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n00bfairy's review
3.0
I spent most of this book utterly confused, and it just got weirder and weirder. The ending was... odd, the love story (which I didn't even realize was happening) was even more bizarre. Also, the amount of times we were reminded she was "forever 16" and then kept having s*x explained in horrific ways, was super uncomfortable. It wasn't terrible but... there were definitely some issues.
Will not be continuing the series.
Will not be continuing the series.
londysaurus's review against another edition
3.0
Let's say 3.5 stars. Because it definitely reads like related short stories and not a cohesive novel. The repetition and episodic construction of the book is what gives its origins away.
It was pretty good on the whole. I started this book years ago on my kindle and just cued up the audiobook for my cross-country drive. I think I'd like to continue with the series, but reviews of the audiobooks, tho read by the same narrator, aren't great. It might encourage me towards the Incryptids series tho. We'll see.
It was pretty good on the whole. I started this book years ago on my kindle and just cued up the audiobook for my cross-country drive. I think I'd like to continue with the series, but reviews of the audiobooks, tho read by the same narrator, aren't great. It might encourage me towards the Incryptids series tho. We'll see.
readerpants's review against another edition
3.0
Well, that was very Charles de Lint-y. Might've a winner as a YA crossover?
universalbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
Honestly, I couldn’t have picked a more perfect horror novel for travelling.
savagebean's review against another edition
5.0
One of Seanan's best. This series of short [ghost] stories somehow fleshes out a phantom girl better and faster than so many other novels.
Took a loooooooooong time to get to any plot, but I found that part of the appeal. It was a book of ghost stories, from the perspective of the ghost.
Took a loooooooooong time to get to any plot, but I found that part of the appeal. It was a book of ghost stories, from the perspective of the ghost.
moirwyn's review against another edition
5.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2019/01/16/sparrow-hill-road-by-seanan-mcguire/
Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire is the first book in the Ghost Roads series. It’s about a girl named Rose Marshall who was run off the road and killed on prom night. Now Rose is a ghost, and she travels among America’s highway preparing to confront Bobby Cross, the man who killed her.
But that description doesn’t do the story justice at all, because Sparrow Hill Road is a lot more experimental and far less linear. The plot of the story jumps around in time and space. Each chapter is like a short story starring Rose, and only when taken together do you really get a sense of the larger plot. And because the book is more like a collection of short stories gathered into one place, organized into a chronology, but not meddled with overly much, the story takes on an almost lyrical quality as Rose repeats certain bits of wisdom and lore about being a ghost.
Sparrow Hill Road is dark and whimsical and a delight to read, even when the story itself feels like it could be a bit more polished to hang together as a novel rather than as separate stories.
Seanan McGuire is one of those authors who is able to blend older vintage elements with the modern era without that contrast seeming jarring. That means that Rose talks like a normal person, she can dress like a normal person, interact with modern people, while still being the same Rose who died in the early 50s and who still hasn’t let go of her past.
My sister had been telling me for years that I need to read something by Seanan McGuire. I’m so glad I finally did!
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2019/01/16/sparrow-hill-road-by-seanan-mcguire/
Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire is the first book in the Ghost Roads series. It’s about a girl named Rose Marshall who was run off the road and killed on prom night. Now Rose is a ghost, and she travels among America’s highway preparing to confront Bobby Cross, the man who killed her.
But that description doesn’t do the story justice at all, because Sparrow Hill Road is a lot more experimental and far less linear. The plot of the story jumps around in time and space. Each chapter is like a short story starring Rose, and only when taken together do you really get a sense of the larger plot. And because the book is more like a collection of short stories gathered into one place, organized into a chronology, but not meddled with overly much, the story takes on an almost lyrical quality as Rose repeats certain bits of wisdom and lore about being a ghost.
Sparrow Hill Road is dark and whimsical and a delight to read, even when the story itself feels like it could be a bit more polished to hang together as a novel rather than as separate stories.
Seanan McGuire is one of those authors who is able to blend older vintage elements with the modern era without that contrast seeming jarring. That means that Rose talks like a normal person, she can dress like a normal person, interact with modern people, while still being the same Rose who died in the early 50s and who still hasn’t let go of her past.
My sister had been telling me for years that I need to read something by Seanan McGuire. I’m so glad I finally did!
meganpbell's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Welcome to the world of hitchhiking ghost Rose Marshall—run off the road on prom night 1952 by a man who sold his soul to drive forever young. Originally published in several short stories, Sparrow Hill Road reads as time jumping but still narratively cohesive vignettes following Rose through life, death, and afterlife, learning the rules of the Ghost Roads. THESE VIBES made for such a fun read for my work trip to Winslow, Arizona off Route 66!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Death
Moderate: Violence, Torture, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Confinement, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Classism and Bullying
saoki's review against another edition
5.0
The book is a collection of shorts that tell a story, so you could say it's very structure invites pause and though. It's not a book to be read in a single day, but one to be savored.
Seanan McGuire's prose is poetic, immersive and beautiful. The setting, and its urban fantasy americana with rich and interesting characters, has a lot of promise, and delivers much of it.
But of course I wanted to read more by the time the book ended. That's the whole point of an evocative, compelling writing. A feature, not a bug.
Seanan McGuire's prose is poetic, immersive and beautiful. The setting, and its urban fantasy americana with rich and interesting characters, has a lot of promise, and delivers much of it.
But of course I wanted to read more by the time the book ended. That's the whole point of an evocative, compelling writing. A feature, not a bug.
kevinmccarrick's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25