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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
I was underwhelmed by this book. I am a huge fan of [a:Seanan McGuire|2860219|Seanan McGuire|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1245623198p2/2860219.jpg]'s October Daye series and the Newsflesh series she writes under the [a:Mira Grant|3153776|Mira Grant|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1380320279p2/3153776.jpg] pseudonym, so I had high expectations. However, true to any good author, this book is stylistically very different from her other works. Unfortunately, it was not what I was hoping to find.
Don't get me wrong, the book is not a bad book at all. I am just really a fan of her action and intrigue based writing. This is definitely not that type of story. It is a bittersweet ghost stories that meanders and floats in a manner that is eerily evocative of a haunting.
I suspect some readers might have issue with the nonlinear narrative. I actually thought this was very clever and appropriate for a tale about ghost girl. I just wish there had been more action. A nice ghost tale here and there would have been nice, but it felt like the snippets got a tad old as I waited for the story to circle back to the point. Instead, things slowly swirled into a standstill with tendrils showing where things could go in another book.
As always with Ms. McGuire, the world was richly built, with a lot of thought and detail. Seriously, this woman is gifted in her fantasy imagination and the results always seem so vivid and real. This, more than anything else will probably see my return for the next book in the series.
Don't get me wrong, the book is not a bad book at all. I am just really a fan of her action and intrigue based writing. This is definitely not that type of story. It is a bittersweet ghost stories that meanders and floats in a manner that is eerily evocative of a haunting.
I suspect some readers might have issue with the nonlinear narrative. I actually thought this was very clever and appropriate for a tale about ghost girl. I just wish there had been more action. A nice ghost tale here and there would have been nice, but it felt like the snippets got a tad old as I waited for the story to circle back to the point. Instead, things slowly swirled into a standstill with tendrils showing where things could go in another book.
As always with Ms. McGuire, the world was richly built, with a lot of thought and detail. Seriously, this woman is gifted in her fantasy imagination and the results always seem so vivid and real. This, more than anything else will probably see my return for the next book in the series.
With the last few InCryptid's being very disappointing and while waiting on more October Daye, decided to read this. The book is a bunch of short stories woven into a novel. The protagonist is Rose Marshall. While the book has McGuire's trademark humor, it's a much more series book about life and death. Wonderful.
Rose Marshall is the prom date in the green dress, a hitchhiking ghost who can save some from a deadly end on the road and can only help others cross over to the other side. The book traces Rose's unlife and the trials and tribulations of being a psychopomp.
I like this book, but it is only a case of like, which makes me sad. I am sad, only because I was hoping for love, love, love, but there is plenty here to really like! My personal level of crazy made it hard for me to enjoy the whiplash of leaping back in forth 10,20, 30 and more years. It made the narrative feel jumbled to me, although in reality it does work and time is hardly linear, especially when you are talking ghost stories. What really threw me for a loop though is that despite the fact that Rose died in the 50's she has no character arc. She starts out very much a 21st century girl, sleeping with truckers, hitchhiking and being a typical bad ass urban fantasy girl. I suppose I would have liked to have seen her lose her 50's sensibilities and evolve with the world, which was part of my trouble with the jumping back and forth over the decades. She was the same throughout so I had to pay extra attention to the dates provided in the headings. The other characters also feel flat, a collection of kind men she meets on the road and bad ass women who throw wrenches into her path. They feel interchangeable down to the dialogue, except for the routewitches, who no matter the gender, race, etc. also could be interchangeable with each other, with just a little more southern hick thrown in compared to the other characters. While the ideas here are interesting, it was all just a little flat for me.
This book is more a collection of ghost stories than a typical story with a beginning, middle and end. Just a small spoiler for those who hate a cliff hanger - the main issues are not resolved in this book, leaving it wide open to the second book down the line, which I will definitely be reading even though this is only a like book for me. There is definitely nothing here that drove me away!
Still, a definitely recommended read, especially if you already the story of the girl who vanishes from the car just as the driver brings her home.
