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indecisivesailorscout's review
4.0
I really loved this continuation of Rose's story, and having it be an actual linear narrative for her. It opened the world so much more than I expected, and despite some drawbacks, I enjoyed it all immensely. This is my favorite series from Seanan McGuire yet.
onespaceymother's review against another edition
4.0
I love a urban fantasy book that has more to do with ghosts and mythology than it has to do with the land of faerie, so this was delightful and I love how it loosely ties in with the novels about the Price family. Rose is lovable but flawed enough to be relatable.
You definitely want to read Sparrow Hill Road before this one. It’s absolutely a continuation and is predicted on some world understanding. It had been well over year since I read the first book but this book contains plenty of reminders to keep me going - but it’s definitely a good thing I had read it.
One issue I feel like Seanan’s work often falls into is serial questing. Instead of a clear beginning, major conflict, and end, it’s more beginning, major conflict, a reprieve, major conflict, reprieve, major conflict, now it’s over. If I didn’t enjoy her writing so much it could feel like a slog to get through. I think it works here, but I get the impression she is more comfortable writing in shorter, serial styles. There’s “5 books” here and it’s long all together.
My only other issue (which quickly remedied it’s self with time) was the woman who read this audiobook. Instead of constant “up speak” she actually had “down speak” which made her sound like a machine or Siri. Eventually I adjusted and actually came to enjoy her voice but the first chapter or so were difficult for me.
You definitely want to read Sparrow Hill Road before this one. It’s absolutely a continuation and is predicted on some world understanding. It had been well over year since I read the first book but this book contains plenty of reminders to keep me going - but it’s definitely a good thing I had read it.
One issue I feel like Seanan’s work often falls into is serial questing. Instead of a clear beginning, major conflict, and end, it’s more beginning, major conflict, a reprieve, major conflict, reprieve, major conflict, now it’s over. If I didn’t enjoy her writing so much it could feel like a slog to get through. I think it works here, but I get the impression she is more comfortable writing in shorter, serial styles. There’s “5 books” here and it’s long all together.
My only other issue (which quickly remedied it’s self with time) was the woman who read this audiobook. Instead of constant “up speak” she actually had “down speak” which made her sound like a machine or Siri. Eventually I adjusted and actually came to enjoy her voice but the first chapter or so were difficult for me.
lisawreading's review against another edition
4.0
This has been quite the year for me and Seanan McGuire. I was a fan of her Wayward Children books already, but this year I obsessively consumed her October Daye and Incryptid series -- so of course I had to read the Ghost Road books too.
The Girl in the Green Silk Gown is the sequel to the 2014 book Sparrow Hill Road. I first started Sparrow Hill Road about a year ago, and couldn't get into it. This year, in the midst of my Seanan McGuire frenzy, I decided to give it another try, and actually enjoyed it -- enough so that I was keen to read The Girl in the Green Silk Gown as well.
This book is the continuing story of Rose Marshall, who was killed in a car crash on the way to her prom back in the 1950s, and has haunted the highways of North America ever since as a hitchhiking ghost. Rose is the stuff of urban legends, who escorts doomed drivers to their afterlives but also helps those that she can to avoid a deadly fate. All the while, she's been on the run from Bobby Cross, the driver who killed her, and this time around, it looks like he finally has her trapped.
Sparrow Hill Road is more like a bunch of interwoven stories that make a whole, whereas The Girl in the Green Silk Gown is a novel with a beginning, middle, and an end. It's a hero's journey, an epic quest, and a story of belonging and home. Rose makes unusual choices, accompanied by unexpected friends and allies, and has both bravery and kindness to see her along her way.
The ghostly elements aren't scary -- this isn't a horror story -- but create an atmosphere that's otherworldly and strange and (yes) haunting in the best sense of the word.
For those who haven't read Sparrow Hill Road, I'd say start there -- but you can also start with The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, as there are enough reminders and exposition to get you up to speed even without prior familiarity with the general story. Also, for those who've read the Incryptid books, you'll see some familiar names popping up in this book. Not being familiar with Incryptid won't get in your way at all, but if you have read those books, you'll smile in recognition at least a few times.
Rose Marshall is a memorable lead character, and I hope we'll see more of her!
