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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
A young girl who's been a ghost for over a century, currently haunts a highschool English teacher, the latest in a line of writers she's spent her time as a ghost with. She has very little memory of her life when she was alive, but does not know why she is still tied to this earth. Helen has gotten quite used to not being seen, and is shaken when she realizes one student in the class is looking right at her. Who is he and why can he see her? Helen begins to talk to this boy and finds herself torn between her teacher and this exciting young man, and the possibility he offers for a new life. She begins to fall in love with him, which can be a bit of an obstacle when he has a body and she does not. Is there a way for these young lovers to be together? Can she ever resolve the mysteries of her past and learn why she's still here?
This YA novel is a twist on a typical ghost story and a typical coming-of-age/identity story. The romance between the 2 main characters and the mystery of why they are here will keep you reading to the end, even if the writing and characterization does not keep you interested. Overall, not a great book, and I don't think it's really something young adults would remain interested in. I think it would have been better marketed to adults.
This YA novel is a twist on a typical ghost story and a typical coming-of-age/identity story. The romance between the 2 main characters and the mystery of why they are here will keep you reading to the end, even if the writing and characterization does not keep you interested. Overall, not a great book, and I don't think it's really something young adults would remain interested in. I think it would have been better marketed to adults.
Wow, I am amazed at the detail that Laura Whitcomb included in her novel. I love her interpretation on life after death and the love between the two main characters is quite enthralling. This book kept me interested and I liked how it was could be read by either a young or an adult audience, since the characters are in their late twenties but inhabit the bodies of teenagers.
The book takes place with a ghost, Helen, who has lived her life in her own personal hell when she cannot go to heaven and must spend eternity living a solitary life with no one to talk to her see her while she spends time giving literary inspiration to a number of hosts. Her hell happens when she spends her hosts whole lives with them growing closer and giving them inspiration when they finally grow old and die, which means she will be left behind. Each time her host dies she must find another host before she is dragged to hell. She keeps roaming the earth plane with her hosts moving from place to place while remaining unseen.
One day, she is in her new hosts classroom while he teaches a group of teenagers. She catches a boy staring at her. It is quite spooky to Helen because she has not been stared at in over 100 years. Frightened she stays away from the boy until she cannot control her interest. They meet and immediately Helen realizes that the boy is actually a ghost inhabiting a vacated human vessel. James (the ghost) has taken the body of a boy named Billy and has began to live the life that Billy has abandoned. James is taken with Helen suddenly realizing that they have been given a gift that they can see each other and he takes that as a reason to fall in love with her.
Helen longs to be with James so she wishes that he were her host and suddenly she is literally locked out of her current host, Mr. Brown's, house. Upon arriving at James' house they begin looking for vessels for Helen to take. They spot a lonely girl at the mall with her mother and she goes to James' school. Helen is told that, that girl is empty and she can be inhabited. So Helen takes charge and occupies the body of a teenage girl named Jenny.
Jenny's life is complicated with her strict, religious parents who force her to go to bible study and participate in prayer group each morning to repent for her sins that the author does not describe right away. But little does Jenny's family know that Helen is much older and much more willing to connect with James than Jenny's family would be. Once James and Helen see each other in their new bodies they understand that their attraction cannot be controlled. They race up to the raptors of the High school theatre and begin tearing off the clothes of one another and begin to have sex. The two do not waste any time proving their love to each other because they are not too sure how much time they have left.
Even though the two ghosts have one another they cannot shake the feeling that they soon will have to give the bodies back and face the facts that they are dead. Part of embodying a live vessel the two are given hints and images of their lives, which they have forgotten. James is the first to discover how he died and he knows that he is now with peace with himself and can move on. Helen is ruffing the feathers of her new family with her having "pre-marital" sex, taking photos, not going to prayer group, and talking back. She knows that James may soon leave her and she believes that she will be stuck in Jenny's body.
James' is being charged with rape, or well Billy is being charged with rape (even though he did not do the raping her just stood watch, while his friends raped a girl) and he cannot remember the incident, because it was not him, to testify against Billy's former friends. He needs Billy to come and take the body back from him and continue to live his life. James knows he has to leave Helen and they both are sullen about it. But it is a matter of life and jail for James and he knows Billy can tell the truth. Helen is taken back home to her chaotic life of her far too strict mother, her father who is having an affair, and now the idea of being taken out of school for "having sex" with a teacher (her former host Mr. Brown) but she did not have sex with him.
