn't get the direct experience of them, instead being an outside character or someone not sure what happened. While it might not sound as scary, it's definitely unsettling in its own way. The way things happened kept the tension and unease high for the whole book, not just the instance or two when a 'scary' thing happneed.

I liked that we still go to see who the characters were: the dark secret in Teppei and Misao's past, her desire to get back to work, his relationship with his brother, and them raising Tamao. (Though, it did often seem that Tamao was older than the four or five she was supposed to be. I wasn't sure if some of that was the translation, literal or figurative, or not.)

It seems that the translator did a great job with The Graveyard Apartment. I, of course, haven't read the novel in its original language so I can't say that definitively, but it certainly appears that way. There is a nice inclusion of the sayings, tidbits and daily life in Japan that are there, but either given context or somehow phrased in away that make them understandable to Western readers.

Before reading this book, I really wouldn't have minded living next to a graveyard, now I'm not so sure.








digital copy received for review, form publisher, via NetGalley

The Sinner ~ Amanda Stevens (earc) review [@AmandaStevensTX @MIRAEditors @HarlequinBooks]

The Sinner (Graveyard Queen #5)
Mira
September 27, 2016
384 pages
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I am a living ghost, a wanderer in search of my purpose and place…

I'm a cemetery restorer by trade, but my calling has evolved from that of ghost seer to death walker to detective of lost souls. I solve the riddles of the dead so the dead will leave me alone.

I've come to Seven Gates Cemetery nursing a broken heart, but peace is hard to come by…for the ghosts here and for me. When the body of a young woman is discovered in a caged grave, I know that I've been summoned for a reason. Only I can unmask her killer. I want to trust the detective assigned to the case for he is a ghost seer like me. But how can I put my faith in anyone when supernatural forces are manipulating my every thought? When reality is ever-changing? And when the one person I thought I could trust above all others has turned into a diabolical stranger?

At first, I was a little disappointed that there weren't more ghosts in The Sinner. It is, after all, something I've come to expect with the Graveyard Queen books. As the story progressed, though, I not only didn't mind, I liked that this tale was a bit different. There are absolutely still otherworldly, supernatural things that Amelia experiences, sees, hears - it's just a bit different.

It works not only for The Sinner's specific story in Ascension and around Seven Gates Cemetery but also for Amelia's character and her development. She's no longer just the ghost-seer we met in The Restorer. During the series, especially in the book prior to this one The Visitor, both we readers and Amelia herself have learned more about her abilities, some oft he 'why' and about who and what she is - that it's a lot more than she ever expected. This book was a great follow-up to The Visitor with her still figuring some of those things out.

Devlin's absence from this book was noted and (as much as I did miss him), what that meant for and to Amelia during the book and what we learn about some of the, possible, reasoning has me really hoping to see it all explored more in the next book. (And hopefully for him to be back!)

The author did a fantastic job introducing us to new characters, while still involving some of the ones we're familiar with the story in unexpected but really smart ways. Amelia's job as a  cemetery restorer is not only one I want, but it gives her a unique knowledge base that always lets her know things that are really interesting and that you're not likely to hear elsewhere. It also lets her travel to new locations with each book that pull her into a new town, with new lore and secrets -- and characters.

I really enjoyed reading The Sinner, Amelia's summer in Ascension with all of its unexpected occurrences, secrets, supernatural history and even the danger. Her character has undergone some excellent growth and development since the series started and I'm really looking forward to where things end up for her, both personally and with her 'ghostly' abilities.









review copy received thanks to publisher, via NetGalley

The Secret Language of Stones ~ M.J. Rose (earc) review [@mjrose @AtriaBooks]

The Secret Language of Stones: A Novel (Daughters of La Lune #2)
Atria Books
July 19, 2016
320 pages
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As World War I rages and the Romanov dynasty reaches its sudden, brutal end, a young jewelry maker discovers love, passion, and her own healing powers in this rich and romantic ghost story, the perfect follow-up to M.J. Rose’s “brilliantly crafted” (Providence Journal) novel The Witch of Painted Sorrows.

Nestled within Paris’s historic Palais Royal is a jewelry store unlike any other. La Fantasie Russie is owned by Pavel Orloff, protégé to the famous Faberge, and is known by the city’s fashion elite as the place to find the rarest of gemstones and the most unique designs. But war has transformed Paris from a city of style and romance to a place of fear and mourning. In the summer of 1918, places where lovers used to walk, widows now wander alone.