I like this book, but it is only a case of like, which makes me sad. I am sad, only because I was hoping for love, love, love, but there is plenty here to really like! My personal level of crazy made it hard for me to enjoy the whiplash of leaping back in forth 10,20, 30 and more years. It made the narrative feel jumbled to me, although in reality it does work and time is hardly linear, especially when you are talking ghost stories. What really threw me for a loop though is that despite the fact that Rose died in the 50's she has no character arc. She starts out very much a 21st century girl, sleeping with truckers, hitchhiking and being a typical bad ass urban fantasy girl. I suppose I would have liked to have seen her lose her 50's sensibilities and evolve with the world, which was part of my trouble with the jumping back and forth over the decades. She was the same throughout so I had to pay extra attention to the dates provided in the headings. The other characters also feel flat, a collection of kind men she meets on the road and bad ass women who throw wrenches into her path. They feel interchangeable down to the dialogue, except for the routewitches, who no matter the gender, race, etc. also could be interchangeable with each other, with just a little more southern hick thrown in compared to the other characters. While the ideas here are interesting, it was all just a little flat for me.
This book is more a collection of ghost stories than a typical story with a beginning, middle and end. Just a small spoiler for those who hate a cliff hanger - the main issues are not resolved in this book, leaving it wide open to the second book down the line, which I will definitely be reading even though this is only a like book for me. There is definitely nothing here that drove me away!
Still, a definitely recommended read, especially if you already the story of the girl who vanishes from the car just as the driver brings her home.
Review originally posted at http://fictionvixen.com/review-sparrow-hill-road-by-seanan-mcguire/
Rose Marshall died on Sparrow Hill Road in 1952. Dressed in her green prom dress, out looking for a date who never picked her up, she is run off the road by Bobby Cross. Now she haunts North America, guiding lost souls home. She’s been called the Girl in the Green Silk Gown, the Phantom Prom Date, the Woman in the Diner, and the Ghost of Sparrow Hill Road. She’s really a hitchhiking psychopomp, bound to highways and truck-stops and roadside diners, who tastes death in the air and saves the lives she can while also helping the newly dead souls find their way into the twilight. Rose will forever be stuck in the guise of a 16-year-old, but isn’t innocent anymore.
This is the first book in the Ghost Roads series, first published in 2014, reissued and with a new cover now that the second book, The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, is set to be released in July. Jumping back and forth through time, Sparrow Hill Road introduces readers to Rose Marshall. I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect when I started reading as the beginning meanders around a bit. Rose talks about her small town life in Buckley Township, Michigan and the night she died. But there is also quite a bit of page time spent wandering the ghost roads with her as she hitches rides and tries hard to guide those travelers away from the death that is awaiting them up the road. Some times she succeeds and sometimes she fails, but all the while her legend grows and evolves.
I hadn’t realized when I picked this book up that it was originally put out as a serial, but it makes sense. Once the reader gets through the introductions and ghost stories and is finally comfortable with the world Rose inhabits, the main plot starts to take shape. Rose is still being chased by the man who killed her, Bobby Cross, and is determined to end his reign of terror. Her journey will take her across the country looking for help and then back home again. She never gives up, but always remains aware that he is the one who could end her existence for good. And even though she would have preferred to experience life beyond the age of sixteen, she’s gotten used to the life she does have. She takes her comforts where she can. Milkshakes at the Last Chance Diner and small talk with her bestie Emma. Borrowed coats that give her the ability to be corporal for a short time and freely given truck stop food that tastes like heaven. She may still look like a girl of sixteen, but she’s grown much wiser in the years since her death. She’ll need help in her quest, and fortunately for her, she’s made friends throughout her travels.
Seanan McGuire weaves stories I love to read. She’s so imaginative and original. I knew I would enjoy Sparrow Hill Road as soon as Rose introduced herself and started to tell her story in the first chapter. This book leaves off in a way that keeps the reader guessing, but gives them just enough closure to be able to wait for what comes next. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series when it releases in July. Final Grade-B
Favorite Quote:
Rose Marshall died on Sparrow Hill Road in 1952. Dressed in her green prom dress, out looking for a date who never picked her up, she is run off the road by Bobby Cross. Now she haunts North America, guiding lost souls home. She’s been called the Girl in the Green Silk Gown, the Phantom Prom Date, the Woman in the Diner, and the Ghost of Sparrow Hill Road. She’s really a hitchhiking psychopomp, bound to highways and truck-stops and roadside diners, who tastes death in the air and saves the lives she can while also helping the newly dead souls find their way into the twilight. Rose will forever be stuck in the guise of a 16-year-old, but isn’t innocent anymore.
