Give up the Ghost by Megan Crewe
Publisher: Henry Holt
Hardcover, 256
Publisher's Blurb Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts to 'breathers. ' Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable. They know the dirt on everybody . . . And Cass loves dirt. She's on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of all 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 help to contact his recently deceased mother, but Cass is less than enthusiastic. Kicking and screaming, Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim's life. And she's more surprised than anyone when she realizes that maybe some living people aren't so bad if she'd only give them a chance.
My Thoughts
Give Up the Ghost was an excellent debut novel by Canadian author Megan Crewe. Based on the publisher's blurb, I had both hoped for and expected an intriguing storyline with engaging characters. What I hadn't anticipated and was pleasantly surprised by, was the depth of the entire novel. Cass's inability to befriend fellow living students is caused by a multitude of interplaying factors. She is isolated not only because of her gift to see and speak with the dead but also due to the cruelty of betrayal, her sister's death and the ongoing issues with her mother. The incidents of Tim's substance abuse, particularly because it involved a youth, was also striking. It made him all the more genuine and human because it is through these flaws, that his pain was made ever more apparent.
One of the most alluring features of the story was the authenticity of it all. Sure, it may have starred several of the dead but I never found myself second guessing Crewe's take on the supernatural. Their interactions with Cass were at times hilarious and at other times more serious but always convincing. Furthermore, I believe most teenagers have had to come to terms with the obstacles Cass faced throughout the novel. I, for one, remember very similar incidents of feeling isolated,ridiculed and double-crossed by the people I most counted on. I can also relate to the feeling of hope, the friends some might call 'odd' and the desire to stand up for myself ,which helped me get through it.
I only wish that the novel hadn't ended as abruptly as it had. The main strings of the plot were tied up and cleverly so but I was left wanting to know more about Cass's sister and her reasoning for lingering behind. I was also hoping to have a little more of a resolve with Tim. Perhaps a sequel is in the works? And if not, the ending was not disappointing in the least, just slightly different than expected.
Overall it was a terrific read and much more enthralling than I had initially expected. I REALLY enjoyed this one and I highly recommend this book to lovers of the paranormal and young adult fiction alike.
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