So it is from La Fantasie Russie’s workshop that young, ambitious Opaline Duplessi now spends her time making trench watches for soldiers at the front, as well as mourning jewelry for the mothers, wives, and lovers of those who have fallen. People say that Opaline’s creations are magical. But magic is a word Opaline would rather not use. The concept is too closely associated with her mother Sandrine, who practices the dark arts passed down from their ancestor La Lune, one of sixteenth century Paris’s most famous courtesans.

But Opaline does have a rare gift even she can’t deny, a form of lithomancy that allows her to translate the energy emanating from stones. Certain gemstones, combined with a personal item, such as a lock of hair, enable her to receive messages from beyond the grave. In her mind, she is no mystic, but merely a messenger, giving voice to soldiers who died before they were able to properly express themselves to loved ones. Until one day, one of these fallen soldiers communicates a message—directly to her.

So begins a dangerous journey that will take Opaline into the darkest corners of wartime Paris and across the English Channel, where the exiled Romanov dowager empress is waiting to discover the fate of her family. Full of romance, seduction, and a love so powerful it reaches beyond the grave, The Secret Language of Stones is yet another “spellbindingly haunting” (Suspense magazine), “entrancing read that will long be savored” (Library Journal, starred review).

The Secret Language of Stones follows the first Daughters of La Lune novel, last year's The Witch of Painted Sorrows.  This novel centers around Opaline, the daughter of The Witch's main character, Sandrine. As a young woman, it's now time for Opaline to confront the legacy or curse of being a descendant of La Lune. Whether she wants to or not.

I liked that in a lot of ways, The Secret Language of Stones was a completely separate story from The Witch of Painted Sorrows. Opaline is different from Sandrine, her mother. She knows about La Lune, knows what her mother and great-grandmother have told her. Yet, while she knows about the magic, knows the story and the lore, she's much more reticent to embrace being a daughter of La Lune.

There was not the tension and the really compelling need to find out the truth and what it all meant that there was, for me, in The Witch. Both because of Opaline's personality and that La Lune, who and what she was had already gone from unknown to known with Sandrine.

I did love the time the book was set in. Logically, I know that the World War I and the Russian Revolution shared some time; I don't think I've truly connected it before, though. I really liked how Opaline's age, her relationships (past and present) and the jewellery she makes give readers that more personal understanding of the war and its impact

As a romance, The Secret Language of Stones was not quite all that I hoped for. Any time something is called, 'a romantic ghost story,' I do have very high hopes, admittedly. My problem here was that the other character, Opaline's romantic interest never really felt real to me. He didn't feel, for lack of better phrasing, three dimensional or like a character fully separate from Opaline and her interactions with him.

Still, I very much enjoyed the rest of the story, the combination of the Paris in 1918 setting, the devastation, danger and loss from World War I, the Orloff's and their concerns over the Romanovs and Russia, and Opaline's abilities, along with what they meant was all fantastic. Plus, that ending!

(This book can be read without first reading The Witch of Painted Sorrows but I do think you will miss out on a lot of who and what La Lune is/was and what being a 'daughter' of hers could mean. )








received for review, from publisher, via NetGalley

The Visitor ~ Amanda Stevens (earc) review [@AmandaStevensTX @HarlequinBooks @MiraEditors]

The Visitor (Graveyard Queen #4)
Mira
March 29, 2016
384 pages
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My name is Amelia Gray. I'm the Graveyard Queen.

Restoring lost and abandoned cemeteries is my profession, but I'm starting to believe that my true calling is deciphering the riddles of the dead. Legend has it that Kroll Cemetery is a puzzle no one has ever been able to solve. For over half a century, the answer has remained hidden within the strange headstone inscriptions and intricate engravings. Because uncovering the mystery of that tiny, remote graveyard may come at a terrible price.

Years after their mass death, Ezra Kroll's disciples lie unquiet, their tormented souls trapped within the walls of Kroll Cemetery, waiting to be released by someone strong and clever enough to solve the puzzle. For whatever reason, I'm being summoned to that graveyard by both the living and the dead. Every lead I follow, every clue I unravel brings me closer to an unlikely killer and to a destiny that will threaten my sanity and a future with my love, John Devlin.

