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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
"Brunch is like a contact sport in New York, I swear. Everywhere you go you have to wait like, three hours on a Sunday."
Howe has created a YA ghost story that combines the paranormal, the historical, and modern-day NYC. While helping a friend film a seance, film student Wes locks eyes with a beautiful-but-strange girl named Annie. She looks like she's from another time, and nearly no one else can see her. After several more run-ins, Annie and Wes develop a friendship centered around discovering the true reasons behind Annie's appearance.
While this is YA, and Scholastic recommends it for 12+, Howe treats her reader like an adult - something that I, and I'm sure most teenagers, really enjoy. Her storyline is complex and complicated with multiple POVs, there's a ton of history thrown in, and even a dynamic and difficult love triangle. The rejection of the typical simplicity of YA novels was really evident here, and totally paid off.
Howe has created a YA ghost story that combines the paranormal, the historical, and modern-day NYC. While helping a friend film a seance, film student Wes locks eyes with a beautiful-but-strange girl named Annie. She looks like she's from another time, and nearly no one else can see her. After several more run-ins, Annie and Wes develop a friendship centered around discovering the true reasons behind Annie's appearance.
While this is YA, and Scholastic recommends it for 12+, Howe treats her reader like an adult - something that I, and I'm sure most teenagers, really enjoy. Her storyline is complex and complicated with multiple POVs, there's a ton of history thrown in, and even a dynamic and difficult love triangle. The rejection of the typical simplicity of YA novels was really evident here, and totally paid off.
UGH!!! I wish this book could have just kept going! In the same vein as Conversion, Howe mixes history and the paranormal to create an interconnected story full of gorgeous characters. In Appearance, the summer of a 19 year old film student in New York City becomes intertwined with that of a 16 year old ghost summoned back to earth to solve the mystery surrounding her death back in 1825. Past and present collide!! So good!!
On Sept. 15, Penguin Publishing released Katherine Howe’s new novel, The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen, a teen ghost story with a bit of romance. The haunting tale is more of a mystery than a horror novel and perfect for teens of any age. I give it 3.5 stars.
Here's my full review: http://thecelebritycafe.com/2015/10/katherine-howes-appearance-annie-van-sinderen-book-review/
Here's my full review: http://thecelebritycafe.com/2015/10/katherine-howes-appearance-annie-van-sinderen-book-review/
Eh. This book, on maybe 10 separate times, talked about how delectable Wes found the mole on Annie's upper lip. For real? Again another book with a great summary but I found myself rolling my eyes. Bummer.
I liked the characters, but I feel like I missed something with the ending. I didn't really get what happened with Annie and...yeah. I don't want to say more to spoil it for anyone. Maybe I just hadn't paid enough attention while reading? I don't know. The characters were pretty well done, but I don't know. Even ignoring my confusion with the ending, I wasn't really wowed by the plot/story. Enjoyable, but not a new favorite of mine.
Honestly, this book was boring me so I threw in the towel around page 100.
I love this take on the traditional "ghost story".
I didn't expect it to be a ghost story at all from reading the synopsis - I was expecting a dark contemporary novel - and even as I was reading it, I was thinking, time travel?, certainly not ghosts. Altogether a lovely story.
I didn't expect it to be a ghost story at all from reading the synopsis - I was expecting a dark contemporary novel - and even as I was reading it, I was thinking, time travel?, certainly not ghosts. Altogether a lovely story.
mysterious
medium-paced
The middle was strong and then disappeared into nothing.
I'll admit, I took awhile on this book because I really just couldn't get into it. The novel's tone wasn't necessarily my style so, when I first started the book, I was a tad bored with it. It felt like the story was too confusing and developing at too slow a pace for me personally. However, once the story picks up (and it does), it doesn't slow down. Half the fun of the book is that it is told from the perspectives of two characters: Annie and Wes. Wes's perspective is introduced first and, because Wes is slightly confused by his situation, the reader is as well. Once the novel makes the transition to Annie's point of view, everything somehow clicks. What was once confusing suddenly makes perfect sense as the novel demands absolute full attention. Overall, I would say that the book was a very nice read. I really enjoyed the ending and all the surprises it presents, but because of how slow the beginning was and my dislike* for a certain tone the author displays, I only gave it 3 stars. I would say that if you're of fan of ghost stories and varying time periods, then this book would be a nice pick for your 'to read' list!
*take note that this is just personal preference and really just depends on the varying readers' tastes
*take note that this is just personal preference and really just depends on the varying readers' tastes