This is the first book in the Ghost Roads series, first published in 2014, reissued and with a new cover now that the second book, The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, is set to be released in July. Jumping back and forth through time, Sparrow Hill Road introduces readers to Rose Marshall. I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect when I started reading as the beginning meanders around a bit. Rose talks about her small town life in Buckley Township, Michigan and the night she died. But there is also quite a bit of page time spent wandering the ghost roads with her as she hitches rides and tries hard to guide those travelers away from the death that is awaiting them up the road. Some times she succeeds and sometimes she fails, but all the while her legend grows and evolves.
I hadn’t realized when I picked this book up that it was originally put out as a serial, but it makes sense. Once the reader gets through the introductions and ghost stories and is finally comfortable with the world Rose inhabits, the main plot starts to take shape. Rose is still being chased by the man who killed her, Bobby Cross, and is determined to end his reign of terror. Her journey will take her across the country looking for help and then back home again. She never gives up, but always remains aware that he is the one who could end her existence for good. And even though she would have preferred to experience life beyond the age of sixteen, she’s gotten used to the life she does have. She takes her comforts where she can. Milkshakes at the Last Chance Diner and small talk with her bestie Emma. Borrowed coats that give her the ability to be corporal for a short time and freely given truck stop food that tastes like heaven. She may still look like a girl of sixteen, but she’s grown much wiser in the years since her death. She’ll need help in her quest, and fortunately for her, she’s made friends throughout her travels.
Seanan McGuire weaves stories I love to read. She’s so imaginative and original. I knew I would enjoy Sparrow Hill Road as soon as Rose introduced herself and started to tell her story in the first chapter. This book leaves off in a way that keeps the reader guessing, but gives them just enough closure to be able to wait for what comes next. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series when it releases in July. Final Grade-B
Favorite Quote:
I have never wanted to punch a highway in the face as badly as I do right now.
I wasn't too sure what type of story Sparrow Hill Road was as I embarked upon reading it. Was it a personal ghost story, a collection of urban mythologies, or simply an urban fantasy with a ghostly twist?
In essence this book is a mash of all of those things. The story follows our leading lady, occasionally leaping between tale telling and more prosaic action adventure.
Overall the book is pretty good, the loss of a star merely being due to the above style perhaps detracting from the strength of the book, as one didn't know whether to enjoy the personal story or just absorb the paranormal world in general.
In essence this book is a mash of all of those things. The story follows our leading lady, occasionally leaping between tale telling and more prosaic action adventure.
Overall the book is pretty good, the loss of a star merely being due to the above style perhaps detracting from the strength of the book, as one didn't know whether to enjoy the personal story or just absorb the paranormal world in general.
4.5 Stars
I first read this story as a serial on the Edge of Propinquity website. Rose's story has slowly merged into the InCryptid series (particularly the Antimony Price books) but her story works as a standalone, and really you'd have to have read Rose's story to fully appreciate her integration into the Incryptid world.
This was my second reading of the original release of the book and this time around I find I enjoy the book even more! I'll be eager to see if anything has changed in the rerelease of the first book (beyond the gorgeous Unicorn Empire cover!) this summer, and where the story goes in book 2, The Girl in the Green Silk Gown.
I first read this story as a serial on the Edge of Propinquity website. Rose's story has slowly merged into the InCryptid series (particularly the Antimony Price books) but her story works as a standalone, and really you'd have to have read Rose's story to fully appreciate her integration into the Incryptid world.
This was my second reading of the original release of the book and this time around I find I enjoy the book even more! I'll be eager to see if anything has changed in the rerelease of the first book (beyond the gorgeous Unicorn Empire cover!) this summer, and where the story goes in book 2, The Girl in the Green Silk Gown.
This new review is for a beautiful special edition of Sparrow Hill Road, a book that was first released in 2014, in advance of a forthcoming Ghost Roads sequel. There is new material in this edition, as mentioned below.