My reviews of the first three Graveyard Queen Books

The first three books in this series were released (and I read them) in 2011 and 2012 so it was a bit difficult for me to fall back into who the characters were, their relationships and what they'd experienced (and/or endured) already. There was maybe not as much of a refresher on the facts as I wanted, but I think it was still the right amount. It's enough that for you to get The Visitor and what's happening but not so much that it's too spoilery if you haven't read Books 1-3, yet.

It seems that if you read The Visitor soon (or sooner than I read it) after The Prophet you will get more out of Amelia and Devlin's relationship. You'll have a fuller picture of what they've experienced together and be able to appreciate that relationship more.

They are still a great balance for each other. Devlin can be a bit more reluctant, wanting to weigh the danger and any threats of a situation while wanting to keep Amelia safe. She's more likely to run headlong into something if it's a good mystery or what she thinks she needs to do. There's also a nice contrast - and balance - between Amelia who sees all of the ghosts (and other things) and Devlin who, we're not sure, may see them but won't admit it. She sees the ghost, he sees a shadow.

I liked that his past with Mariama is not fully resolved and, in some ways, looks to be getting even more complicated.

The way that Amelia's father's rules are restated in this book works nicely with the story. Even readers new to the series will understand what he's taught her and what following - or not following - the rules can mean for her. Yet, how it's worked into the story keeps it from being at all redundant.

The Visitor is a great blend of a ghost story, a mystery, a bit of romance, and  Southern Gothic. Perhaps it's the setting in this book, around Ezra Kroll, the cemetery and the new characters that make it feel more Gothic than the previous books. The new restoration, the new characters and the revelations about Amelia herself - and her past - make this a really great read.

The Graveyard Queen series is one you may have missed since the first three books were out in 2011 and 2012, but I highly recommend you check it out. I am already looking forward to The Sinner (#5)!







review copy received, thanks to publisher, through NetGalley

The Haunting ~ Alex Bell (earc) review [@stripesbooks @Alex_Bell86 @doYAreadme]

The Haunting (Red Eye)
Stripes Publishing
February 11, 2016
352 pages
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Some curses grow stronger with time…

People say that all Cornish inns are haunted, but the Waterwitch’s history is particularly chilling. Built from the salvaged timber of a cursed ship, the guest house’s dark secrets go further back than anyone can remember.

Emma is permanently confined to a wheelchair after an accident at the Waterwitch which took place when she was ten. Seven years later, she decides to return to the place where the awful event occurred. But the ancient inn still has its ghosts, and one particular spirit is more vengeful than ever…

A chilling new title in the Red Eye horror series from the author of Frozen Charlotte.

I don't know why but I was expecting The Haunting to be a lot less creepy than it was. This is not a book to read right before you go to bed, not if you're looking for a good night's sleep.


While it feels weird to say I am happy Emmy's character was in a wheelchair, in a way I am. (Not only because it's something that should be represented more in fiction, either.) It not only provides an interesting switch up to how she approaches things (and Bailey!) but why she is in the wheelchair is integral to the story. That bit of history plays well with the Waterwitch, the past and the haunting.

The possible haunting slash spirit activity is scary and startling in all the right ways. There is a backstory to it all that is unearthed and developed nicely as the book progresses. Yet, I love that with Shell's character, especially, we're presented with the question of how much if really happening and how much might be perception, the power of suggestion or mental health troubles. We had some of this, as well, in Frozen Charlotte (though I'd forgotten that) . The blend of seemingly very real paranormal occurrences and the characters doubting themselves or each other gives an appreciated bit of mystery.

Alex Biting makes The Haunting incredibly atmospheric. You aren't just reading the scenes, you're in those scenes. You feel what the character is feeling, the fear, the anxiety, the uncertainty and you need to know what's around the corner - even as you fear finding out. For readers it definitely amps up the tension.

I loved how this story unfolded. The mix of the history of the inn, the ship, the current state of the Waterwitch, Jem and Shell's past and present, what happened to Emma, and how everything comes together, right now, in the inn. Alex Bell's writing isn't flowery or overly descriptive but oh how it can paint a picture. Often a disturbing, disgusting or frightening one. The Haunting is definitely a creepy read and I am really, really looking forward to what this author publishes next.

