ABOUT
Title: City of Ghosts
Author: Victoria Schwab
Series: Cassidy Blake #1
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: August 28th 2018
Synopsis:
Cassidy Blake's parents are The Inspectres, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.
When The Inspectres head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn't sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn't belong in her world. Cassidy's powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.
I received an advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
City of Ghosts is Victoria Schwab's new middle grade book focusing on Cassidy -- the daughter of a pair of ghost hunters and can see the dead herself. In fact, her best friend is a ghost. Her parents land a gig hosting a ghost hunting tv show and with it comes a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland a.k.a. the City of Ghosts. When she gets there, Cassidy learns that there's more to her ability than she realized and it puts her in a whole lot of danger as well.
I've missed Victoria's writing and story telling! This is a middle grade book but it still manages to be spooky with her signature sort of tone to books. It's very much A Victoria Schwab book.
I really enjoyed the characters she put forth with Cassidy -- a self-professed Gryffindor and a photographer. She nearly died in an accident and doing so gave her the power to see ghosts and to see the veil of the ghost world. (I can see a teensy touch of that Vicious thread here) It also brought Jacob to her, the ghost that saved her life. In the year that she's been able to see ghosts, he's become her best friend and confidante. I really love their dynamic together. He's very snarky and funny and fickle in the way that children can be at that age. Despite that, they are best friends and really Jacob's just a sweetheart. We also get to meet Lara Chowdhury who Cassidy finds has the same powers as her. Through Lara, Cassidy learns that there is much more to what she can do than simply pass through the veil to see the ghosts. Lara is helpful and very British and a sort of friend to Cassidy.
This book isn't all that long, with the ARC just shy of 300 pages. However, in those three hundred pages, Schwab manages to establish a world and a tone and also set up the sort of lore to this world. It helps that it's also an urban fantasy -- a genre that Schwab has tackled before. However, because it's so short, it felt that there was some developing that could have been done such as establishing the "big bad" earlier in the story so it felt less rushed. All the while, in all its shortness it manages to do quite a lot and is such a fun read!
I did enjoy this story a lot, with sweetheart Jacob and his friendship with Cassidy and Cassidy's genuine Gryffindor-ness. There was also the cat that I wish we could have seen more of. (I'm a particular fan of Schwab's "murder kitten" Roissy). However, I do also acknowledge that I am much older than the target age range for this book and so what I see as cons (the shortness, and the abruptness of the adventure) may just be pros for middle graders. It's probably just a case of me being an Old.
Over all though, the book is so much fun and I look forward to seeing the series grow. The book ends on an ominous note and I look forward to seeing what the future and spirits have in store for Cassidy and Jacob and maybe all the other spirits that lurk around her. *eye emoji*
Happy Reading!
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