Release Date: August 26, 2014
Published by: Harlequin Teen
The Ghost House Saga, #1
Source: ATWT
For fans of: Paranormal, Horror, DNF
From the New York Times bestselling author of Halo comes the start of a beautiful and powerful new series.
After the loss of her mother, Chloe Kennedy starts seeing the ghosts that haunted her as a young girl again. Spending time at her grandmother’s country estate in the south of England is her chance to get away from her grief and the spirits that haunt her. Until she meets a mysterious stranger…
Alexander Reade is 157 years dead, with secrets darker than the lake surrounding Grange Hall and a lifelike presence that draws Chloe more strongly than any ghost before. But the bond between them awakens the vengeful spirit of Alexander’s past love, Isobel. And she will stop at nothing to destroy anyone who threatens to take him from her.
To stop Isobel, Chloe must push her developing abilities to their most dangerous limits, even if it means losing Alex forever… and giving the hungry dead a chance to claim her for their own.
*MY THOUGHTS*
After reading all the reviews on the
Halo series, I was a little skeptical about reading this one. But with the ghostly twist, it seemed that this one would be interesting at the very least. And it was, but not past the synopsis.
In the synopsis we’re basically told everything right away. The only thing that’s left out is the identity of the “sinister spirit” that’s after Chloe. And let me tell you, it’s quite obvious who it is since the spirit she meets is a guy. I knew who it was right away. In short, this book is definitely predictable. There are a few other plot twists that occur, but I called those from a mile away as well.
Then there’s the writing style…. Now I’m the first to say I love details and I love how real they make everything, but at the same time, there is just too much sometimes. And this was one of those times. The amount of unnecessary details in this turned me off of the book. I found myself skimming over the details because the extra ones just got in the way. Without all those extra words I’m sure a good amount could’ve been chopped off this book.
I also didn’t like the amount of repetitiveness. With all of the extra details you would think that everything would only have to be said once….. Wrong. Throughout the book I think it was mentioned that she was the only one in her family about four times. And that’s only from the part that I DID read. It just got annoying after awhile.
I was a little upset about not liking this because I haven’t read a ghost book that I absolutely loved since
Hereafter and that was about 3 years ago. Maybe it’s time I just give up on them…. In other words, I’m not sure I’ll be finishing this series. If I do, it’ll be to just skim it and see what other ghosts will arrive at her grandmother’s manor.
Overall, I give this
DNF@ pg. 175
Oh bummer! Read another not so happy review of this one too. Definitely think I'll be passing on this one. I love ghost books as well and was so happy to have learned of a new one!
Other good ghost books I know of are The Mediator series by Meg Cabot–not sure if you read that one or not, it's older, but was like my first ghost series I do believe!
There's also Victoria Laurie's Ghost Hunter Mysteries, there's usually a real ghost involved, plus there's a murder to be solved! Juliet Blackwell's Haunted Home Renovation falls under the same lines too!
Those are the ones I can think of off the top my head anyway! 🙂
Nice honest review though, I think I will definitely be passing on this one now.
OH blah, sorry you couldn't finish this one. I haven't read any of the Halo series so I'm not familiar with the author's writing style.
I haven't found a ghost story I've loved…I think ever. I'll have to check out Jessica's recs!
Thanks for your honesty!
Amber Elise @ Du Livre