Rose Marshall is the Girl in the Green Silk Gown, the Ghost of Sparrow Hill Road, the Girl at the Diner, and a hitchhiking ghost who, when she drives herself, does so in a deep sea green Ford Crestline Sunliner named Gary. She's a ghost, an urban legend, the girl who will get you home, and she's marvelous and kind. She's been dead much longer than she was alive (d. 1952) and has accrued quite a bit of wisdom in the time since she died.
This book originated as a serial for Jennifer Brozek's online magazine The Edge of Propinquity back in 2010, and was broadened into a book in 2014. Rose's story has slowly merged into McGuire's 2018 Hugo-nominated InCryptid series (particularly the Antimony Price books) but the novel also works as a standalone, without the Price Family component. (Full disclosure, there are no Aeslin mice here.) But if you are reading the InCryptid series you really ought to read Rose's story to fully appreciate the integration of ghosts like Rose Marshall and Mary Dunlavy into the InCryptid world. This book is especially relevant to understanding how Crossroads Ghosts operate and how they can sometimes make serious, Bobby Cross level mistakes out of sheer naiveté.
This was my third reading of the book (first in this new edition) and I continue to enjoy it, perhaps even more so over time, as I gain a further appreciation for McGuire's depth of worldbuilding in the InCryptid series. As mentioned above, Rose is getting a sequel in July 2018, titled The Girl in the Green Silk Gown.
New Material Summary: Along with a new cover that is in keeping with the forthcoming sequel's cover, we also get eleven pages of the lyrics of the McGuire's filk songs that seeded the beginning of Rose Marshall's story, including Pretty Little Dead Girl (as McGuire says, the filthy libel version of Rose's story, a song with which Rose is very dissatisfied), Graveyard Rose (the whitewashed version of Rose's story), Hanging Tree, Waxen Wings and Sparrow Hill Road. If you're a Seanan fan, who also loves her filk music and poetry, this book would be worth a rebuy just for these lyrics!
I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from NetGalley and DAW in exchange for an honest review.
Rose Marshall is the Girl in the Green Silk Gown, the Ghost of Sparrow Hill Road, the Girl at the Diner, and a hitchhiking ghost who, when she drives herself, does so in a deep sea green Ford Crestline Sunliner named Gary. She's a ghost, an urban legend, the girl who will get you home, and she's marvelous and kind. She's been dead much longer than she was alive (d. 1952) and has accrued quite a bit of wisdom in the time since she died.
This book originated as a serial for Jennifer Brozek's online magazine The Edge of Propinquity back in 2010, and was broadened into a book in 2014. Rose's story has slowly merged into McGuire's 2018 Hugo-nominated InCryptid series (particularly the Antimony Price books) but the novel also works as a standalone, without the Price Family component. (Full disclosure, there are no Aeslin mice here.) But if you are reading the InCryptid series you really ought to read Rose's story to fully appreciate the integration of ghosts like Rose Marshall and Mary Dunlavy into the InCryptid world. This book is especially relevant to understanding how Crossroads Ghosts operate and how they can sometimes make serious, Bobby Cross level mistakes out of sheer naiveté.
This was my third reading of the book (first in this new edition) and I continue to enjoy it, perhaps even more so over time, as I gain a further appreciation for McGuire's depth of worldbuilding in the InCryptid series. As mentioned above, Rose is getting a sequel in July 2018, titled The Girl in the Green Silk Gown.
New Material Summary: Along with a new cover that is in keeping with the forthcoming sequel's cover, we also get eleven pages of the lyrics of the McGuire's filk songs that seeded the beginning of Rose Marshall's story, including Pretty Little Dead Girl (as McGuire says, the filthy libel version of Rose's story, a song with which Rose is very dissatisfied), Graveyard Rose (the whitewashed version of Rose's story), Hanging Tree, Waxen Wings and Sparrow Hill Road. If you're a Seanan fan, who also loves her filk music and poetry, this book would be worth a rebuy just for these lyrics!
I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from NetGalley and DAW in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed the overall vibe and the main character's sassy but good hearted attitude. The book was put together from a bunch of standalone stories, so at times the narrative flow is a bit disjointed, but I like the world she has created enough to read on into the series. Looking forward to seeing how she develops the characters introduced in book 1.
Fun and creative homage to Americana and ghost stories. Loved the structure: vignettes and short stories make up a cohesive whole.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated