April 9, 2012

Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley {Review}


Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: August 1, 2008
Source: Library
Now I lay me down to sleep,I pray the Lord my soul to keep.And if I should die before I awake,I pray the popular attend my wake.Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she's dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn't stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal.
If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is.  


Upon finishing Ghostgirl I’m not really sure how I feel. On the one hand, it could be darkly funny while still managing cute romance at times and on the  other, it could be very shallow and just kind of missed the mark other times.

So let’s break this thing down list style!

Likes:
1. The cutesy ending. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a super cute ending despite the fact that it doesn’t always make sense or fit very well.

2. Charlotte’s growth. Boy howdy did it take FOR-EV-ER, but it did happen and I can totally appreciate that.

3. Scarlet’s character. I just liked her dark, sarcastic funny personality. It was really enjoyable to read about.

Dislikes:
1. Charlotte. I know her character flaw was her selfishness, but man did it really get on my nerves.

2. Damen. He started becoming a better guy towards the end of the book, but it was almost like he was two different people: beginning of book Damen and end of book Damen. The first one was kind of a big fat jerk.

3. The “what just happened” factor. Sometimes I felt like I had just missed something major because one thing was happening and then BAM the very next sentence everything was resolved or something else entirely was happening. I’m fairly certain that wasn’t all me :P

4. The “something’s missing” factor. Throughout the entire reading save for, maybe, the last 30 pages the story wasn’t really grabbing me. It just seemed like it had that IT factor missing or something. I really don’t know how to explain it, but you avid book readers problem know what I mean.

The Nutshell: In all, not my favorite book. It was a quick read and I was intrigued by the ending, so I may pick up the next book in the series, but it’s not likely. Ghostgirl is darkly quirky and at times humorous read, but overall seemed to be missing that oomph that really draws me into a story. In short, this wasn’t for me, but someone else might still find it enjoyable.

Pages: 328
Series: Ghostgirl #1
Rating: 2.5 stars

3 comments:

  1. The blurb is definetly intriguing... It's a shame you didn't like it that much but great review! =]

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  2. I totally agree about her growth as a character taking forever! And the ending was cute!

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  3. I'm glad you reviewed this one! This is one I've thought about picking up for years, but never have. I'm okay with that now. I think that her selfishness and obsession with popularity would bother me, as would that missing IT factor. It doesn't sound like a bad book, just not one I'm sure I want to take the time to read. The art is cute though!

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