I am giving this book two stars. I did not love it at all, sadly. But I also did not hate it. There were parts of the book that were pretty good, that I enjoyed a bunch. But for the most part this book was pretty disappointing. And so it is two stars, and not three which I had hoped it could be. To me, this one was more bad than good.
Will not be writing such a long review for this one, as I don't want to share just negative things. Though I will share all the reasons for why I did not love this book. Sigh. Although also sharing the things I did like about it. I really wish I could have loved this one. I wanted to, so badly. Because, as I said, I adore Victoria. And I love middle grade books. And this one looked so gorgeous and sounded so good. But it fell short for me. Maybe because I have read so many great middle grade books. And I simply could not get into this one. Mostly because of the writing. Which breaks my heart. I didn't enjoy it. Did not like the way it was written. Like the main girl was telling a story to the reader at times. On almost every page there were words in italics. Highly annoying.
This book tells the story of twelve year old Cassidy. She lives with her mom and dad and their cat, Grim. Whom seemed adorable. Her parents are writers, writing about ghosts and history. They are just about to start filming a tv show. I did like her parents, but felt like they maybe didn't pay that much attention to their girl. And ah. Cassidy. I wish I could say that I loved this girl. But I did not. I did adore her a bunch, though. And I liked reading about her too. I did like getting to know her; I just wish there was more. I know so little.
This girl almost died a year ago, by falling into a river. Ever since then, she has been able to see ghosts. It is more complicated than that, but I shall not describe it. Did find it different and interesting, though. Not perfect, but I enjoyed reading about the ghost part of this story. She has a ghost best friend, Jacob. A boy that started haunting her after he saved her life when she almost died. They have been best friends for a year now. I wanted to love him so badly. But felt like I did not get to know him well enough. Wanted more.
This book takes place in Scotland, and I loved that, especially since it is so personal to Victoria. I did find the setting of this book interesting. There were parts of this story I found to be great too. But, yeah. When it comes to it, I found more of the book to be bad than good. Makes me so sad, because I really thought this one would be awesome. Hmph. But it wasn't. At least not for me. I liked reading about Cassidy and Jacob, and the ghosts. But felt like there was way too little about all of them, to be honest. Needed more.
I have seen Victoria mention that this book was less than fifty thousand words. I must admit that I prefer my middle grade books to be much longer, ack, to be able to connect with the characters and story more. But I did like that this book was easy and fast to read. I only wish that I could say that I loved it. But I did not. Sigh. I wanted to love everything about this one. But it seemed impossible to me. But I did not hate it, and I'm thrilled about that, haha. Happy to have my copies of this book, as it is gorgeous. Love the cover.
Though I will admit to being disappointed that it was not for me. I will say, though, that I think and hope that a lot of younger readers will love this book. And those that are not as picky as me when it comes to writing. I simply could not let it go, lol. But it will not bother all. I need you all to read this book. Because Victoria is awesome. And though I did not love City of Ghosts, I'm glad I gave it a try. And I do know that I will read the second one too, when it comes out, and will hopefully love that one. Crossing all my fingers.
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