(Be warned though, if you're scared of birds . . .  Just be warned.)

digital copy received for review from publisher, via NetGalley

The Suffering ~ Rin Chupeco (earc) review [@SourcebooksFire @rinchupeco]

The Suffering (The Girl from the Well #2)
Sourcebooks
September 8, 2015
272 pages
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Over the last year I've gone against faceless women, disfigured spirits, and grotesque revenants. Some people keep dangerous hobbies; skydiving and driving at monster truck rallies and glacier surfing. Me? I cast my soul into the churning waters of potential damnation and wait for a bite.

It’s been two years since Tark Halloway’s nightmare ended. Free from the evil spirit that haunted him all his life, he now aids the ghostly Okiku and avenges the souls of innocent children by hunting down their murderers. But when Okiku becomes responsible for a death at his high school, Tark begins to wonder if they’re no better than the killers they seek out.

When an old friend disappears in Aokigahara, Japan’s infamous ‘suicide forest’, both must resolve their differences and return to that country of secrets to find her.

Because there is a strange village inside Aokigahara, a village people claim does not exist. A village where strange things lie waiting.

A village with old ghosts and an ancient evil – one that may be stronger than even Okiku…

When I was about to start The Suffering, I worried maybe I had exaggerating how good The Girl from the Well (my review) was or how much I liked it. I was not - and I love The Suffering just as much.

Author Rin Chupeco does a superb job taking the fact (though less known and lesser understood fact) and blending it with fiction.  The parts that are real and those imagined that you won't be able to tell the difference.

I really liked that The Suffering takes place after two years. In The Girl from the Well, we were just meeting the characters, some of them were just meeting each other and Tark (and Cassie) were just getting to know about ghosts, possessions and the like - and Okiku. Now, they know about spirits, the danger they can pose about Okiku and now she is a part of Tark's life.

As is her hunting of murderers.

Now that Tarquin knows about ghosts, spirits and possessions, as well as how to fight them, The Suffering can take things to a whole new level.

The history, the folklore, the characters, setting and action created for The Suffering are absolutely fantastic. It is all creepy, freakish, a bit mind-bending and would be absolutely terrifying to experience. I absolutely loved it. From why the different ghosts are where and why they are to the role Tark plays in it to what action has to be taken, it's fantastic.

What  keeps the novel from being too tense is Tark and, especially, his sense of humor. Somehow it doesn't come across as irreverence, even if he feels the need to call a ghost a 'douche bag.' It keeps things almost light, at times, fits his character and somehow puts you more in the moment. It really, really works.

This is one creepy, scary, incredibly well imagined and executed ghost story. I am sad to have (very likely) read the last of Tark and Okiku, but cannot wait to see what Rin Chupeco gives us next.








digital galley received from publisher, via NetGalley, for review

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl ~ Paige McKenzie & Alyssa B Sheinmel (arc) review [@hauntedsunshine]

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl
Weinstein Books
March 24, 2015
304 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from TBD/or Amazon

Based on the wildly popular YouTube channel, The Haunting of Sunshine Girl has been described as “ Gilmore Girls meets Paranormal Activity for the new media age.” YA fans new and old will learn the secrets behind Sunshine—the adorkable girl living in a haunted house—a story that is much bigger, and runs much deeper, than even the most devoted viewer can imagine…

When a book tells me it's for, "fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural," it has a lot to live up to. Sadly, for me, The Haunting of Sunshine Girl never quite delivered that greatness.

Sunshine Griffith has recently turned sixteen and she and her mother are leaving Austin - where she's always lived - behind. Their new home in Ridgemont, Washington holds a great, new job for Sunshine's mother and more than a little creepiness as far as Sunshine is concerned.

It is almost immediately clear that Sunshine's new home is haunted.  The question is what - if anything - she can do about it. And what the cost of not figuring things out may be.


The flow of The Haunting of Sunshine Girl felt off to me. I liked the introduction to Sunshine, her mother and their cat and dog. I liked that the ghostly activity began almost immediately. Yet, something kept me from really being drawn in by the story.

