Ashley Stoyanoff's Review: Give up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

★ASHLEY STOYANOFF'S REVIEW ★

~Give up the Ghost by Megan Crewe~

Title: Give up the Ghost

Author: Megan Crewe   

Number of Pages: 272.  

Publication  Info: Henry Holt and Co. (Sept 2009)

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Shelf: Books I Bought

Rating: ★★★

Goodreads: Here

Purchase: Here

Authors Website: Here

~Summary from Goodreads~

Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody…and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.

But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.

As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life, she’s surprised to realize he’s not so bad—and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance….

~My Review~

Well, the blurb for this book pretty much says it all so I’ll just get straight to my review.  Give up the Ghost had a more somber tone than I had expected, but it worked well for this story.  The story focuses mainly on death and dealing with the loss of a loved one.

The characters were well developed and the story flowed nicely.  I would have liked more of an explanation on Cass’ ability to see and speak to the dead other than that shewoke up one morning and she could.  Aside from that little piece of missing backstory /explanation, I really enjoyed Cass’ character.

“You see? This is why you don't get mixed up in people's lives. Because the living are messy and complicated, and things end up going to hell one way or another, every time.” 

What I really liked (but also didn’t like) about this story was that it wasn’t a love story.  It was a friendship story.  Not often do you find a YA novel that has no romance in it.

“I had the feeling deep in my gut that there'd been lines I should have spoken, gestures I should have made, that would have made things better. But looking back, I didn't know what they were. As a friend, I was pretty much useless, apparently.” 

Although the friendship aspect was refreshing, I’m a sucker for YA romance.  There’s just something about seeing people fall in love for the first time that pulls me in, and I did miss that while reading this story.

In the end, Give up the Ghost was a touching story about friendship and it kept me fairly entertained.