Author: Kate Ellison
Publisher: Egmont
Publication Date: February 2013
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Synopsis can be found here.
I received this book from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review.
Review:
Olivia is away at school when her best friend Lucas Stern dies, in her mother's arms. The clues point to Olivia's mom killing Stern, but Olivia doesn't believe it- not when Stern's ghost returns to her and tells her it wasn't her mom, but someone else. And he needs her help to solve it. The murder trial is in days and Olivia must figure out who really did it before she loses her mom forever. And what about Stern, who comes to her like he's real, like he's still there, like they still love each other. How can you get over a ghost?
I wasn't sure what to expect when I read Notes from Ghost Town. Ghost story? Madness? Mental illness? Detective story? It's all of those things.
Ellison does a great job writing Olivia's own suspicions of herself and her descent into madness. Olivia is terrified of being like her mother and the illness that engulfs her, but what else is there to suspect when your best friend comes to you as a ghost. This really adds to the uneasy tone of the book. At times, I see Olivia as an unreliable narrator so I constantly cast suspicion on her and her mind. It takes a while for Olivia to figure things out, but this had to do more with self doubt and caution.
And the murderer, villain is pretty extreme. I'm not sure if I buy into the motivations, and the subsequent actions in the last part of the book by the killer, but it's a twisty ride to get there.
Ellison has some really well written pieces in this book that flow off the page and suspend you in time, a snapshot of a scene or a life. I really those parts, especially because they were so peaceful and lovingly descriptive. The book is tense and dark, much darker than I expected, so these lovely parts serve a great balance as well.
Rating 7 Pretty Cool, Would Recommend
Giveaway!!
Thank you to Egmont USA for offering these fantastic books for the giveaway and providing me with an ARC!
You could win a Hardcover of Notes from Ghost Town and a paperback copy of The Butterfly Clues, both by Kate Ellison from Egmont USA!
Just fill in the rafflecopter below!
This giveaway is only for my followers and it ends the night of February 13th.
US and Canada only.
Good luck everyone!
Synopsis of The Butterfly Clues is here.
You can follow Kate on her website here.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The book covers are beautiful. They draw you to the book. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI love them both, especially Notes!
ReplyDeleteThe covers are so amazing! I can't wait to pick them up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
I love the covers!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win!
Thanks for a chance to win these wonderful sounding books!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the covers for these two. They're different than many YA book covers and very intriguing. When I first saw them they inspired me to find out more.
They're both good, tasteful and enigmatic.
ReplyDeleteThey're beautiful!! Love the colors:)
ReplyDeleteI like both covers - very pretty! But I think the Butterfly Clues cover sticks out to me a little more because of the little splash of bright color. :) I also like how the fonts match!
ReplyDeleteLove them. My fav would be Notes from Ghost Town. That cover alone makes me want to read it.
ReplyDeleteI love them both and I think I like the paperback cover for The Butterfly Clues more than I liked the hardcover one : )
ReplyDeleteyour review makes this sound super dark and creepy - right up my alley! can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteI really like the covers. The butterfly is so cute. Thanks for this chance to win.
ReplyDeleteI really like the butterfly cover. I'm not so sure about the Ghost Town cover. There seems to be a trend of women / girls in water lately, often in pretty dresses, hardly ever doing anything that makes sense (leaping out of the water, looking like they just got washed up with the tide when there's nothing like that in the story...). I'm not sure if anything like what's on the cover happens in Ghost Town, but if I were to judge this book by the cover, I wouldn't check to find out. Thankfully, since I like Ellison's writing, I will be checking regardless! :)
ReplyDelete