The Girl in the Green Silk Gown is the sequel to the 2014 book Sparrow Hill Road. I first started Sparrow Hill Road about a year ago, and couldn't get into it. This year, in the midst of my Seanan McGuire frenzy, I decided to give it another try, and actually enjoyed it -- enough so that I was keen to read The Girl in the Green Silk Gown as well.
This book is the continuing story of Rose Marshall, who was killed in a car crash on the way to her prom back in the 1950s, and has haunted the highways of North America ever since as a hitchhiking ghost. Rose is the stuff of urban legends, who escorts doomed drivers to their afterlives but also helps those that she can to avoid a deadly fate. All the while, she's been on the run from Bobby Cross, the driver who killed her, and this time around, it looks like he finally has her trapped.
Sparrow Hill Road is more like a bunch of interwoven stories that make a whole, whereas The Girl in the Green Silk Gown is a novel with a beginning, middle, and an end. It's a hero's journey, an epic quest, and a story of belonging and home. Rose makes unusual choices, accompanied by unexpected friends and allies, and has both bravery and kindness to see her along her way.
The ghostly elements aren't scary -- this isn't a horror story -- but create an atmosphere that's otherworldly and strange and (yes) haunting in the best sense of the word.
For those who haven't read Sparrow Hill Road, I'd say start there -- but you can also start with The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, as there are enough reminders and exposition to get you up to speed even without prior familiarity with the general story. Also, for those who've read the Incryptid books, you'll see some familiar names popping up in this book. Not being familiar with Incryptid won't get in your way at all, but if you have read those books, you'll smile in recognition at least a few times.
Rose Marshall is a memorable lead character, and I hope we'll see more of her!
bookladykd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kitty_whimsical's review
4.0
To be published at speculativechic.com on October 2, 2018
***
When we last saw Rose Marshall, she was fresh off of a victory against Bobby Cross, her eternal nemesis and the man who led to her death in the first place. She was in a good place, as much as a ghost can be. Best of all, she had been somewhat reunited with the love of her young life, Gary ("somewhat" because Gary happens to be a car...I told you to read Sparrow Hill Road). Things were looking up!
Until they weren't.
I promised no spoilers, and I'm going to stick with that. What I can tell you is this: poor Rose, who hasn't yet been able to rest quietly in her grave, is forcibly removed from her home on the Ghost Roads and forced into situations that she thought that she'd never have to face. She finds herself truly alone and vulnerable for the first time in sixty years, and it's heartbreaking.
What do you do when you're far from home and have literally zero allies that you can turn to for assistance? You make it up as you go along. Fortunately, Rose has decades of experience as a hitchhiking ghost to aid her in this outrageous situation. Not only is she pretty good at reading people, but she's practical and can think on her feet. I shudder to think of what might have happened to her had she not been so resourceful in the face of a genuine crisis. I kind of envy her; I'm not sure that I would have been that calculating and calm in the face of such a situation.
We learn a little more of what Rose's life might have been like if she'd been allowed to live longer than only sixteen years. It turns out that she very likely would have had a fascinating life. We get to watch, with genuine sympathy, as Rose deals with being essentially powerless and lost. McGuire's characters are always well-developed and complicated. They are some of the most human characters walking around the fictional world these days. Rose is no different. She's not perfect, by any means. She's moody, stressed out, and Really Sick Of This Shit. Watching her do her best to hold things together is a more than a little bit empowering. If Rose can survive this ordeal, surely I can defeat the tedium of my own daily life, right?
In Conclusion: This is a worthy followup to Sparrow Hill Road. I enjoyed the first book more, but that's only because "enjoyment" is something that's hard to say about this book. Rose deals with such a terrible thing here that it's hard to say that this was something that I enjoyed reading. It was, however, absolutely engaging and well-written. I appreciate this book in spite of (or maybe because of) the discomfort that it brought me. Spoilers forbid me from going into detail, but if you've read the book, speak up! I'd love to chat.
***
When we last saw Rose Marshall, she was fresh off of a victory against Bobby Cross, her eternal nemesis and the man who led to her death in the first place. She was in a good place, as much as a ghost can be. Best of all, she had been somewhat reunited with the love of her young life, Gary ("somewhat" because Gary happens to be a car...I told you to read Sparrow Hill Road). Things were looking up!
Until they weren't.
I promised no spoilers, and I'm going to stick with that. What I can tell you is this: poor Rose, who hasn't yet been able to rest quietly in her grave, is forcibly removed from her home on the Ghost Roads and forced into situations that she thought that she'd never have to face. She finds herself truly alone and vulnerable for the first time in sixty years, and it's heartbreaking.