She knows that James will leave and she tries to make her new parents understand that she is not their daughter. But that just frighten them more. Her father leaves and her mother has a breakdown, which brings Helen and she closer. But James has left and Billy is back in his body and does not remember anything nor does he remember Helen or in this case Jenny. Helen needs Jenny to take back her body so she tries to kill herself in the bath with sleeping pills. Right when her life starts slipping away from her she sees Jenny's ghost and persuades her to save her body. Jenny slips back into the body and miraculously lives. Billy shows up over at the real Jenny's house and hands her a picture of Helen and James in their bodies, which brings the two lonely teens together in real life.
Helen is placed back into the scene of her death and is about to give up her life one more time when she realizes that her daughter (whom she thought she killed during a flash flood) calls to her to hold on. She overcomes her death and realizes she in fact saved her child that night and gets to go to the "great beyond" to be with her child (who lived her whole life) and her James.
The book takes place with a ghost, Helen, who has lived her life in her own personal hell when she cannot go to heaven and must spend eternity living a solitary life with no one to talk to her see her while she spends time giving literary inspiration to a number of hosts. Her hell happens when she spends her hosts whole lives with them growing closer and giving them inspiration when they finally grow old and die, which means she will be left behind. Each time her host dies she must find another host before she is dragged to hell. She keeps roaming the earth plane with her hosts moving from place to place while remaining unseen.
One day, she is in her new hosts classroom while he teaches a group of teenagers. She catches a boy staring at her. It is quite spooky to Helen because she has not been stared at in over 100 years. Frightened she stays away from the boy until she cannot control her interest. They meet and immediately Helen realizes that the boy is actually a ghost inhabiting a vacated human vessel. James (the ghost) has taken the body of a boy named Billy and has began to live the life that Billy has abandoned. James is taken with Helen suddenly realizing that they have been given a gift that they can see each other and he takes that as a reason to fall in love with her.
Helen longs to be with James so she wishes that he were her host and suddenly she is literally locked out of her current host, Mr. Brown's, house. Upon arriving at James' house they begin looking for vessels for Helen to take. They spot a lonely girl at the mall with her mother and she goes to James' school. Helen is told that, that girl is empty and she can be inhabited. So Helen takes charge and occupies the body of a teenage girl named Jenny.
Jenny's life is complicated with her strict, religious parents who force her to go to bible study and participate in prayer group each morning to repent for her sins that the author does not describe right away. But little does Jenny's family know that Helen is much older and much more willing to connect with James than Jenny's family would be. Once James and Helen see each other in their new bodies they understand that their attraction cannot be controlled. They race up to the raptors of the High school theatre and begin tearing off the clothes of one another and begin to have sex. The two do not waste any time proving their love to each other because they are not too sure how much time they have left.
Even though the two ghosts have one another they cannot shake the feeling that they soon will have to give the bodies back and face the facts that they are dead. Part of embodying a live vessel the two are given hints and images of their lives, which they have forgotten. James is the first to discover how he died and he knows that he is now with peace with himself and can move on. Helen is ruffing the feathers of her new family with her having "pre-marital" sex, taking photos, not going to prayer group, and talking back. She knows that James may soon leave her and she believes that she will be stuck in Jenny's body.
James' is being charged with rape, or well Billy is being charged with rape (even though he did not do the raping her just stood watch, while his friends raped a girl) and he cannot remember the incident, because it was not him, to testify against Billy's former friends. He needs Billy to come and take the body back from him and continue to live his life. James knows he has to leave Helen and they both are sullen about it. But it is a matter of life and jail for James and he knows Billy can tell the truth. Helen is taken back home to her chaotic life of her far too strict mother, her father who is having an affair, and now the idea of being taken out of school for "having sex" with a teacher (her former host Mr. Brown) but she did not have sex with him.
She knows that James will leave and she tries to make her new parents understand that she is not their daughter. But that just frighten them more. Her father leaves and her mother has a breakdown, which brings Helen and she closer. But James has left and Billy is back in his body and does not remember anything nor does he remember Helen or in this case Jenny. Helen needs Jenny to take back her body so she tries to kill herself in the bath with sleeping pills. Right when her life starts slipping away from her she sees Jenny's ghost and persuades her to save her body. Jenny slips back into the body and miraculously lives. Billy shows up over at the real Jenny's house and hands her a picture of Helen and James in their bodies, which brings the two lonely teens together in real life.
