Reviews

Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin

madmom's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

heatskitchen's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

allyoopadoop's review against another edition

4.0

The book was good enough to keep me coming back but barely. If give this book 3.5 if I could. Both narrators the one the book and the actual performer on the audiobook were a bit annoying. I thought the book picked up somewhere around chapter 40. I think the author had a really cool idea and I really like what drove her to write the book when I read about it at the end. I liked how the book wrapped up. It wasn't a complete waste of my time but it felt like a book we've read recently. There were moments where I felt like Grady Hendrix couldn't have written parts of it better. It also sort of reminded me of chestnut man. Whatevs.

mommasaystoread's review against another edition

2.0

Paper Ghosts started out with a creepy feel to it with our main character posing as a potential serial killer's daughter in order to find out if he killed her sister years before. The back and forth between the characters pulled me in and led me to think I had a riveting psychological thriller to sink my teeth into. Is Carl a serial killer? Does he really suffer from dementia or is he just a great actor hiding behind a facade? Did he kill this young woman's sister or is she on the wrong trail? All of these questions should've kept the suspense level high, but less than a hundred pages in, things become more about our main characters inner musings, and there are a lot of those. Considering the amount of time spent inside this woman's head, I was surprised that we don't learn her real name or what she does in her real life until the end. What I did learn was that she walked into a situation with a much too high opinion of herself and her ability to handle a man with dementia, let alone the possibility of him being a serial killer. We're told a lot about her "trainer" and how much time she's put in to learning to protect herself from Carl should she need to. The problem is that she really didn't know as much as she thought. I will admit that Carl does play some psychological games with our narrator, and those had the potential to be spine-tingling had our oh so prepared main character not been so completely unprepared for handling them. We do get answers to the many questions posed in this story, but too many were a bit too predictable and I never quite warmed up to the main character. I do prefer my mysteries and thrillers to be more edge of your seat, what's gonna happen next type stories and I didn't find that here, so quite possibly, this one just wasn't for me.

thain's review against another edition

4.0

Unusual if somewhat implausible premise of a missing girl's sister embarking on a road trip through Texas with a senile suspected serial killer in hopes of elicting the truth. Evocative in mood and setting, with the man's old photographs used as an interesting narrative device.

dorhastings's review against another edition

3.0

I have a really hard time rating this book. I wanted to take into consideration my reading of the entire book. I didn't get really interested until probably the last 20% of the book. Does that 20% override my feelings about the first 80% of the book? I don't think so. Overall the flight was kind of confusing and could have crashed, but the landing was surprisingly good.

I just didn't find that first 80% to be super engaging. And even though I liked the last 20%, I felt the epilogue was wrapped up a little too neatly. In the end, I found the underlying storyline, the reason behind the book, and the stunning revelations, to be interesting and really neat.

Spoiler

I also think there's a larger point to be made about dementia, scary as it is, that's intriguing. I don't know if more direct inclusion of dementia would have been the right call. I just think I appreciate it more at the end, and it perhaps tells me something about my own impatience with the characters throughout the book.

EDIT: After meeting with my book club, I'm adjusting my rating from 2 stars to 3. I still had a difficult time getting through this book, which I think has a lot to do with my own impatience than anything else (which, again, feels relevant to what I mentioned in the spoilers). But I think the main reason I updated my rating is due to the protagonist, who goes to extreme measures to find out about her sister's death. Her preparations fall through almost instantly in a way that makes her seem... relatable and human. She's not perfect, she's not a detective, and she's not a Marvel superhero. And yet her perseverance (while almost over-the-top) is mighty and even a little inspiring.

kennaellis's review against another edition

5.0

One of the best books I have read recently. Totally unpredictable twists and continues until the ending.
Outstandingly written!

ahartschuh's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

cservat129's review against another edition

4.0

This is a well written psychological thriller that had me practically inhaling it in one sitting. The plot was well written and the characters were so well developed they could be real people! I loved this book and look forward to this authors next book.

allisonmaisch's review against another edition

4.0

not the ending i thought it would have and it almost felt like a sudden, crashing end that didn’t build up in the typical way. also, you didn’t find out the main character’s name until the very end. not spooky but a good amount of suspense!