What do you do when you're far from home and have literally zero allies that you can turn to for assistance? You make it up as you go along. Fortunately, Rose has decades of experience as a hitchhiking ghost to aid her in this outrageous situation. Not only is she pretty good at reading people, but she's practical and can think on her feet. I shudder to think of what might have happened to her had she not been so resourceful in the face of a genuine crisis. I kind of envy her; I'm not sure that I would have been that calculating and calm in the face of such a situation.
We learn a little more of what Rose's life might have been like if she'd been allowed to live longer than only sixteen years. It turns out that she very likely would have had a fascinating life. We get to watch, with genuine sympathy, as Rose deals with being essentially powerless and lost. McGuire's characters are always well-developed and complicated. They are some of the most human characters walking around the fictional world these days. Rose is no different. She's not perfect, by any means. She's moody, stressed out, and Really Sick Of This Shit. Watching her do her best to hold things together is a more than a little bit empowering. If Rose can survive this ordeal, surely I can defeat the tedium of my own daily life, right?
In Conclusion: This is a worthy followup to Sparrow Hill Road. I enjoyed the first book more, but that's only because "enjoyment" is something that's hard to say about this book. Rose deals with such a terrible thing here that it's hard to say that this was something that I enjoyed reading. It was, however, absolutely engaging and well-written. I appreciate this book in spite of (or maybe because of) the discomfort that it brought me. Spoilers forbid me from going into detail, but if you've read the book, speak up! I'd love to chat.
eastofthesunwestofthemoon's review
4.0
This second volume of the Ghost Roads series was more cohesive than the first, and maintained my interest better as a consequence. Rose is an interesting character who is drawn from ghost stories I heard when I was young, and I look forward to reading more about her. Laura is a bit all over the map and hopefully her resolution means she won't need to feature in later volumes, as I find her a bit hard to swallow. In a book that requires a good bit of willing suspension of disbelief to begin with, I prefer the 'normal' characters to be the most believable, so as not to kick the mindset out of the accept the weird zone.
seeinghowitgoes's review
4.0
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this follow up in the Ghost Roads series, while I loved the world building and the concept, I found the short story format of the first book a bit repetitive, but the world interested me enough to pick up the next volume.
Thank god I did, the short story format is done away with now that we have been firmly introduced to Rose Marshall's world and her story continues. Now pseudo re-united with her first love in car form (let's not talk about how strange that this), Rose continues her battle with Bobby Cross, the man who killed her and is still determined to have her soul. An encounter with a cross-roads witch and a sacrifice sees Rose suddenly and terrifyingly returned to life, with only Laura, Tommy's living girlfriend who hates her guts to act as a guide to get her back to the shadowlands where she belongs.
McGuire excels in these strange twists on story building, I love the side characters and in particular the last arc was excellent.
Thank god I did, the short story format is done away with now that we have been firmly introduced to Rose Marshall's world and her story continues. Now pseudo re-united with her first love in car form (let's not talk about how strange that this), Rose continues her battle with Bobby Cross, the man who killed her and is still determined to have her soul. An encounter with a cross-roads witch and a sacrifice sees Rose suddenly and terrifyingly returned to life, with only Laura, Tommy's living girlfriend who hates her guts to act as a guide to get her back to the shadowlands where she belongs.
McGuire excels in these strange twists on story building, I love the side characters and in particular the last arc was excellent.
berlinbibliophile's review
4.0
I really liked this novel and its characters. While the first book was more of a collection of short stories, this book has one continuous story, and because of that Seanan McGuire is able to do much more character development for people other than Rose Marshall herself. The story itself was super interesting and not something I would have ever anticipated, but with each twist I was more intrigued and invested in the plot. And wow, the ending!
2022 reread: to be honest, I had forgotten most of the plot, so I reread the book before starting *Angel of the Overpass*. It all slowly came back to me, but I really enjoyed reading it again and re-meeting these characters. Now I can go on to the next one!
2022 reread: to be honest, I had forgotten most of the plot, so I reread the book before starting *Angel of the Overpass*. It all slowly came back to me, but I really enjoyed reading it again and re-meeting these characters. Now I can go on to the next one!
wickedwitchofky's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Not my favorite from Seanan, but still a solid book.