Helen is placed back into the scene of her death and is about to give up her life one more time when she realizes that her daughter (whom she thought she killed during a flash flood) calls to her to hold on. She overcomes her death and realizes she in fact saved her child that night and gets to go to the "great beyond" to be with her child (who lived her whole life) and her James.
This book is about two ghosts who fall in love.
At first, I didn't like it at all. It was too rushed and it didn't seem original. The instalove got quite boring.
I was annoyed by Jenny's family and by Billy's brother. I didn't like that the part about Jenny's and Billy's spirits wasn't well developed. It looked it was forced too much.
In a few words, there was nothing engaging..
until after page 180
then things got interesting.
I loved that other events interacted with their story and it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies for a change. It was refreshing to read with more suspense and mystery thrown in.
Another part I love was the ending. Not only they end up together as spirits, but we also get to finally see how Helen died and why she had to stay on Earth as a ghost.
The story ends up coming full circle. This is another thing I liked about this book. There was a beginning and an end. Every questions had an answer. Nothing was left for us to guess. And I loved that.
It was also a quick read, I read it in about an afternoon.
I recommend it if you're looking for something simple, love-y with some suspense thrown in.
At first, I didn't like it at all. It was too rushed and it didn't seem original. The instalove got quite boring.
I was annoyed by Jenny's family and by Billy's brother. I didn't like that the part about Jenny's and Billy's spirits wasn't well developed. It looked it was forced too much.
In a few words, there was nothing engaging..
until after page 180
then things got interesting.
I loved that other events interacted with their story and it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies for a change. It was refreshing to read with more suspense and mystery thrown in.
Another part I love was the ending. Not only they end up together as spirits, but we also get to finally see how Helen died and why she had to stay on Earth as a ghost.
The story ends up coming full circle. This is another thing I liked about this book. There was a beginning and an end. Every questions had an answer. Nothing was left for us to guess. And I loved that.
It was also a quick read, I read it in about an afternoon.
I recommend it if you're looking for something simple, love-y with some suspense thrown in.
Could not put this down. I'm literally typing this in tears at the ending. Top 10 favorites
This copy was a little hard to find. I had to order and then wait at least three weeks for Amazon to ship my copy. I've never read a book in this format before. The font used was a little old-fashioned and the paper - a little on the thin side. It almost felt like a Bible (bear with me, there is a point to this rambling). This format was a good complement to Laura Whitcomb's writing.
Her prose was classical that suited well with the ages of our ghosts. Helen had been around for more than a hundred years to James' half. It was beautifully written, expressive and yet very simple. It was in the clean writing that readers would be able to appreciate the book's atmosphere and the characters' emotional state. It was a haunting of a different kind; not the scary, hair-raising kind of way but a feeling of emptiness you feel right along with Helen when she thinks about all the things she misses when she was alive. It's missing the smell, taste, and feel of being substantially alive.
The story opens with Helen flitting from one host to another and the struggles she goes through with each transition. Whitcomb descriptively relays the feeling of helplessness and doom of her drowning in freezing water, heavy with mud. Helen finds solace and comfort with each hosts; and even inspire a writer like a muse. And with each passing of her hosts, she loses a friend, a companion, and love in differing degrees.
When she's cleaved on to Mr. Brown, she's become his muse. Carefully whispering words of encouragement and inspiration as she follows him around like a shadow. In his English class, she meets a living boy who seem to be able to see her. Thus begin an improbable romance between a ghost and the living. In James (Billy), she learned that a Light like her has the ability to occupy a body so long as the soul has vacated the vessel. This is where readers might find this novel whimsical, may be even a bit thin on the details. But I enjoyed this take on the usual ghost story. It featured characters who'd resented their lives - broken and empty in their paltry existence. Billy was a troubled teen junkie, while Jenny had long checked out of the asphyxiating life with her religious parents.
Some may find Whitcomb's writing a bit formal but it was oddly fitting for this novel. I'm also a bit surprised that it's being marketed as YA when both James and Helen are on the adult side. Even their relationship took off faster than the norm in this genre. I think the instalment might be more age-appropriate since it would be the story of how Billy and Jenny would cope with the knowledge that someone had lived their lives in their absences.
