Reviews - Ghost Wood Song | The StoryGraph

506 reviews for:

Ghost Wood Song

Erica Waters

3.74 AVERAGE

ellieshay's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sniktbubgirl's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

anonymous_blobfish's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I have read another book by this author – one written after Ghost Wood Song, which was her debut work – last year and was captivated by her writing style. This did not quite meet the expectations I had from that experience, but I have since realised this was her debut novel and so many of the shortcomings simply relate to experience (and I can say with confidence that Waters overcomes these in future work).

Ghost Wood Song follows Shady Grove (yes, that is her whole first name, because she is not like other girls) as she delves into her family’s complicated (haunted) history to help solve the murder of her stepdad and exonerate her brother who currently stands accused of the crime. Along the way, she must also battle her own demons: the burning crush on her cute friend Sarah, the new interest in cute cowboy Cedar, the creepy shadow man who is trying to kill her, and the highs and low of bluegrass band life.

I did enjoy this book. Waters writing is incredible readable and she paints one hell of an image with her words – I could feel the oppressive humidity on my skin, smell the summer storm in the air. I loved the way that music played such an important part of this story, especially how it intertwined with grief and loss and really all parts of Shady and her being.

I did find a lot of the elements of this novel a bit hard to swallow in the sense that I am a grumpy 30-year old who is so over the “not like other girls” characters so prevalent in YA fiction. There was a lot that just annoyed me a little, or which felt hollow compared to the more deeper parts of the story. That being said, I don’t think any of this was bad or wrong, simply the different significance a teen places on things compared to me. In fact, most of my issues with this book boil down to two key points: I am over 30 and get annoyed by overly young characters in YA books, and this was the unpolished/refined work of a new author that can only be changed with time and experience.

I do think this book will be a massive hit for other readers and I defs recommend Waters as an author. I would steer people more towards The River Has Teeth as it was a superior story, but this is definitely still worth folks time.

martareader's review against another edition

4.0

So good and fun! Loved the creepy autumn athmosphere and the importance of family in this story.
It was a very fast paced book with likeable characters you can't hep but root for. The main character's gang was also fun and i loved their friendship.
Would recommend :)