Review: Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu

This was a book I simply had to get. Since it sounded all kinds of sad and lovely. And so I knew this would be a middle grade book for me. And it was. I enjoyed it a whole bunch. Ended up being a four star, as I did not fully love it all, but it was such a great book and I liked it very much. The writing was stunning, which I loved.

It is told from the point of view of eleven-year-old Violet. We get to know her quite a bit. And I liked her so much. Her family was pretty great too, although her older sister was rude after she got too old for Violet, I guess. She got a bit better. Her little brother, age three, was adorable. But seemed way older than that to me.

I also liked her parents a lot. Her mother was fully great, with her always believing in Violet and her issues. Her stepdad was pretty kind and sweet too. So yeah. She had a great family and I really liked that. In this story they are moving to a new house. Violet is not that excited about it. Especially not when she ends up alone in the attic bedroom, which looks all kinds of horrible. But she is dealing with it, which I liked. It is also difficult for her, as she just started middle school. She is also a little worried about losing her two best friends, since everything is so different. I do not usually like reading modern books, and this one was set very much in our world and time. There were many mentions of recent movies and such. It takes place now in our time, after corona. Okay, it did annoy me a little, but I did not mind the setting that much.

Because most of this book is just about Violet. And it was such a fast and quick read too. We get to know her pretty well. We get to know her two friends a bit too. And I honestly did not like them. Okay, I did like them at first. But they changed. Especially Paige. And it was just so rude and so sad at times. They were not at all true friends. Sigh. But I so liked how it seemed like she was going to end up being friends with Quinn. She was awesome. And I loved how she managed to make another friend too, Will. He was great.

But most of this story was about the illness that Violet gets. At first she is simply regular sick for around a week. But then it does not go away. And she is so tired and has no energy at all. And oh, how I loved this. Because it really felt like me at times. As I am all kinds of sick as well, and my energy level is mostly bad. And so I loved reading about Violet dealing with this too. Though, of course, it was pretty sad too, as she does not know what is wrong with her. And the doctors are no help to her. Which was just so rude. Hmph.

There is a lot going on in this book, despite how short it was. I'm not going to say much more. But there was an adorable stray cat moving in. I loved it. There is a not quite a ghost living in the wallpaper in her attic. Which was a little weird, yet pretty great too. And I liked reading about it. And how Violet was trying to get rid of this person. I loved how the book ended with Violet not being cured, that she is still ill. It was so sad, yet so real too. Especially with how it is close to how I feel most of the time too. Was written well.

Not Quite a Ghost was a stunning story. Not fully perfect, but all kinds of good even so. The writing was great. I adored getting to know Violet and her family. I loved how this book focused on her illness. How difficult it was. But also how her family did their best to help her with it. How she had bad days but also good days. I liked her new friendships. I hated her old ones that went bad. Hmph. I loved reading about the cat she ended up getting. It was fully adorable. I'm glad I read this book. And you should read it too.

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