Thursday, March 14, 2013

ARC Review: Notes from Ghost Town by Kate Ellison

Publisher: Egmont USA
Publishing Date: February 12th, 2013
Genre: YA, Mystery, Paranormal
Pages: 336 pgs
ISBN: 9781606842645
Source: Received from Netgalley for an honest review



Summary from Goodreads:
They say first love never dies...

From critically acclaimed author Kate Ellison comes a heartbreaking mystery of mental illness, unspoken love, and murder. When sixteen-year-old artist Olivia Tithe is visited by the ghost of her first love, Lucas Stern, it’s only through scattered images and notes left behind that she can unravel the mystery of his death.

There’s a catch: Olivia has gone colorblind, and there’s a good chance she’s losing her mind completely—just like her mother did. How else to explain seeing (and falling in love all over again with) someone who isn’t really there?

With the murder trial looming just nine days away, Olivia must follow her heart to the truth, no matter how painful. It’s the only way she can save herself.

My Review:

This book is about Olivia, a teen whose mom has some mental health issues.  After finding out her mom killed her best friend/love, Olivia goes colour blind and begins seeing her dead best friend/love Lucas. 
I got this book from Netgalley for review and it took me a while to find the time to read this one.  When I first saw it I was really excited for it but for some reason the book just wasn't calling my name. 
Even as I read it I found that I couldn't get quite into the book.  I really really wanted to because I love a good ghost story.  I think there were just a couple things that bugged me.  To begin with, the whole colour blind thing seemed a little far fetched.  I can see where Ellison was going with it- Olivia wasn't really living until she figured everything out and let go of the past and came to terms with her mother's mental illness.  That being said, I think that the novel could have taken place without that element of the story. 
I do like the whole mystery to the novel but I have to admit that after reading countless adult mystery novels, I kind of figured out the ending way before it happened.  I think that this may have been a case of reading a YA book that was a little too YA for me.  Again, as you can see from my blog, I love reading YA and most times I think it's done in a way that all ages can read it.  This just wasn't the case, for me, this time around.  I think that in the future I will stick to adult mystery novels. 
I did quite enjoy Ellison's writing style and I think that many will enjoy this novel.  There are ghosts, and a crazed murderer, what more could you ask for? 

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