Goodreads
I started reading this middle grade series toward the end of December and carried through February before starting to run out of steam in March. They're quick, they're enjoyable, and they're deeper than I was expecting. They remind me the Mediator series by Meg Cabot, but with a little more people-focus and a little less action. I do plan on reading the rest of this 11 book series, just maybe with a bit of a pause.
Sara is a shy, insecure girl, and that's the main reason I need a small break from her. She has a tendency to respond to every new development with a similar mix of fear and sadness, even when the event is positive (yay she has a boyfriend! Let's focus on her fear of losing him! yay she develops a new power! Let's focus on how it makes her anxious).
She's sweet and overall I like her, but her insecurity, nervousness, and tendency toward the sad is wearing after a while, especially if I'm feeling stressed myself.
This does also make Sara a very real character though. She feels far more developed than I would have expected in a middle grade series where the books clock in only around 150 pages each (and that's with BIG font). I feel like I know her, and while the other characters don't get quite as much depth since we're not in their head, they aren't cardboard cutouts either and they're surprisingly nuanced. My favorite secondary character is eccentric Lady Azura, the old fortune teller Sara and her father move in with. She is hilarious, sweet, and definitely someone who can have fun. I always enjoy her scenes.
The mysteries are nice, though none have really blown my mind either. That's ok though. They're more focused on character exploration than thrills as Sara slowly uncovers their histories and deaths, and helps them come to terms with whatever it is that is keeping them from moving on. This is another opportunity for Phoebe Rivers' ability to explore characters to shine, but it's also usually pretty sad considering they're dead and clinging onto an unresolved issue.
Phoebe Rivers does just as good a job with world building as she does with character development. Sara's old, haunted Victorian home is a perfect "old house" experience, and her school and ice cream parlor hang-out spot feel comfortably familiar. Even the weather comes alive off the page, especially when a swirling blizzard blows through.
Bottom line
I've had this series on my TBR for a while and it's definitely lived up to my own internal hype. I like Sara, and her world of friends, ice cream shops, haunted Victorian houses, and family is palpably developed. I wish the books were a little more upbeat, but overall I'm very happy and impressed with this series.
