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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
medium-paced
2018 edition: I picked up this book a year or two ago and DNFd it. In the meantime, I've become a huge fan of all things Seanan McGuire, and when I saw there'd be a sequel in 2018, I thought I should go back and give Sparrow Hill Road one more try.
This time, I finished! The story of Rose Marshall, forever 16, a dead girl fated to haunt the highways of American hitching rides, is sad and sweet and full of shades of death. The book itself meanders a bit. Rose tells us up front that ghosts don't experience time in a linear fashion, and the story jumps back and forth in time quite a bit, weaving together various experiences from Rose's years of hitchhiking and guiding the doomed through death to their next chapters.
I enjoyed the book, but didn't find it nearly as compelling as the best of this author's works.
This time, I finished! The story of Rose Marshall, forever 16, a dead girl fated to haunt the highways of American hitching rides, is sad and sweet and full of shades of death. The book itself meanders a bit. Rose tells us up front that ghosts don't experience time in a linear fashion, and the story jumps back and forth in time quite a bit, weaving together various experiences from Rose's years of hitchhiking and guiding the doomed through death to their next chapters.
I enjoyed the book, but didn't find it nearly as compelling as the best of this author's works.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
I gravitated to this because Seanan McGuire. I'm a horror wimp so generally avoid ghost stories just in case. It took a little while to catch the rhythm of this and once I did it sucked me in. And by the end had me surprise sobbing for a few minutes there. Now I have a desperate need to read the sequel and to throw this book at a friend so I have someone to discuss it with.
I don't know how to phrase it properly, it's like they balance nicely or something, but I feel like this would be a good buddy read with American Gods. They're so different but have a similar road trip America with other worlds just outside of your peripheral vision feel. And with a female protagonist and some other great side characters, lots of magic users but no gods, it gives a great alternate view of the under surface Americas.
I don't know how to phrase it properly, it's like they balance nicely or something, but I feel like this would be a good buddy read with American Gods. They're so different but have a similar road trip America with other worlds just outside of your peripheral vision feel. And with a female protagonist and some other great side characters, lots of magic users but no gods, it gives a great alternate view of the under surface Americas.
I like ghost stories. Or at least I like ghost stories when Seanan McGuire is writing them, and creates such a deep world in a relatively short book. This links to InCryptid books, but it has it's own world and mythos and depth.
This is a ghost story. Er. Maybe a ghost's story. Overall I liked it, partially because it had a unique feel compared to most of my recent reads.
The story is not really told in a linear fashion. Lots of back and forth in time, though each switch is clearly labeled. If that sort of thing bugs you this might not be the book for you.
The story is not really told in a linear fashion. Lots of back and forth in time, though each switch is clearly labeled. If that sort of thing bugs you this might not be the book for you.
No, this wasn't a perfect book, but I am giving it a subjective five stars because I loved it, I was sorry when it ended, and I would recommend it to everyone I know.
This is a collection of short stories that's been organized into a book. It's not really a satisfying story arch, and you have to re-read introductions for every story. 2.5, really.
I adored this book! I loved the voice of Rose, the ghost of a 16 year old who died in the early 50's while on her way to the prom in a green silk dress, who to this day haunts the roads throughout the U.S. and has even become an urban legend.
As an old ghost in a young woman's body, a woman out of time and place, Rose is a complex character- fearless & sometimes jaded but still capable of vulnerability, adventures and even altruism. The world-building was so good that halfway through the book I started noticing that I had internalized the rules that Mcguire sets out in the book, actually believing that they applied in real life.
If you're looking for a classic fantasy that has a clear beginning middle & end, this is not it. I usually don't enjoy books that are slow to reveal a plot or have slow pacing in general, but the vignettes that filled the pages were engaging & helped build the character & the world in a way that kept me riveted. Once the plot showed up in the last half of the book, it was an intriguing one that culminated to a perfect ending.
It looks like this is the first in a series, and although its not at all clear to me what or who the 2nd book will be about, I am looking forward to reading it.
As an old ghost in a young woman's body, a woman out of time and place, Rose is a complex character- fearless & sometimes jaded but still capable of vulnerability, adventures and even altruism. The world-building was so good that halfway through the book I started noticing that I had internalized the rules that Mcguire sets out in the book, actually believing that they applied in real life.
If you're looking for a classic fantasy that has a clear beginning middle & end, this is not it. I usually don't enjoy books that are slow to reveal a plot or have slow pacing in general, but the vignettes that filled the pages were engaging & helped build the character & the world in a way that kept me riveted. Once the plot showed up in the last half of the book, it was an intriguing one that culminated to a perfect ending.
It looks like this is the first in a series, and although its not at all clear to me what or who the 2nd book will be about, I am looking forward to reading it.
I only picked this up because it was written by Seanan McGuire. Somehow she gets me to read stuff I never thought I'd like. I think maybe it's her job. Anyway. I am not really a "ghost story" sort of person. Unless, I guess, it is written by Seanan. In which case I think I'd read a book about homicidal hubcaps. Probably. I didn't like it QUITE as well as I like my favorites of McGuire's, because it felt more disjointed (probably the way it was written in installments) and because the "oh, I just made up this new thing" and "oh I just changed the rule I told you about earlier" gee-whiz stuff was a little more apparent in this book. That said, this was a darned enjoyable book! I had a great time with it and if I run across more along this line I will definitely read them. McGuire for the win again. Now if I like her zombie series, too, then it's official. I'm a groupie. OK I probably am already.