A story of ghosts, mystery and a great start of a series.
Victoria Schwab is one of my favorite authors, I love her “Darker shades of Magic” series, “Our Dark Duet”, and “This Savage song” and I am beyond excited about “Vengeful” – the sequel to “Vicious”. So of course, I had to pick up “City of ghosts” the day it was released (29. august). This is the first book from a middle grade paranormal series by Schwab and will definitely become one of my all time favorites.
Cassidy Blake can see ghosts. Simple as that.
Her parents are ghost enthusiasts, her best friend is a ghost, and her family is headed to Scotland to shoot a paranormal TV show. Ghosts find her wherever she goes, but no place is as crowded with desperate souls than Edinburg. Cassidy always feels drown to the veil and now it seems like an old ghost has eyes on her.
But let’s back off for a bit….
Everything starts when Cassidy almost drowns in the cold black river waters after a car crush. Ever since she can cross “the veil” to the ghosts world. She never tries to communicate with them, never tries to set them free. She just sees them, takes a picture with her vintage camera and tries to remember and honor their stories. Her parents, as I mentioned, are ghost enthusiasts, so no wonder Cassi is not nearly as scared of her power as an ordinary kid would.
The Blakes are well known in the field of paranormal, as they have couple of books published. Now, a major deal for a TV series called “The Inspectres” is coming their way and they cannot be more excited about it. According to the filming plan, they are to visit and explore the most haunted places in the world – not quite the family vacation Cassidy was imagining. Their first stop is Edinburgh, Scotland – a city where Cass will meet some unfriendly spirits, some violent Slytherins and a girl who can cross the veil just as easily as her.
I can’t really say a lot about this book without spoiling the plot. Just going to say couple of things:
The book is full of Harry Potter references to warm your geek heart (our main character is a Gryffindor just like me).
The story had a fair share of spooky moments but lacked gruesomeness (that was great).
I loved the friendship between Cassidy and Jacob. It is such a rare thing to see a platonic relationship between a girl and a boy in YA and middle grade (don’t get me wrong, I totally ship them).
This is a great, great start of a series! It has mystery, It has an odd family, quirky characters, interesting plot and a lot of Victoria Schwab’s great sense of humor!
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