I'm so embarrassed. Luckily, I huffed and puffed and scoffed at this book in private. I had read the premise, but not very thoroughly. At the start of the novel, I made the assumption that Lauren James was making a lot of silly mistakes. I thought she was accidentally depicting Harriet Stoker, the protagonist, in a weird and almost negative way. For example, Harriet would have a way of getting what she wanted by either flirting with people or by using them in other ways. There are so many more examples though.
It took me around 100 pages to realise that our protagonist is actually meant to be an anti-hero. That's so clever!
The story is about a girl, Harriet Stoker, who goes to a derelict building to take photos for her Photography course. She accidentally dies in the building, and straightaway her spirit wakes up. A group of friends are "on the other side" to welcome her into the life of a ghost. They explain that every ghost has their own power, and if Harriet is patient, she will find hers. Harriet isn't patient though. She wants to leave, and she wants to find her power even if it destroys everyone around her.
The premise that I'm giving you isn't a spoiler, but as I said I didn't know these facts going into the novel. I loved every bit of it though! I thought it was an incredibly clever way to make a break with the traditional friend group. I liked the diverse cast of characters and the world that Lauren James created. It makes a lot of sense for ghosts to feed off of energy, and to each have their own powers in order to explain why cultures have a different definitions for ghosts.
I didn't necessarily enjoy the love triangle. That having been said, it's wasn't overshadowing the plot or development of characters in any way.
The novel is written from multiple perspectives. You hear the story from Harriet's and from four or five of the friends' point-of-views. There's also one unknown character who gives the reader a bit more of an insight into the future and the past. I think that's a clever addition to keep the reader guessing a bit more.
I didn't expect to be giving this novel 5 stars. However, here we are with a very well deserved perfect rating! I can't wait to read more of Lauren James' work.
Many thanks to the publisher Walker Books for providing me with a review copy!
5 stars
Statistics:
Date read: June 21, 2020
Date published: September 3, 2020
Publisher: Walker Books
Format: eBook
Pages: 425
Genre: Paranormal
My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1
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