Review: Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (September 15, 2009)

Harcover: 256 pages

Price: $11.55 from Amazon

Summary:

Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody…and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.

But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.

As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life, she’s surprised to realize he’s not so bad—and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance….

Rating:

Review: Give Up the Ghost was an enjoyable read with a bit of a ghostly twist. Megan Crewe’s take on ghost seeing was interesting, though I felt it could have been taken a bit further. I definitely, definitely (ugh, drama) could use a ghost gossip-chain any time of the day, but I would have liked to have seen more about Cass and the ghosts’ relationships outside of gossiping. It seemed a bit like Cass was taking advantage of them, getting information for simply acknowledging them, though I don't think it was meant that way. Though  Megan didn't necessarily bring anything new to the psychic concept, but I liked how she incorporated ghosts into her story.

Now, I’m not saying Cass is a bad girl. She’s definitely a quiet type, but one who is willing to stand up for others. I’d categorize myself into the shy type that often prefers being solitary, and I can wistfully say I wish I had the guts to march up to a group of kids and hint around some scandal like I don’t care what people think. And though Cass may put up that front, which I can appreciate, she’s actually pretty sensitive inside, which who can’t relate to? I do have to say that I sometimes got annoyed with her though. I can understand that she doesn’t often talk to “breathers” as she likes to call us normal people (I’m assuming we’re normal here… right?), but she was so prejudiced against everyone that I was thinking “can’t you see you’re a human too?!” It annoyed me that she kept on denying her own self-worth and pushing others away to the extent that it was actually a bit childish and immature. However, Cass does learn throughout the book, and I liked her a lot more towards the end.

The biggest sense I got from this book was an introduction. I got to know the characters, know Cass’s ability, know the setting, know some history, but overall the plot didn’t move very far. Fortunately, there is a sequel, though I still wish there could have been a little more exciting progress and less predictability. That being said, the ending was extremely predictable, like so predictable that even me, the clueless little girl, knew what would happen from miles away. The ending was satisfying enough though; happy, nothing climatic, and slightly hinting towards the sequel.

Romance: 2/5. Ah, Tom. Typical guy: blond, lanky, tall, sweet. Though he was definitely nice, I just didn't really feel him because he seemed just that: nice. I think part of that may be the lack of interaction between him and others; I heard a lot more of his history rather than saw his personality in action. There wasn’t a lot of romantic progress between him and Cass (I’m pretty sure that’s where it’s headed), but I’ll be crossing my fingers for some *ahem-ahem* "action" in the sequel! ;)

Cover: 3.5/5. Very nice feel to it, and soothing color scheme.

Bottom Line: A fairly solid introduction to a series with an interesting concept. An enjoyable read, though not riveting, and mainly I wished there could have been some more character development; the characters weren't flat but they didn't exactly evoke a well of sympathy and love either. I'll definitely be looking forward to where Megan Crewe will take this series, and though I personally wouldn't go out of my way and buy this book right now, I would reccomend Give Up the Ghost to anyone looking for a light, supernatural read.

Review: Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn

Publisher: Scholastic Press; 1 edition (April 15, 2009)

Hardcover: 336 pages

Price: $12.23 from Amazon

Summary:

Science, spiritualism, history, and romance intertwine in Suzanne Weyn's newest novel. Four sisters and their mother make their way from a spiritualist town in New York to London, becoming acquainted with journalist W. T. Stead, scientist Nikola Tesla, and industrialist John Jacob Astor. When they all find themselves on the Titanic, one of Tesla's inventions dooms them...and one could save them.

Rating:

Review: I picked out Distant Waves because it dealt with the Titanic (love!), and the book was definitely interesting, which, I know, is a very vague term. I say interesting because that can be interpreted two ways, in a good way or a bad way, which basically sums up the mixed feelings I had about this book.

To start off with the negative, the first half was a bit dull. I got impatient to have something, anything happen, and didn't really know where the story was headed. Obviously, I knew that the book was ultimately going to talk about the incident of the Titanic, but for a good half-portion of the book, that really all seemed like an introduction to me, I really felt like the story was never going to get anywhere because nothing exciting happened. And by exciting I mean a wide variety of things, from a cliff-dive to a turning point to Jane, the main girl, simply getting it on with some boy or another.

Another thing that detracted from, but also somehow added to, my reading experience was the massive amount of historical facts. It was, in a way, a pitfall because sometimes I would find myself confused when trying to follow who did what, who invented what, and so on. The historical information was a plus because it was well-integrated and made the story feel more realistic, and, when I got it, it was actually quite clever of Suzanne Weyn! However, I think there is a fine balance between interesting tidbits of knowledge versus so much information that it distracts the reader and diverts his/her attention, and I think Suzanne might have put in a bit too much information here. But for history nuts, please rejoice!

I think the mass of historical facts also prevented me from relating to Jane as much as I could have, with her family problems and such. I didn't really have any standout feelings about Jane; she was okay, and I didn't really empathize or sympathize with her. Her family definitely was unique in that Jane's mother and her twin sisters were mediums, people able to contact the spiritual world. The concepts of mediums and psychics definitely play a prominent part in the book, and I liked how Suzanne manipulated the ideas to fit the plot. The plot was, again, a little slow in the beginning, where it concentrated a lot on the ability to contact the spiritual world, but things picked up towards the end, once Jane and some others were actually on the Titanic. I had an idea of how events were going to turn out, but I was still sitting on the edge of my seat begging the characters to realize the impending doom they faced. And the ending wasn't exactly happily-ever-after for everyone, but it was one that left me satisfied and pleased with the results.

Bottom Line: Distant Waves was definitely a book I'd recommend for young adult readers that really like historical fiction. I'm still amazed by how much historical information the Suzanne managed to pack into this one book and how much research must have gone into it! For me, personally, this book was an "interesting" read, in that it explored the possibilities of the spiritual world, and mildly enjoyable; not something that I'll be rereading soon, but still worth a bit of my time. If you can last through the first half, I'd say that you will enjoy the second half. I might read some of Suzanne's future works, and basically: the Titanic and love. What's not to like about those two aspects? :)