Her prose was classical that suited well with the ages of our ghosts. Helen had been around for more than a hundred years to James' half. It was beautifully written, expressive and yet very simple. It was in the clean writing that readers would be able to appreciate the book's atmosphere and the characters' emotional state. It was a haunting of a different kind; not the scary, hair-raising kind of way but a feeling of emptiness you feel right along with Helen when she thinks about all the things she misses when she was alive. It's missing the smell, taste, and feel of being substantially alive.
The story opens with Helen flitting from one host to another and the struggles she goes through with each transition. Whitcomb descriptively relays the feeling of helplessness and doom of her drowning in freezing water, heavy with mud. Helen finds solace and comfort with each hosts; and even inspire a writer like a muse. And with each passing of her hosts, she loses a friend, a companion, and love in differing degrees.
When she's cleaved on to Mr. Brown, she's become his muse. Carefully whispering words of encouragement and inspiration as she follows him around like a shadow. In his English class, she meets a living boy who seem to be able to see her. Thus begin an improbable romance between a ghost and the living. In James (Billy), she learned that a Light like her has the ability to occupy a body so long as the soul has vacated the vessel. This is where readers might find this novel whimsical, may be even a bit thin on the details. But I enjoyed this take on the usual ghost story. It featured characters who'd resented their lives - broken and empty in their paltry existence. Billy was a troubled teen junkie, while Jenny had long checked out of the asphyxiating life with her religious parents.
Some may find Whitcomb's writing a bit formal but it was oddly fitting for this novel. I'm also a bit surprised that it's being marketed as YA when both James and Helen are on the adult side. Even their relationship took off faster than the norm in this genre. I think the instalment might be more age-appropriate since it would be the story of how Billy and Jenny would cope with the knowledge that someone had lived their lives in their absences.
Zusammenfassend
Die Lichtgestalt Helen lebt schon seit über 130 Jahren nicht mehr. Ihre Zeit hat sie mit auserlesenen Bewahrern verbracht. Denn wenn sie keinen Bewahrer hätte, würde sie zurück in die Hölle gerissen werden. In ihre ganz persönliche Hölle.
Als sie eines Tages mit ihrem Bewahrer Mr. Brown im Klassenzimmer sitzt, wird sie von einem Jungen direkt angeschaut und angelächelt. Kann das sein? Kann der junge Billy sie wirklich sehen? Wo sie doch nur Licht ist und von niemanden, noch nie gesehen wurde!
Doch es stellt sie tatsächlich heraus, dass Billy sie sehen kann! Denn genauso wie sie, war auch Billy einmal Licht. Er erzählt ihr von seinem Leben als Licht und verrät ihr auch einige Geheimnisse. Schnell fängt Helen sich mehr als nur freundschaftlich für ihn zu interessieren. Und den beiden wird klar, sie müssen auch für Helen einen leeren Körper finden.
Doch dies ist gar nicht so einfach, wie Anfangs gedacht. Denn ein Körper allein, wird ihre Beziehung nicht etwa einfacher sonder weitaus komplizierter machen.
Wer war Billy früher?
Wird Helen einen passenden Körper finden?
Und was ist vor ihrem Tod mit ihr geschehen?
Gefiel mir sehr
Zu Anfangs war ich sehr angetan von der Idee der Geschichte an sich. Ein vergleichbares Buch hatte ich bis anhin noch nicht gelesen. Auch gefiel mir der Schreibstil von Anfang an sehr gut, ich mochte die poetischen Abschnitte und konnte mich mit der Sprache vom Buch, welche zwischen modern und altertümlich schwankte, gut anfreunden.
Gefiel mir nicht
Leider konnte mich das Buch aber nie wirklich packen. Bereits nach 100 Seiten, fand ich die Geschichte nicht mehr reizend und spielte mit dem Gedanken das Buch abzubrechen. Das Buch wurde mir ab der Mitte an dann doch zu "Gott und Glaubens" Lastig und ich wollte es eigentlich nur noch zu Ende lesen, damit es durch war.
Die ist für mich für ein Buch ein vernichtendes Urteil. Auch die Liebesgeschichte zwischen den beiden Protagonisten, war mir "zu viel" von allem und kam mir nicht echt rüber.