The timing was tricky, too. I would think things were happening in a certain length of time only to find out in the next chapter or on the next page that weeks or months had passed from when I thought it was. It left me wondering about the in-between. If Big Thing A and Big Thing B were a few weeks apart, what happened in between? She's living in a haunted house, adjusting to a new school and new state but I didn't feel we got a lot of her day to day life.

The 'action' of The Haunting of Sunshine Girl is really well done. The who, what and how that is created with the supernatural elements is great. It is original and presents a lot of opportunity for where the story can go in the next book(s). I even liked that there was a bit of a cliffhanger because the developments all led up to it so well.

Back to the Buffy and Supernatural mention, if we get more from the characters - their relationships, time where they're not working on the haunting, their interactions - I could really, really enjoy Sunshine Girl. (It may be the transition from YouTube to novel that kept the focus so much on the paranormal parts of Sunshine's life. In the next book, I do hope to get to know the characters more.)

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl is a fun, creative ghost story and the supernatural workings are well imagined and leave a lot of potential for future books in the series.




arc received thanks to the publisher

Sisters of Blood & Spirit ~ Kady Cross (earc) review [@alterkates @harlequinteen]

Sisters of Blood and Spirit (#1)
Harlequin Teen
March 31, 2015
288 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from TBD/or Amazon

Wren Noble is dead—she was born that way. Vibrant, unlike other dead things, she craves those rare moments when her twin sister allows her to step inside her body and experience the world of the living.

Lark Noble is alive but often feels she belongs in the muted Shadow Lands—the realm of the dead. Known as the crazy girl who talks to her dead sister, she doesn't exactly fit in with the living, though a recent suicide attempt and time in a psych ward have proved to her she's not ready to join her sister in the afterlife.

Now the guy who saved Lark's life needs her to repay the favor. He and his friends have been marked for death by the malevolent spirit of a vicious and long-dead serial killer, and the twins—who should know better than to mess with the dead—may be their only hope of staying alive.

So, I love the movie Casper and am almost always looking for a ghost story I can love in the same way and/or where I can find some similarities between the two stories. Kady Cross's Sisters of Blood and Spirit both is that and is so much more. Sort of Casper mixed with Supernatural or Shutter and I love it.

Wren Noble is a ghost. Lark Noble, her twin sister, is alive. Only Lark can see Wren and while she knows Wren is real enough that no one's been able to convince her she's an imaginary friend it hasn't left her looking normal in anyone's eyes. She's the freak that talks to her dead sister.

An attempt to join Wren nearly succeeded, nearly killed Lark. But someone saved her. Someone who now needs her - and maybe Wren's - help.Wren may be a 'nice' ghost but not all of them are and it's a very dangerous one Lark must now deal with to save them.


Sisters of Blood and Spirit has ghosts, it has sisters, it has that awkward/weird/misunderstood new girl, it has romance, it has some great boys, it has sweet girls and catty girls, potential friendships and some self discovery. I really do love it.

The relationship between Lark and Wren is unique and a fantastic foundation for the story. One is dead and one alive but they are still, absolutely, part of each other's lives and worlds. How that has all effected Lark's life is a perfect setup for how she views anyone trying to be nice to her, to befriend her. Her reticence to accept them, accept their motives, gives us time to get to know the other characters. We are able to see what they think of Lark - of Wren.

All of this while they battle a ghost who was - who is? - a serial killer. The danger uncovers things that may have otherwise stayed hidden, reveals things about the characters and who they are - or maybe should be - to each other.

I love the relationships in Sisters of Blood and Spirit, some were more standard and similar to something from another novel, yet when you add in Wren's presence, her inclusion in Lark's life, everything becomes different and fresh. I really enjoyed seeing the progression, the growth, of Lark's character. Who she was when the novel started made perfect sense with what her life has been - seeing/hearer ghost sister along with how everyone has reacted to that over the years - but the events of the story and the introduction of the other characters really impact her.

Wren has her own development as well. We don't learn quite as much as I may have liked about the Shadowlands, the ghosty land she also lives - but I think that really fit the story and her character. As she discovers more about it and herself, I hope readers will also learn more in the next book(s).

I can't wait to see where the girls' characters go in the next book, what happens with their relationships, friendships and their sibling relationship, as well. I'm also looking forward to more spirit involvement. Kady Cross came up with something very creative in Lark and Wren and I think we're only beginning to see all that the sisters can and will do (in the human world, in the spirit world, for themselves, for each other, for those they care about).

