You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
absolutely ripped thru this. i luv u jacob please dont ghost die
2.5 stars. I really like Victoria Schwab as an author, but I was expecting more from this book. I love children's paranormal stories and there are some really fantastic ones out there. But City of Ghosts just felt tired to me. While the story was not bad, I didn't feel engaged with the story or characters.
I think the premise is great (a young girl who sees ghosts and her parents are academic paranormal investigators)and this is the first book in a series. I hope this first installment was just finding its feet and that the subsequent books will take off and be more exciting.
I think the premise is great (a young girl who sees ghosts and her parents are academic paranormal investigators)and this is the first book in a series. I hope this first installment was just finding its feet and that the subsequent books will take off and be more exciting.
Love this book. Victoria you are amazing. Thank you for bringing us this book. And please say there is going to be a sequel.
4.25 Stars!
I absolutely adored this book. It’s been a while since I’ve read any middle grade, so jumping back into it with a spooky story like this was great fun!
It didn’t hurt that it was set in Edinburgh (AKA one of my favourite cities ever), which is beautifully and atmospherically described throughout the novel. If this book doesn’t encourage you to want to go there, I don’t know what else will.
Cassidy was a really great narrator - I admired her tenacity, but also enjoyed the fact that she doesn’t know everything there is to know about her powers, so we get to find out with her. In terms of the other characters, I thought that Jacob was also brilliant and the dynamic of their friendship was really awesome to read. Lara I’m still on the fence about - maybe this was intentional, but I just can’t bring myself to really like her...
Also, shout out to Findley, who honestly sounds like the sort of person that you’d want to be good friends with.
I think the plot in general is really well paced and thought out, but the story does fall a bit flat when it comes to our villain. I just didn’t feel the level of suspense that we were probably supposed to have, which left the story feeling rather breezy throughout. However, this isn’t really a terrible thing, and it’s important to remember that this is a middle grade book, so it’s not going to go to the same level of scariness that you’d get in YA/adult fiction.
Honestly, it’s just so fun, and I can’t wait for Tunnel of Bones!
Overall: a quick and fun ghost story with interesting characters and a gorgeous setting.
I absolutely adored this book. It’s been a while since I’ve read any middle grade, so jumping back into it with a spooky story like this was great fun!
It didn’t hurt that it was set in Edinburgh (AKA one of my favourite cities ever), which is beautifully and atmospherically described throughout the novel. If this book doesn’t encourage you to want to go there, I don’t know what else will.
Cassidy was a really great narrator - I admired her tenacity, but also enjoyed the fact that she doesn’t know everything there is to know about her powers, so we get to find out with her. In terms of the other characters, I thought that Jacob was also brilliant and the dynamic of their friendship was really awesome to read. Lara I’m still on the fence about - maybe this was intentional, but I just can’t bring myself to really like her...
Also, shout out to Findley, who honestly sounds like the sort of person that you’d want to be good friends with.
I think the plot in general is really well paced and thought out, but the story does fall a bit flat when it comes to our villain. I just didn’t feel the level of suspense that we were probably supposed to have, which left the story feeling rather breezy throughout. However, this isn’t really a terrible thing, and it’s important to remember that this is a middle grade book, so it’s not going to go to the same level of scariness that you’d get in YA/adult fiction.
Honestly, it’s just so fun, and I can’t wait for Tunnel of Bones!
Overall: a quick and fun ghost story with interesting characters and a gorgeous setting.
adventurous
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Cute! I love Edinburgh, and this felt like seeing it again through the eyes of a kid
Yeah, ghosts are not my thing, but... I have author-loyalty. Had to read this one.
The climax was really well written. Things just kept going wrong, it got pretty tense.
The mom reminded me of the mom from Danny Phantom, lol. Super excited about everything related to ghosts.
Too many Harry Potter references, though. Also, if she's that obsessed with HP, she wouldn't have been stumped by all the British vocabulary. I literally just read "Order of the Phoenix", and there are definitely mentions of "lifts" in it instead of elevators. Just saying. Also, "fish and chips" is pretty normal, not sure why that confused her either.
No other comments~ A short review for a short book.
The climax was really well written. Things just kept going wrong, it got pretty tense.
The mom reminded me of the mom from Danny Phantom, lol. Super excited about everything related to ghosts.
Too many Harry Potter references, though. Also, if she's that obsessed with HP, she wouldn't have been stumped by all the British vocabulary. I literally just read "Order of the Phoenix", and there are definitely mentions of "lifts" in it instead of elevators. Just saying. Also, "fish and chips" is pretty normal, not sure why that confused her either.
No other comments~ A short review for a short book.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes