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mijsfranssen's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so good!! I enjoyed it so much.
In this book we follow Harriet Stoker, who dies after a fatal fall while visiting an abandoned building.
There, other gosts are waiting for her, welcoming her to their world. But Harriet wants power. Even if she has to take it from others, destroying those around her. But the afterlife might not be the best place to make enemies.
What I loved about this book where the multiple POV’s. It made me really get to know all the characters, and watching them develope (which was done very well in this book) was so much fun. I loved the world building, how powers and energy come into play in this book. It was dark, twisty but also very well explained and nice to read. Lauren James did such a great job at the world building, and at making the whole story fall more and more into place while reading. There is also an ‘anonymous’ POV which you’ll find out more and more about during the book. This POV added so much to the story, and made it a lot more exiting and page-turning to read. The whole anti-heroine thing was refreshing to read for me, since I haven’t read a book like that, so that was fun!
The only reason why this isn’t a five star read for me, is because I do feel like some points of the book could have been sped up a little bit. There were just a tiny couple of points where the book was a bit slow going.
That being said, I highly reccomend this book! It is a bit of a crime/fantasy/thriller/ya book which just makes it so unique and interesting. Defenitly worth it! (And it also has a really pretty cover!!!)
In this book we follow Harriet Stoker, who dies after a fatal fall while visiting an abandoned building.
There, other gosts are waiting for her, welcoming her to their world. But Harriet wants power. Even if she has to take it from others, destroying those around her. But the afterlife might not be the best place to make enemies.
What I loved about this book where the multiple POV’s. It made me really get to know all the characters, and watching them develope (which was done very well in this book) was so much fun. I loved the world building, how powers and energy come into play in this book. It was dark, twisty but also very well explained and nice to read. Lauren James did such a great job at the world building, and at making the whole story fall more and more into place while reading. There is also an ‘anonymous’ POV which you’ll find out more and more about during the book. This POV added so much to the story, and made it a lot more exiting and page-turning to read. The whole anti-heroine thing was refreshing to read for me, since I haven’t read a book like that, so that was fun!
The only reason why this isn’t a five star read for me, is because I do feel like some points of the book could have been sped up a little bit. There were just a tiny couple of points where the book was a bit slow going.
That being said, I highly reccomend this book! It is a bit of a crime/fantasy/thriller/ya book which just makes it so unique and interesting. Defenitly worth it! (And it also has a really pretty cover!!!)
kilinandi's review against another edition
4.0
3.6 stars because the story was such a novelty. I feel like it could have done without the multiple POVs and kept it to the narrator + the mysterious voice (in italics). The twists were cool but somehow the delivery softened their blow.
The writer has been introduced to me now, so I shall try her other books.
The writer has been introduced to me now, so I shall try her other books.
alongreader's review against another edition
4.0
Lauren James is the queen of foreshadowing. She just is. Moments, words, looks that you think nothing of at the time take on huge significance later, when you realise what they really meant.
Several of Lauren's novels, although they cross genres, are set in the same universe. This one is a sort of action horror, a story about ghosts with special powers and vendettas that literally last beyond the grave. The group of ghosts Harriet meets are fascinating (although the idea is creepy; are there ghosts in my house eating spiders and watching me?) I have occasionally wondered about all the people who lived on this land before it was my house!
So far, apart from being gently linked, these novels don't have sequels. That's a shame, because I'd love to know what happens next. Although the story we've been following is over, there's plenty more to know about these people and more adventures they could have. (I have a question about Leah, but I don't want to spoil anyone reading this!)
I really enjoyed this. I liked the characters, even the ones I didn't like, the idea was very clever, and, if possible, I'm even more of a Lauren James fan than I was before. Brava.
And although this isn't so much Lauren's doing, I love the cover on this one. It matches her others without being exactly the same, just similar enough to be noticed, which I think is really clever. And the title, as always, is excellent.
Several of Lauren's novels, although they cross genres, are set in the same universe. This one is a sort of action horror, a story about ghosts with special powers and vendettas that literally last beyond the grave. The group of ghosts Harriet meets are fascinating (although the idea is creepy; are there ghosts in my house eating spiders and watching me?) I have occasionally wondered about all the people who lived on this land before it was my house!
So far, apart from being gently linked, these novels don't have sequels. That's a shame, because I'd love to know what happens next. Although the story we've been following is over, there's plenty more to know about these people and more adventures they could have. (I have a question about Leah, but I don't want to spoil anyone reading this!)
I really enjoyed this. I liked the characters, even the ones I didn't like, the idea was very clever, and, if possible, I'm even more of a Lauren James fan than I was before. Brava.
And although this isn't so much Lauren's doing, I love the cover on this one. It matches her others without being exactly the same, just similar enough to be noticed, which I think is really clever. And the title, as always, is excellent.
kateannarmy's review against another edition
2.0
I loved the book but the ending was unjustified. We spend the last part of the book learning that Harriet had been abused by Fabian/her grandma her entire life and continued to be manipulated by her “uncles” the Tricksters in the afterlife, but yet at the end of the book the friend gang still doesn’t forgive her and condemns her to the basement? Even though Leah knows how horrendous Fabian and his brothers were? Obviously the baby is a villain but Leah sucks too. Loved the book but Harriet didn’t deserve her ending.
kamiannaxo's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
charvi_not_just_fiction's review against another edition
4.0
This book started off a little slow and steady but picked up pace after the 100 page mark and oh my god I was glued after that. I just really loved the whole cast of characters, I think I loved the side characters much more than the main character.
I found that I couldn't relate to Harriet but I know she's not a relatable character and she's written that way but still, it impacted my reading experience. I was a bit annoyed with the interruption of the anonymous all-knowing narrator but no spoilers, I loved the actual voice and the character, I just wish they could have been incorporated in another way. Maybe the story could be told from their point of view?
I love how the whole plot of ghosts, their powers and past ghosts were dealt with. There was quite a bit of foreshadowing and the pay-off was worth it even though the plot twist didn't hit as hard as some of the ones in the author's other books. But the side characters? The found family? They made up for every freaking thing and now I need fanfics dedicated to their afterlives helppppp.
I found that I couldn't relate to Harriet but I know she's not a relatable character and she's written that way but still, it impacted my reading experience. I was a bit annoyed with the interruption of the anonymous all-knowing narrator but no spoilers, I loved the actual voice and the character, I just wish they could have been incorporated in another way. Maybe the story could be told from their point of view?
I love how the whole plot of ghosts, their powers and past ghosts were dealt with. There was quite a bit of foreshadowing and the pay-off was worth it even though the plot twist didn't hit as hard as some of the ones in the author's other books. But the side characters? The found family? They made up for every freaking thing and now I need fanfics dedicated to their afterlives helppppp.
dawn_chen's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars. I am so conflicted about this book.
For the first 2/3 I thought it's a 4 to 5 stars book, I didn't know going in to this that this is going to be a villain protagonist story, so I'm so pleasantly surprised to read about Harriet's character development direction. As the "big reveal" begins I thought it was a 2 stars because the reveal is utterly impossible to predict and honestly hilariously bad (the main character's grandma is the evil older brother, wow, i mean it's not completely unhinted at, but it's still not a good twist bc of how ridiculous it is), but the last 20 pages made me regain a bit of faith and love in this book because of how Harriet's arc ended.
What I liked about the book:
- the main found family has fantastic dynamics and chemistry! (Especially between Leah and Rima, Felix and Casper) Their banter made me laugh, their moment made me cry. I love all of their individual personality as well as them as a group together. Can't ask for more for a hero found family group, they're all my babies and I'll die for them.
-The world building of ghost lore is really interesting! The power and limitation of ghosts are fun to read and discover. But some part I don't really like. The setting is limited in the haunted student hall (which is set in MY UNI, it's kind of endearing since this is the first book I read that's set in uni of warwick, some reference made me cackle).
- I like how intricate and complex the author's foreshadowing and misdirections are in this book. Despite the twist being ridiculous, one thing I have to admit is that the author did foreshadow it from the start, unlike in GoT(the show).
- How the titular character is a villain protagonist! I didn't go in knowing Harriet will be a villain POV story so it was such a refreshing experience. Think it's the first time seen a mc like this, too bad her character arc falls flat later on.
What I didn't like:
- The twist of reincarnation and NORMAN (Harriet's grandma) being Leah's husband and The Big Bad(TM). Like sure there are foreshadowing for this to be the case but it is just so outlandish I don't think anyone can predict it even given all the clues. This link also lead to my second complaint.
- Where Harriet's redemption arc is treated. The author spend the first 2/3 of the book writing a corruption arc, just to have her have another redemption arc at the last minute??? This feels forced and rushed - seeing a character from marginally neutral to bad (not just bad but A BLOODY MURDERER WHO MURDERED ONE OF THE MAIN FOUND FAMILY MEMBER'S BROTHER) to good is…not as fun as it sounds. Frankly I don't think she should have had a redemption arc at all.
You can't have a conflict 2/3 through your book with your main protagonist as your main villain, just to flip it on the whole development with a plot twist with a Big Bad no one anticipated to show up until the last 60 pages and think that can push a character to redemption.
Harriet literally showed no remorse to even MURDER up until that point?? All she felt was marginally uncomfortable. The only reason I think she turned to the good side is because her abuser showed and turned out to be a bigger dick than she was.
Yes, I know the book try to paint her monstrous behavior as a product of abuse. But that's my problem with so many redemption arcs, a good redemption arc should SHOW US THE CHARACTER HAS REDEEMING QUALITY and THE ACT OF REDEMPTION SHOULD ACTIVELY COME FROM THAT CHARACTER INSTEAD OF OUTSIDE CIRCUMSTANCE.
Harriet fell into both of my pet peeves regarding a redemption arcs. 1) she did unforgivable things up to that point and never showed any sigh of good quality "shimmering through" 2) she didn't start her redemption arc due to inner question regarding her morale, she only started to change bc she also hates the big bad. She literally murdered a character for the big bad 3 pages before her redemption arc full in kick-starter.
Like, I love a good redemption arc, but when your villain character MURDERED SEVERAL PEOPLE WITHOUT REMORSE. That's where I draw the line of beyond redemption.
Here's a paragraph of another character's inner reasoning to forgive Harriet:
"I understand Harriet better than anyone. She was abused and made to feel like nothing, just like my mother and me. I don’t blame her for basing her behaviour on her grandmother’s. Being a good person isn’t an option when someone so strong-willed tells you that you’re weak, makes you feel helpless and spends all their time chipping away at you. Just being functional is hard enough."
BUT YOUR MOTHER (Leah) and YOU (Claudia) didn't actively murder INNOCENT PEOPLE FOR NO REASON WHAT SO EVER. You can't make that comparison when the actions of these characters being INCOMPATIBLE.
Another point Harriet contemplated her morality by pointing out against the True Bad Guys how she was not willing to torture every ghost in her way, as if that puts her at a moral high ground against them.
But honestly? What is this? Is the morality bar so low that IT'S OKAY TO MURDER BUT AS LONG AS YOU DON'T WANT TO ACTIVELY TORTURE EVERYONE YOU'RE A GOOD PERSON? SINCE WHEN IS THIS AN INDICATION OF A SPARK OF GOODNESS IN SOMEONE'S HEART??? HELLO???
The only up side to this is that the main found family didn't forgive Harriet by the end of the story. That's why I pumped this up to a three stars, since I find that as an acknowledgement on the book's part of the gravity of Harriet's crimes. Also her action to save one of the characters without gaining anything herself also calmed a little when I almost lost interest in the climax.
Anyway, seeing the ending I think there'll probably be a sequel? I look forward to it, but for now I'm gonna take a nap before my conflicted feelings tore a hole in my chest and I get stuck in my uni library as a ghost too for eternity.
For the first 2/3 I thought it's a 4 to 5 stars book, I didn't know going in to this that this is going to be a villain protagonist story, so I'm so pleasantly surprised to read about Harriet's character development direction. As the "big reveal" begins I thought it was a 2 stars because the reveal is utterly impossible to predict and honestly hilariously bad (the main character's grandma is the evil older brother, wow, i mean it's not completely unhinted at, but it's still not a good twist bc of how ridiculous it is), but the last 20 pages made me regain a bit of faith and love in this book because of how Harriet's arc ended.
What I liked about the book:
- the main found family has fantastic dynamics and chemistry! (Especially between Leah and Rima, Felix and Casper) Their banter made me laugh, their moment made me cry. I love all of their individual personality as well as them as a group together. Can't ask for more for a hero found family group, they're all my babies and I'll die for them.
-The world building of ghost lore is really interesting! The power and limitation of ghosts are fun to read and discover. But some part I don't really like. The setting is limited in the haunted student hall (which is set in MY UNI, it's kind of endearing since this is the first book I read that's set in uni of warwick, some reference made me cackle).
- I like how intricate and complex the author's foreshadowing and misdirections are in this book. Despite the twist being ridiculous, one thing I have to admit is that the author did foreshadow it from the start, unlike in GoT(the show).
- How the titular character is a villain protagonist! I didn't go in knowing Harriet will be a villain POV story so it was such a refreshing experience. Think it's the first time seen a mc like this, too bad her character arc falls flat later on.
What I didn't like:
- The twist of reincarnation and NORMAN (Harriet's grandma) being Leah's husband and The Big Bad(TM). Like sure there are foreshadowing for this to be the case but it is just so outlandish I don't think anyone can predict it even given all the clues. This link also lead to my second complaint.
- Where Harriet's redemption arc is treated. The author spend the first 2/3 of the book writing a corruption arc, just to have her have another redemption arc at the last minute??? This feels forced and rushed - seeing a character from marginally neutral to bad (not just bad but A BLOODY MURDERER WHO MURDERED ONE OF THE MAIN FOUND FAMILY MEMBER'S BROTHER) to good is…not as fun as it sounds. Frankly I don't think she should have had a redemption arc at all.
You can't have a conflict 2/3 through your book with your main protagonist as your main villain, just to flip it on the whole development with a plot twist with a Big Bad no one anticipated to show up until the last 60 pages and think that can push a character to redemption.
Harriet literally showed no remorse to even MURDER up until that point?? All she felt was marginally uncomfortable. The only reason I think she turned to the good side is because her abuser showed and turned out to be a bigger dick than she was.
Yes, I know the book try to paint her monstrous behavior as a product of abuse. But that's my problem with so many redemption arcs, a good redemption arc should SHOW US THE CHARACTER HAS REDEEMING QUALITY and THE ACT OF REDEMPTION SHOULD ACTIVELY COME FROM THAT CHARACTER INSTEAD OF OUTSIDE CIRCUMSTANCE.
Harriet fell into both of my pet peeves regarding a redemption arcs. 1) she did unforgivable things up to that point and never showed any sigh of good quality "shimmering through" 2) she didn't start her redemption arc due to inner question regarding her morale, she only started to change bc she also hates the big bad. She literally murdered a character for the big bad 3 pages before her redemption arc full in kick-starter.
Like, I love a good redemption arc, but when your villain character MURDERED SEVERAL PEOPLE WITHOUT REMORSE. That's where I draw the line of beyond redemption.
Here's a paragraph of another character's inner reasoning to forgive Harriet:
"I understand Harriet better than anyone. She was abused and made to feel like nothing, just like my mother and me. I don’t blame her for basing her behaviour on her grandmother’s. Being a good person isn’t an option when someone so strong-willed tells you that you’re weak, makes you feel helpless and spends all their time chipping away at you. Just being functional is hard enough."
BUT YOUR MOTHER (Leah) and YOU (Claudia) didn't actively murder INNOCENT PEOPLE FOR NO REASON WHAT SO EVER. You can't make that comparison when the actions of these characters being INCOMPATIBLE.
Another point Harriet contemplated her morality by pointing out against the True Bad Guys how she was not willing to torture every ghost in her way, as if that puts her at a moral high ground against them.
But honestly? What is this? Is the morality bar so low that IT'S OKAY TO MURDER BUT AS LONG AS YOU DON'T WANT TO ACTIVELY TORTURE EVERYONE YOU'RE A GOOD PERSON? SINCE WHEN IS THIS AN INDICATION OF A SPARK OF GOODNESS IN SOMEONE'S HEART??? HELLO???
The only up side to this is that the main found family didn't forgive Harriet by the end of the story. That's why I pumped this up to a three stars, since I find that as an acknowledgement on the book's part of the gravity of Harriet's crimes. Also her action to save one of the characters without gaining anything herself also calmed a little when I almost lost interest in the climax.
Anyway, seeing the ending I think there'll probably be a sequel? I look forward to it, but for now I'm gonna take a nap before my conflicted feelings tore a hole in my chest and I get stuck in my uni library as a ghost too for eternity.
anna_mangnus's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not quite sure how I feel about Harriet's ending,, like, I suppose it makes a better message, but I would have liked to see a corruption arc pushed through a little, and to see into her head a little more at that. I think it would have been neat to see her go absolutely feral. And I feel like her part of the story wasnt fully resolved. Also, as much as I'm glad some of the things were reversed in the end, I feel like it's a bit of a cop out, actions should have consequences.
But this squad was so fun and I had a great time reading it so still very good hahah
But this squad was so fun and I had a great time reading it so still very good hahah
efuaesaba's review against another edition
4.0
Really fun read, it was interesting and went to unexpected places. Ghosts, superpowers, queerness, mystery, crime, ancient grudges. What more do you need? I give it 4.5 stars, I was really impressed by the diversity but it loses a little for feeling YA, just a little more simplistic than it could've been.