I am so very much looking forward to the continuation of this series!

Frozen Charlotte ~ Alex Bell (earc) review [@stripesbooks @Alex_Bell86]

Frozen Charlotte
Stripes Publishing
January 5, 2015
368 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Kindle (currently free)

We're waiting for you to come and play. Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind...Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lilias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. And then there's her other cousin. The girl with a room full of antique dolls. The girl that shouldn't be there. The girl that died.

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

Maybe you think having a fear of porcelain dolls (like Channing Tatum told Ellen about, above) is silly. If so, it's a position you're likely to rethink after reading Alex Bell's Frozen Charlotte.

Bell combines some of the best kids of creepy: dolls, little girls, (potentially) dead little girls, and old timey schoolhouses in this great read. Those pieces are not all Frozen Charlotte has going for it, either. The atmosphere is fantastic. From our introduction to the book and to Sophie to her arrival at her cousin's (both the town and the house), the author creates a feeling of foreboding from nearly the first page.

That sense of lurking danger, of things possibly not being what they seem - all paired with the dolls, the setting and one odd set of relatives - all come together to create an anxiety and pull readers into the tale.

At first, it is hard to be sure if Sophie's ill at ease feelings are a because of what has happened, perhaps even an overreaction, or if they're a very logical reaction to what is to come. As things progress, it almost doesn't seem possible that all that seems to have happened, to be happening, really could. Yet, there doesn't seem to be much other explanation.

Sophie is a great character to be at the center of this novel. She is an outsider in this world of her cousins' which allows for more unknowns, more questions, more uncertainty (for her and the reader, as well). Yet, she's also had something happen to her that leads to some questioning of her character, of her interpretation of things, too.

When everything comes together, Frozen Charlotte is stranger, creepier and more startling than you expect. Better than probably any horror movie, this is one you'll want to read in a well lit - and doll free - room.




thank you to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley

Sweet Unrest ~ Lisa Maxwell (earc) review [@lisamaxwellYA @fluxbooks]

Sweet Unrest
Flux
October 8, 2014
336 pages
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Lucy Aimes has always been practical. But try as she might, she can’t come up with a logical explanation for the recurring dreams that have always haunted her. Dark dreams. Dreams of a long-ago place filled with people she shouldn’t know…but does.

When her family moves to a New Orleans plantation, Lucy’s dreams become more intense, and her search for answers draws her reluctantly into the old city’s world of Voodoo and mysticism. There, Lucy finds Alex, a mysterious boy who behaves as if they’ve known each other forever. Lucy knows Alex is hiding something, and her rational side doesn’t want to be drawn to him. But she is.

As she tries to uncover Alex’s secrets, a killer strikes close to home, and Lucy finds herself ensnared in a century-old vendetta. With the lives of everyone she loves in danger, Lucy will have to unravel the mystery of her dreams before it all comes to a deadly finish.

Lisa Maxwell's Sweet Unrest begins with both a unique character and a unique premise. Lucy's character is very well imagined, from her love of photography to her desire to be back home in Chicago not in New Orleans where they've moved to her dreams. All of the aspects of her character, from the small things to the big, not only make her a character you like reading about from the beginning, but they play into the story as well.

She is still unsure of her family's new life, but enjoying the photographic opportunities when she meets Alex. He is not only attractive but it feels to Lucy that they already know each other. And he's so infrequently around that she spends much of her time hoping to see him again. Even if he won't tell her much about himself.

Soon, Lucy is made aware of a world she never new of before, that of Voodoo. Her new friend Chloe knows Lucy, the Yankee, has no idea about it beyond her misconceptions and finds it fun to educate her.

Until it becomes more a part of Lucy's life than either of them imagined. With the dreams Lucy has had all of her life evolving into something more, filling with people of a long-ago time that are proving more real than is logical and danger all around, the move to New Orleans quickly becomes something else entirely for Lucy.

I like the mix of Voodoo, the past, the setting, Lucy's character and the other characters. Most of it works really well together in Sweet Unrest and is different from other things I Have read.  Readers get an idea of who Alex is before Lucy seems to and while it's frustrating how much she'll deny, at times, I enjoyed her path to accepting that knowledge.