Schreibstil & Cover
Einzig der Schreibstil, konnte dieses Buch in der Wertung noch ein wenig retten.
Das Cover ist hübsch, aber nicht wirklich ein Augencatcher in der Buchhandlung.
Fazit
Alles in allem ein doch sehr enttäuschendes Buch!
Bewertung
Buchlänge ♥♥ (2/5)
Schreibstil ♥♥♥ (3/5)
Botschaft ♥ (1/5)
Lesevergnügen ♥♥ (2/5)
Die Lichtgestalt Helen lebt schon seit über 130 Jahren nicht mehr. Ihre Zeit hat sie mit auserlesenen Bewahrern verbracht. Denn wenn sie keinen Bewahrer hätte, würde sie zurück in die Hölle gerissen werden. In ihre ganz persönliche Hölle.
Als sie eines Tages mit ihrem Bewahrer Mr. Brown im Klassenzimmer sitzt, wird sie von einem Jungen direkt angeschaut und angelächelt. Kann das sein? Kann der junge Billy sie wirklich sehen? Wo sie doch nur Licht ist und von niemanden, noch nie gesehen wurde!
Doch es stellt sie tatsächlich heraus, dass Billy sie sehen kann! Denn genauso wie sie, war auch Billy einmal Licht. Er erzählt ihr von seinem Leben als Licht und verrät ihr auch einige Geheimnisse. Schnell fängt Helen sich mehr als nur freundschaftlich für ihn zu interessieren. Und den beiden wird klar, sie müssen auch für Helen einen leeren Körper finden.
Doch dies ist gar nicht so einfach, wie Anfangs gedacht. Denn ein Körper allein, wird ihre Beziehung nicht etwa einfacher sonder weitaus komplizierter machen.
Wer war Billy früher?
Wird Helen einen passenden Körper finden?
Und was ist vor ihrem Tod mit ihr geschehen?
Gefiel mir sehr
Zu Anfangs war ich sehr angetan von der Idee der Geschichte an sich. Ein vergleichbares Buch hatte ich bis anhin noch nicht gelesen. Auch gefiel mir der Schreibstil von Anfang an sehr gut, ich mochte die poetischen Abschnitte und konnte mich mit der Sprache vom Buch, welche zwischen modern und altertümlich schwankte, gut anfreunden.
Gefiel mir nicht
Leider konnte mich das Buch aber nie wirklich packen. Bereits nach 100 Seiten, fand ich die Geschichte nicht mehr reizend und spielte mit dem Gedanken das Buch abzubrechen. Das Buch wurde mir ab der Mitte an dann doch zu "Gott und Glaubens" Lastig und ich wollte es eigentlich nur noch zu Ende lesen, damit es durch war.
Die ist für mich für ein Buch ein vernichtendes Urteil. Auch die Liebesgeschichte zwischen den beiden Protagonisten, war mir "zu viel" von allem und kam mir nicht echt rüber.
Schreibstil & Cover
Einzig der Schreibstil, konnte dieses Buch in der Wertung noch ein wenig retten.
Das Cover ist hübsch, aber nicht wirklich ein Augencatcher in der Buchhandlung.
Fazit
Alles in allem ein doch sehr enttäuschendes Buch!
Bewertung
Buchlänge ♥♥ (2/5)
Schreibstil ♥♥♥ (3/5)
Botschaft ♥ (1/5)
Lesevergnügen ♥♥ (2/5)
I took me about 100 pages to get into this. I didn't love Whitcomb's writing, but once the plot hit its stride, I had trouble putting the book down. A gripper to be sure. And very romantic.
One more note: Even though this book is for teens, I think it might actually have more adult appeal because the characters are really old people in young people's bodies.
One more note: Even though this book is for teens, I think it might actually have more adult appeal because the characters are really old people in young people's bodies.
3.5-An original supernatural love story-a rarity these days. Well written, evocative, and poetic. I read it in one sitting and probably would have given it a four if not for the many issues left unresolved on the human side of things. The largely negative impact on the lives of the humans due to interaction with the ghosts (Helen in particular) seemed glossed over. Mr. Brown and Jenny have some challenges ahead, it seemed somewhat incongruous with the happy ghost ending, although I was glad that James and Helen got that.