Red House Books: Book Review: Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

Hello and Welcome!

Red House Books is going through a bit of a update!

I've always had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted this space to be but I've been detoured from my path by...lots and lost of other people's opinions and ways of doing things...

I'm committed to this little chunk of the interweb but I've also branched out into other places so! Now it's time to think of Red House Books as more of a hub of all things me! And Me is a hell of a lot of book love!

Stay tuned!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday, January 4, 2010

Book Review: Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

Title: Give up the Ghost
Author: Megan Crewe
Publication Date: August 2009
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy / Sci Fi
Age: 14+
Pages: 256
Series: not that I can tell
Publisher's website: Henry Holt / Macmillan
Author's website: Megan Crewe
Book Acquisition: ARC won

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….

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I love a good ghost story but I was worried about the cheese factor. The ghosts in Cass's world are very...realistic...you know, for being ghosts and all :) Cass's relationshiop with them is very much a friendship. With her best friend being her older sister who died 4 years ago. Cass is a loner, but she perfers it this way. She isn't necessarily unhappy but I didn't get the feeling she was happy either.
I did like this book, but it also didn't leave a big impression on me. Tim was annoying and his very real life problems were tidied up a bit too neat and clean for me in the end. Cass's mom was pretty sterotypical and Cass's dad had almost no character development.
Cass as a character I really liked but I would have liked to have learned more about why she has this ability to see and talk to ghosts - where did it come from? What, if anything, is she going to do about it?
Overall it was a good read and I look forward to more books by Megan in the future.

3.5 / 5 stars

Other Reviews:
Carrie's YA Bookshelf
Litter box...scoop daily!
Katie's Book Blog