The romance aspects of the novel were not quite what I was hoping the would be. They're okay and the story doesn't suffer but I wanted more. The characters have a strong bond but mostly because they said so or were supposed to, I didn't really feel it.

I also wish that the past we glimpse in Sweet Unrest had felt more real. I enjoyed its inclusion in the story, but it always felt a bit less like reality, not as whole, as the present.

Still, Sweet Unrest is a fun, enjoyable and unique story. The characters are very well imagined, the story comes together nicely and the characters play such a great role in how everything unfolds. With its mix of Voodoo, danger, and the past it is a great read - especially for Halloween!!


(I haven't been able to check the finished copy, but in the arc, a character uses 'y'all' as a singular. It's only a handful of times, but it was . . . odd. Unless, in my life, I've missed that people do that.)






review copy received, through NetGalley, for review from publisher

Unmarked ~ Kami Garcia (earc) review [@lbkids @kamigarcia]

Unmarked (The Legion #2)
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
September 30, 2014
384 pages
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** my review of The Legion #1 Unbreakable **

The heart-pounding sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, Unbreakable, by New York Times bestselling Beautiful Creatures co-author Kami Garcia.

"A rare sequel that surpasses the original."--Ransom Riggs, New York Times bestselling author of Hollow City

He is here... and he could be anyone.

Kennedy Waters lives in a world where vengeance spirits kill, ghosts keep secrets, and a demon walks among us–a demon she accidentally set free.

Now Kennedy and the other Legion members–Alara, Priest, Lukas, and Jared–have to hunt him down. As they learn more about the history of the Legion and the Illuminati, Kennedy realizes that the greatest mystery of all does not belong to any secret order, but to her own family. With the clock ticking and the life of someone she loves hanging in the balance, Kennedy has to ask the question she fears most: what is it about her past that has left her Unmarked?

I am in definite agreement with Ransom Riggs about Unmarked being even better than the first Legion book, Unbreakable.

We have already met the characters - Kennedy, Lukas, Jared, Alara and Priest - and both readers and Kennedy now know about the Legion and the supernatural entities they deal with daily. After Unbreakable we also know that things in the prison did not go how any of the teens planned. A demon worse than they could have imagined has been set free . . . now they have to stop him.

Unbreakable had a great ending that left me anxious to know what happened next. Unmarked answers those questions in the best possible way. It manages to both throw readers right into things and then, once you can't wait to find out more,  backups and takes a slower pace.

It's both incredibly frustrating and incredibly thrilling to know where things are headed, just not how they are going to get there. Garcia shows us the danger that's approaching and then takes you along on the characters' journey to that point.

We learn more about their characters, what they will all do for each other and about the world of the Legion. Unmarked not only has demons and the Legion, it has the Illuminati, too. Receiving a fuller picture of The Legion's world, of both the groups' and the characters' histories (all while finding out when what was glimpsed in the beginning will take place) will keep you turning the pages until you do reach the end.

In the first book, I liked Alara and Priest more than Kennedy, Lukas and Jared. In this second book, we get to see more of Kennedy's feelings, her doubts and her faults. She feels more human in this second book and I like her much more. I like the brothers, as well, but still want just a bit more of them. (Alara may still be my favorite, though.)

The Supernatural air that the first book had is present here, too. A fully original world and characters, it isn't a 'copy' of the show, but has a bit of the same feeling. Fans of the show should definitely give this series a read.

If you enjoyed the ending of Unbreakable, know that it has nothing on the ending of Unmarked. This second book has a great expansion of the world introduced in the first book with new characters, answers to questions and more backstory given. The character interactions and relationships are again great and only improve given the new characters and developments. I am incredibly anxious and excited to read Book 3.





read for review thanks to LBYR and NetGalley

Into the Grey ~ Celine Kiernan (earc) review [@Celine_Kiernan @Candlewick]

Into the Grey
Candlewick Press
August 26, 2014
304 pages
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A pacy, chilling ghost story from the creator of the internationally acclaimed Moorehawke Trilogy.

