Book Review – City of Ghosts

This is post number three hundred here at And On She Reads! How on earth has that happened? Maybe that makes it the perfect time for a bit of paranormal fiction! We’ve met vampires in numerous ways, demons a dozen, but not many ghosts… Step in Cassidy Blake, and we’ll journey up to Scotland together to do some investigating.

Synopsis
They’re here.
They’re watching.

Cass can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead.

When Cass’s parents start hosting a TV show about the world’s most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh. Here, graveyards, castles and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms.

But when Cass meets a girl who shares her “gift”, she realizes how much she still has to learn about the Veil—and herself. And she’ll have to learn fast. The city of ghosts is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

Review
This book sits somewhere between middle grade and young adult in my opinion, and it seems to be classified as both on Good Reads. I read it on the recommendation from a friend, and ahead of seeing if it would be suitable for my 11 year old, as he’s at an awkward point where he can handle complex fiction, but doesn’t want / it isn’t appropriate for there to be any romance or sex.

I absolutely loved this book and read it almost in one sitting. It was just spooky enough to make me jump every time something went bump around me for the days following, but not so absolutely terrifying that I couldn’t sleep. Cassidy was a really likeable lead character, as was her friend Jacob (the ghost) and the fellow Veil-crosser she meets Lara (the human). Their initial abrasive contact led to genuine affection between the two, amusingly coating in an appearance of British indifference.

Cassidy is in a unique position where her parents are ghost hunters but don’t believe she can actually see ghosts following a near death experience, and the way that both these things are approached was really interesting, both in terms of family dynamics, and in being someone who doesn’t quite fit in.

I’ve enjoyed work by the author before, and this only made me more keen to read more. I’ll certainly be following the rest of this series as it continues.

If you fancy some more paranormal fiction or urban fantasy with a kick, I recommend the following:
Any of the Shadowhunters books (Historical: Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and Modern: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, The Red Scrolls of Magic, City of Fallen Angels)
The Rivers of London series, which is crime fiction with a paranormal twist: 1. Rivers of London 2. Moon Over Soho 3. Whispers Under Ground 4. Broken Homes 5. Foxglove Summer 5.5 The Furthest Station)
From Blood and Ash and A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (watch out for review of book three, A Crown of Gilded Bones, coming soon!)