Spotlight List: Ghosts

Ghosts

Whether it's ghosts as an enemy or friendly ghosts, I love a good ghost book. Ghosts as enemies are sure to scare me and leave me turning on every light in the house. But, I also have an extra weakness for ghost romances. Maybe it's the forbidden love aspect? Whatever the reason, I'm a complete sucker for them.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
Release Date: September 21, 2005
Publisher: Graphia
Pages: 282
Goodreads Page

Helen has been a ghost for 130 years, but she cannot remember how she died or why she is stuck in ghostly limbo. For all of her 130 years, she has never been able to make a connection with a human or affect their world...until now. A boy in the class she is haunting sees her and brings life, love, and adventure to her for the first time in 130 years.

This book was emotionally beautiful. About halfway through it does veer off into subjects that are a little unexpected and pushes the bounds of morality, but I was fascinated. The ghostly romance is to die for (is that too corny?), but there is a lot more to the story than that. This works as a standalone book, but there is a sequel coming out soon that will provide resolution to the one point that left me a little uncomfortable.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Release Date: October 1, 2008
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 312
Goodreads Page

The Graveyard Book starts out with a bang as infant Nobody Owens' entire family is murdered. Nobody wanders into a nearby graveyard where the local ghosts decide to adopt him. Though unconventional, Nobody's childhood is filled with love from his adoptive ghost family. But Nobody can't stay in the graveyard forever and the man who murdered his family is still looking for him to finish the job...

This was my first exposure to Neil Gaiman and so far it is my favorite (I also read Coraline and Stardust). While the overarching story with the murderer was good, what really grabbed my interest was Nobody's relationship with his ghost family. Tender, touching, and sweet, they were the type of characters who didn't even need to do anything all that exciting to still command my attention. If you like that heartwarming "family feel" in your books, then I recommend checking out The Graveyard Book.

Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme
Release Date: August 24, 2009
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Pages: 272
Goodreads Page

New to town and trying to impress the in-crowd, Jamie takes a dare to spend the night in the local cemetary. While there, she meets a handsome boy named Paul who takes her on a tour of the graveyard and its residents. Jamie soon realizes that the "actors" she meets are actually ghosts, and some of them do not intend to let her leave.

Though a little thin overall, I enjoyed Tombstone Tea. The best part for me were the flashbacks to the ghosts lives leading up to their deaths. The villain is creepy!

The Mediator series by Meg Cabot
First book: Shadowland
Publisher: HarperCollins
Goodreads Page for the series

Suze is a mediator, which means she can see ghosts and must help them cross over after they've died. She grudgingly accepts her "job" while trying to be as much of a normal teenager as she can. The series follows Suze as she assists friendly ghosts, battles angry ghosts, and gapples with her romantic feelings for the super sexy ghost Jesse who just happens to haunt her bedroom.

I adore this series! Suze is a wonderful main character. She's snarky, light, fun, and totally relatable (except for the whole ghost thing). You'd think with a hot ghost living in her bedroom this would be an insta-love book, but it isn't at all. It's almost excrutiating how long it takes for those two to finally get together, but it's excrutiating in the best possible way. If you're looking for a slow burn romance, kick butt main character (Suze is a must-have on my sleepover party invitee list), and exciting ghost adventures then be sure to check out this series. It's one of my favorites ever.

The Haunting Emma series by Lee Nichols
First book: Deception
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Goodreads Page fir the series

After throwing a party that went badly, Emma is shipped off to stay with her new guardian, a hot but mysterious college guy named Bennett. Enrolled in her new private school, Emma can't help but feel like she's been here before, in another life. Visions of the past and ghostly images begin to appear leading Emma to wonder whether she's losing her mind...or seeing ghosts.

Emma is another character with a permanent invite to my sleepover party. She's spunky, sweet, and snarky and totally relatable (again, except for the ghost thing). The secondary characters are just as lovable and the villain is CREEPY! I also really like the world Lee Nichols has created with all of the little details that help flesh out the story and make the premise seem real.

What are some of your favorite ghost books? Have you read any of these books? 
Do you prefer your ghosts scary or friendly?

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You might also like Spotlight List: Gothic Fiction

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Book Review: Deception by Lee Nichols

Deception (Haunting Emma 1), by Lee Nichols
Release Date: June 2010
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 336
Received: Library book
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Author's Page
Amazon Page

Summary:

After her parents go missing, Emma is shipped off to stay with her new guardian, super cute but aloof and enigmatic Bennet. While attempting to figure out the whereabouts of her parents, traverse the social obstacle course of her new school, and try to catch Bennet's eye, Emma also struggles with visions. Fearing she is losing her mind, Emma eventually confesses she is seeing dead people. This revelation opens the door to the world of ghostkeeping, a world Emma soon learns she plays a powerful part in but has been purposely kept out of due to the nature of her abilities. Thrust into this world, Emma must battle a ghost who is raising an army of deadly wraiths and systematically murdering ghostkeepers. Adding further intrigue to the tale are the mysteries surrounding Emma's family, as well as the curious resemblance in image, name, and power Emma shares with one of her ancestors.

Review:

I loved this book! I wasn't sure at first how I was going to like it, especially given the far-fetched set up and depressing state of affairs Emma finds herself in at the beginning of the book. That all changed once Emma relocated and begins seeing ghosts, and all of my reservations were completely blown away once Emma's abilities are revealed. The mysteries of the book are all laid out in a way designed to keep you reading, with a bunch of clues and questions dropped all over and just enough answers given to keep you engaged and dying to find out more.

While I really enjoyed all of the mysteries, I'm especially intrigued by the story surrounding Emma's ancestor and how she and Emma are connected. I have to confess, though the mystery itself is really very good, part of my interest here stems solely from a certain ghost referred to through most of the story as the handsome Rake. He's handsome, devilish, charming, tragic, and he takes a protector/mentor role toward Emma. Alas, he is not her love interest (though she does have several, living, love interests).

Her love interests are actually my biggest complaint (but, really, "big" here is really very small). Two seem like good characters, but they don't work with Emma. The third, well, I had a hard time liking him and I'm a little frustrated that Emma does like him as much as she does. I felt vindicated at the end (It was a very "HA! Good, I knew it!" moment), though I think, ultimately, things will work out in the later books with secrets being revealed and I'll come around and grin the stupid "Yay they got together!" grin when it's all said and done.

The mysteries are really good in this book, but what made it a cut above for me were the characters. All of the good ghosts are awesome and made me smile at my book. Emma is super funny and had me laughing out loud at her inner commentary on her situations. Then the bad guys, wow, they were so creepy. I made the mistake of reading a scene where a wraith was described in deliciously scary detail, and then I was faced with the dilemma of either reading way past my bedtime so that wasn't the last scene I read before sleeping, or sleeping with the lights on like a huge dork. So I was smiling at my book, laughing at my book, and checking my closet for monsters because of my book. I probably looked like a loon, but man did I have fun reading Deception!

This is the first book in a series, and there are enough loose ends and promised action that I'm going crazy now without the sequel. If it isn't obvious by now, I highly recommend Deception, though you shouldn't even be reading my review by this point because you should already be busy trying to get your hands on a copy.

 

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key

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