I think the fire changed us – me and Dom. I think that’s how the boy was able to see us. Though he’d been there for every summer of our childhood, we’d only been stupid boys until then. Stupid, happy, ignorant boys. And what in hell would he have had in common with two stupid boys? But after the fire we were different. We were maybe a little bit like him. And so he saw us, at last, and he thought he’d found a home…

"Pushed off the edge of the world into the grey nowhere . . ." (pg 114)

Set in Ireland in 1974, Into the Grey uses great setting (time and location) appropriate dialogue to really bring readers into the characters' world. While some of the words were not ones I knew (at least used as they were), nearly all were easy to decipher given the context.

Dom and Pat are two fifteen-year-old boys, twins, whose family is forced to move to their summer home by the sea after their home is destroyed. Without the carefree joy of summer, the boys see the differences in the house, the dust, how cramped it is.

But that's not the only different thing they see: there's also the goblin boy.

Soon, they find themselves pulled into a world they didn't even know existed.

The tone of Into the Grey is really fantastic. The closest thing I can think to compare it to is Help for the Haunted (though with more positive results for me). There are startling moments, spooky scenes and an overall creepy feel. Yet, it's that the whole thing is not a horror novel or a 'scary' story that made it so enjoyable for me. The focus is very much on the characters, whether it's the struggles within their family (extended, as well), caring for Nan after her stroke, adjusting to the new life . . . or if it's the possible, likely haunting of one of them.

Even as one brother struggles to save the other, to keep them all safe, he's learning, seeing countless things about his other family members he was unaware of previously.

Not only are the characters' relationships and their pasts something very interesting and compelling to read about, they help bring the whole story together. It was tricky, at first, to understand just how everyone connected, but that fit very well with how things came together for the characters. Once I had it figured, though, I loved it.

Into the Grey is a very rewarding story of friendship, brotherly love, familial bonds, war, death, ghosts and being found. Even if you don't usually read 'ghost' stories, this one is recommended.


Of the covers the different editions have received, this one from Candlewick is my favorite. It's not only eye-catching, once you've read (or are reading) the novel, it represents it so well.








egalley received through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program from publisher and through NetGalley, for review

The Girl from the Well ~ Rin Chupeco (earc) review [@SourebooksFire @RinChupeco]

The Girl from the Well
Sourcebooks Fire
August 5, 2014
272 pages
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You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night.

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret - one that would just kill to get out.

The Girl from the Well is A YA Horror novel pitched as "Dexter" meets "The Grudge", based on a well-loved Japanese ghost story.

"I am where dead children go," begins this tale full of atmosphere, superstition and horror. The Girl from the Well takes a ghost story from Japanese folklore and brings it into present day. The story was not one I knew prior to reading the novel, but, after looking it up, it seems Chupeco used it for brilliant inspiration.

Yet the old tale is not the story line that The Girl from the Well follows. Instead it is a character from that ghost story that is a part of the novel. The character, the 'dead girl who walks to streets,' stays true to the character from folklore while being developed enough to be a great, fully realized character integral to the story. (You can see a brief summary of the legend here - though if you don't know the story I think it's more fun to do after reading the novel.)

The dead girl, this vengeful ghost, is only one of the well done characters. While I enjoyed most of them - even some with very small parts - my other favorite character was Tarquin. How his story, his life and the story of the ghost girl* intersect is really smart. And something we do not fully realize until the end of the book. His character's history - the mysterious tattoos that he's had for years, even being now only fifteen, his mentally ill mother, his secrets - all combine for a very interesting character.

His character experiences great growth over the course of the story. From the beginning when he's distant and withdrawn (though with some great snark) to who he becomes, it's a great transformation. His tale is even better when paired with those of the other characters and the horror, haunting aspects.

The ghosts, horror, possessions and practices of this book are done fantastically. It is scary. That things are so established in fact, so well explained by past events, really makes for a creepy, startling story.

When everything finally comes together, it is somehow both reassuring and terrifying, at the same time.

The Girl from the Well is absolutely not to miss. It is what I want ghost stories to be: scary, but with great characters, some mystery or suspense and a plot that makes sense. If you enjoy ghost stories, horror stories, folklore or just love characters with unique tales, this is a read for you. I'm excited for the next book and its tale.

*While most reviews - even some synopses have the ghost girl's name, it isn't in the book until almost half way. I liked reading it and not having a name for her until then, so I'm keeping it out of my review.



received for review from publisher, via NetGalley