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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
The first of her books that I haven't loved. It reads like a bunch of related short stories put together and not edited nearly enough to remove the constant repetition, which apparently is what it is. Another review says the repetition fits the ghost-story nature of the plot, which is fine if it works for you but for me, it just went from sounding moody to sounding overly portentous. I might have felt differently if there had been more humor, but that didn't show up until late in the book - this character takes herself very very seriously. The plot picks up toward the end, but I never felt really engaged by the characters or story, and was mostly disappointed.
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A collection of short stories turned into a novel, and you can absolutely tell, but they're very well done.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loved this book! 'Sparrow Hill Road' is basically a collection of connected short stories centered on hitchhiking ghost Rose Marshall aka the Girl in the Green Silk Dress / the Phantom Prom Date. Run off the road by a malicious spirit far too young, she spends her afterlife trying to save those she can or else acting as a comforting escort for new ghosts to their final destination. And also occasionally dodging or helping ghost hunters, depending on her mood. McGuire has created a story with a deep well of lore, a lot of heart, and even a dash of humor. It's tragic and melancholic, and also a charming love letter to diners, the open road, and small town America. She evoked all the feelings and a sense of nostalgia for a certain time and place in my life, and I'm incredibly excited to return to this series and see where it takes me.
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Sparrow Hill Road is a bit disjointed. Now I’m not sure if that is literary genius because the main character is a ghost and so her life/afterlife IS a little disjointed time-wise or because that is just the nature of this collection of stories.
Rose is dead and she has been for about sixty years now but that doesn’t stop her from hitching a ride now and again and dropping into the living world to have a little bit of a good time or help someone in need. Sometimes she is able to save them, but other times, she is only able to help them after and make sure they don’t get stuck in the in-between of life and death.
Some of these stories could be really sad, depending on how you view death. I tried to just go with this storie's version of it; it was just a doorway to a new adventure and so it was okay when one of the people Rose tried to help live ended up dead. At least she was there to hold their hand and make sure they ended up where they were supposed to go.
Rose is the main character of a thousand different ghost stories. Some of them more true than others, in some she is the source of death and in others she is the guardian angel looking out for the living in diners, truck stops and on highways.
Overall Rose is really likable and she has a pretty good understanding of her death now. She even has a bit of a calling and a few friends to boot. Still she is always looking over her shoulder, watching out for the man that killed her on Sparrow Hill Road and trying desperately to save more people for becoming another victim to the man in the car that made a deal with the devil.
There are parts in this which made me happy and some made me almost cry. I really loved getting Rose’s story of her death; it was beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. I have mixed feeling about Gary and his choices BUT I reserve judgement because I think later it is going to work out as a really weird type of HEA, if ghosts get those.
The world building of the twilight and midnight was interesting and I liked the glimpses we got into the different kinds of ghosts that can be made and what they might be up to. I also really liked the possibilities this presented for future stories and other things from death lore that popped up like Valkeries (I’m very interested in those creatures). It seems like just about anything could happen and I like jumping into Urban Fantasy that stretches the norms of the genre and takes chances on new ideas you don’t see often, especially as the main focus and a dead girl being the MC is definitely not something I’ve read until now.
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Sparrow Hill Road is a bit disjointed. Now I’m not sure if that is literary genius because the main character is a ghost and so her life/afterlife IS a little disjointed time-wise or because that is just the nature of this collection of stories.
Rose is dead and she has been for about sixty years now but that doesn’t stop her from hitching a ride now and again and dropping into the living world to have a little bit of a good time or help someone in need. Sometimes she is able to save them, but other times, she is only able to help them after and make sure they don’t get stuck in the in-between of life and death.
Some of these stories could be really sad, depending on how you view death. I tried to just go with this storie's version of it; it was just a doorway to a new adventure and so it was okay when one of the people Rose tried to help live ended up dead. At least she was there to hold their hand and make sure they ended up where they were supposed to go.
Rose is the main character of a thousand different ghost stories. Some of them more true than others, in some she is the source of death and in others she is the guardian angel looking out for the living in diners, truck stops and on highways.
Overall Rose is really likable and she has a pretty good understanding of her death now. She even has a bit of a calling and a few friends to boot. Still she is always looking over her shoulder, watching out for the man that killed her on Sparrow Hill Road and trying desperately to save more people for becoming another victim to the man in the car that made a deal with the devil.
There are parts in this which made me happy and some made me almost cry. I really loved getting Rose’s story of her death; it was beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. I have mixed feeling about Gary and his choices BUT I reserve judgement because I think later it is going to work out as a really weird type of HEA, if ghosts get those.
The world building of the twilight and midnight was interesting and I liked the glimpses we got into the different kinds of ghosts that can be made and what they might be up to. I also really liked the possibilities this presented for future stories and other things from death lore that popped up like Valkeries (I’m very interested in those creatures). It seems like just about anything could happen and I like jumping into Urban Fantasy that stretches the norms of the genre and takes chances on new ideas you don’t see often, especially as the main focus and a dead girl being the MC is definitely not something I’ve read until now.
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
I read this in it's serialized version online and was blown away. I love love love the idea of taking a well-known ghost story and viewing it from the POV of the ghost. I understand there has been some editing done for this printing, I'm looking forward to re-reading a final novelized version of the tale - I really hope there have also been additions to Rose's story, I was sad to see it end the first time. I'm optimistic that, since this is listed as book one in the "Ghost Stories" series, there will be more after this one!
For now, though, join Rose Marshall and take a ride down the ghost roads, slipping into another America where route witches and ghosts take care of the lonely wanderers and just try to make sure everybody gets to where they're going: the end of the line.
**UPDATE - so I read the print version and it's just as good as I remembered. Except for one (I only noticed one, anyway) short chapter/story that was missing from this version. I get it, it didn't really fit with the main story arc of this novel. It would, however, make an excellent jumping off point for the next book in the series... I'm just saying. Here's hoping, anyway. I hope we get to see more of Rose, and if not her specifically, then at least some more "Ghost Stories" in the series.
For now, though, join Rose Marshall and take a ride down the ghost roads, slipping into another America where route witches and ghosts take care of the lonely wanderers and just try to make sure everybody gets to where they're going: the end of the line.
**UPDATE - so I read the print version and it's just as good as I remembered. Except for one (I only noticed one, anyway) short chapter/story that was missing from this version. I get it, it didn't really fit with the main story arc of this novel. It would, however, make an excellent jumping off point for the next book in the series... I'm just saying. Here's hoping, anyway. I hope we get to see more of Rose, and if not her specifically, then at least some more "Ghost Stories" in the series.
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