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polyxenas_revenge's review against another edition
3.0
This is a great story, and I really liked how White incorporated so much of Charleston history and character, it reminded me of Anne Rice and how she described New Orleans in The Vampire Chronicles. However, what I found difficult to get past was that most of the characters who interact with Melanie always act as though they know more about her needs then she does herself. Including, giving out her phone number to her estranged mother, who she has repeatedly stated she does NOT want to speak to. She meets Jack who moves into her house without her consent, who lies to her and then ignores her boundaries that she puts up after she finds out. It might be different if Melanie was a young girl, but she’s 39. At one point she makes a request that everyone cease work on the restoration of her historic home, and everyone blatantly ignores her and continue working. This pattern of ignoring Melanie’s requests is always justified by Melanie “realizing” that this is “what she really wanted all along”. It just seemed problematic, considering this is a highly successful realtor, who apparently can make dynamic business decisions, but has no control of her personal life. This is an old trope that I personally would like to see written out of literature, but that’s just me. It was beautifully written though, and I would read another Karen White book.
nightwisp's review against another edition
5.0
Had a slow start but once through the beginning it was an excellent story!
dayamarie's review against another edition
3.0
The mystery was obvious, at least to me. It was fun enough to move on to the next book.
pam2375's review against another edition
3.0
This was a pretty good book. A little ghost story, a little mystery and a little romance. How can you go wrong, right?
debbiecollectsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting. Light reading and enjoyed the storyline. A new favorite author.
elissa8's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
gray5217's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
4.75
mfraise05's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at 33%. I loved the premise, a haunted house, vengeful ghosts, a reluctant heroine with the ability to see the dead, great. And the beginning 15% was pretty good. But there were things that by themselves are not problematic but when put together made me lose my desire to see the mystery(ies) solved.
First there's the MC, Melanie, a type A real estate agent whose tightly controlled life is a direct result of growing up with an alcoholic father and a mother who left when she was 6 or 7. She's a study in contradictions from the start: she sells million dollar historic homes and grew up in one but she hates them and would demolish them all if she had any say in it; her best friend is a hippie college professor seeking tenure and I cannot for the life of me figure out how they remain friends as Melanie is so emotionally closed off and seems to hate everything her friend says, not to mention how she dresses; she eats like a 10 year old allowed to plan her own meals, donuts for breakfast every morning and full slices of chocolate cake for dessert and she never gains a pound, another trait that gets very annoying to hear repeated again and again. She doesn't start off as unlikable but the farther the story goes, the more annoyed I got with her and I finally gave up when I got tired of her denial. This lady is in denial of everything and there's so much she won't say that it felt kind of pointless to keep reading. I don't get any pleasure from thinking "is she ever going to tell the truth" after every page.
The second problem I had was with the casual racism. The only non-white character we encounter is the Black woman who supplies the MC with her daily donut and coffee fix and it's been a long time since I've seen the "Mammy" stereotype in print but here it is! She comes complete with a house full of kids (hers and others she's taken in) that she can't afford or at least the MC thinks the can't afford, a big bosom and "fleshy elbows", and the good manners to call the MC "Miss Melanie" *gag*. This book takes place in 2008 or so, and I'll be goddamned if any Southern relative of mine was still calling white women "Miss So-and-So" like that. What kind of shit is that?! It gets even more offensive when the MC gives our friendly bakery Mammy a folder of clipped coupons as a show of generosity to help out feeding all those kids. GTFOH.
The above mentioned lazy stereotype, combined with the adorable dog unironically named General Lee and the proud claim that an ancestor of the romantic interest, Jack, was the real life inspiration for Rhett Butler *eye roll* ultimately caused me to tap out. Don't get me wrong, I do not expect nor automatically discount authors or characters who take a different kind of pride than I do of certain Southern histories or perspectives, but a little self-awareness goes a long way.
Anyway, this has gone on way too long, but in the end, I was couldn't justify spending any more time on this book than I already had. It could've been a good story in better hands.
First there's the MC, Melanie, a type A real estate agent whose tightly controlled life is a direct result of growing up with an alcoholic father and a mother who left when she was 6 or 7. She's a study in contradictions from the start: she sells million dollar historic homes and grew up in one but she hates them and would demolish them all if she had any say in it; her best friend is a hippie college professor seeking tenure and I cannot for the life of me figure out how they remain friends as Melanie is so emotionally closed off and seems to hate everything her friend says, not to mention how she dresses; she eats like a 10 year old allowed to plan her own meals, donuts for breakfast every morning and full slices of chocolate cake for dessert and she never gains a pound, another trait that gets very annoying to hear repeated again and again. She doesn't start off as unlikable but the farther the story goes, the more annoyed I got with her and I finally gave up when I got tired of her denial. This lady is in denial of everything and there's so much she won't say that it felt kind of pointless to keep reading. I don't get any pleasure from thinking "is she ever going to tell the truth" after every page.
The second problem I had was with the casual racism. The only non-white character we encounter is the Black woman who supplies the MC with her daily donut and coffee fix and it's been a long time since I've seen the "Mammy" stereotype in print but here it is! She comes complete with a house full of kids (hers and others she's taken in) that she can't afford or at least the MC thinks the can't afford, a big bosom and "fleshy elbows", and the good manners to call the MC "Miss Melanie" *gag*. This book takes place in 2008 or so, and I'll be goddamned if any Southern relative of mine was still calling white women "Miss So-and-So" like that. What kind of shit is that?! It gets even more offensive when the MC gives our friendly bakery Mammy a folder of clipped coupons as a show of generosity to help out feeding all those kids. GTFOH.
The above mentioned lazy stereotype, combined with the adorable dog unironically named General Lee and the proud claim that an ancestor of the romantic interest, Jack, was the real life inspiration for Rhett Butler *eye roll* ultimately caused me to tap out. Don't get me wrong, I do not expect nor automatically discount authors or characters who take a different kind of pride than I do of certain Southern histories or perspectives, but a little self-awareness goes a long way.
Anyway, this has gone on way too long, but in the end, I was couldn't justify spending any more time on this book than I already had. It could've been a good story in better hands.
positivewoman2013's review against another edition
4.0
Not my favorite Karen White novel, but I give a series until after the 2nd book to see if I will stick it out.