When I picked this title up on sale from Bookoutlet.ca, I was mainly attracted to the beautiful cover art and the idea of a cute and funny ghost story. I'm not sure what I expected from a book with a phrase like 'Rest in Popularity' on the cover, but this book definitely surprised me with it's take on how the system of life, death, and the afterlife might work. Because it's a middle grade sort of book, it didn't take long to read, and having read it, I don't regret picking it up. But if you're looking for anything more than a little humor and a cute take on a serious topic, this might not be the book for you. Let's discuss further the thoughts and opinions I have regarding the Tonya Hurley novel, Ghostgirl.
The first thing I noticed was that this book wasn't particularly well written, which some people might put down to the age group this book was aimed at, but I'd have to disagree with that. There are some extremely well written books that were meant for teens and children upon their release, such as Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, so that isn't a good reason in my books. And even though this book is clearly not meant to take itself too seriously, I would have liked to see characters with more dimension, and a plot with more emotion attached to it, than what we got in this book. One thing that was redeeming about this read was the author's take on what happens in the afterlife, which I found to be quite interesting. It was fun exploring the idea that someone who dies in high school has to stay in high school until they complete their unfinished business. It was very Casper the Friendly ghost, and I appreciated that aspect entirely, as a fan of Casper and ghost stories in general. However, I do think that it would have been a more effective story had the rest of the book; the characters, story line, relationships; been as developed as the world building seemed to be. After I decided to overlook the fact that this book was written in a somewhat underwhelming fashion, I was able to see a lot more of the good things that this story had to offer. For example, there was some excellent dark humor, which I found to be quite amusing. I hardly ever laugh out loud at something I am reading, but this book had me chuckling along with it quite nicely. One thing I'd like to point out is that the humor, while obviously dark, edges on young adult, so keep that in mind. A few of the jokes definitely struck me as being aimed at a more mature audience, and so make sure that your child is mature before you hand them this book. Otherwise, I thought the humor was one of the best parts of this novel, and I'd pick up the next one just to see if there were any more good jokes inside. At the end of the day, this book was only okay, and it didn't leave a lasting impression on my emotions or my memory. It was a fun and quick read that cleansed my palette and prepared me for my next emotionally tumultuous read, so I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in a comedic bit of fluff between their serious literary excursions. Storytelling: 3/10 Characters: 5/10 Themes: 6/10 Entertainment: 4/10 Overall: 4.5/10 Thanks for reading, blog lovers, and don't forget to leave a comment and share this article with a book loving friend. Read on! Tru~xoxoxo
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