Reviews

Ghost Girl in the Corner by Daniel José Older

sunflowerjess's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.0

I wish Tee and Izzy didn't leave so many sentences hanging; I found that kinda jarring. Otherwise this was a wonderful novella. 

alindstadtcorbo's review against another edition

5.0

Star Rating: —> 5 Stars

HOLY WOW! Why was this series not more hyped!!?? This novella was PHENOMENAL! So far have loved Shadowshaper, this one, & now im moving on to book 1.6, the second novella between books 1 & 2 Dead Light March !

RTC

maritzaivette's review against another edition

5.0

I devoured this book. Daniel Jose Older is the author I need in my life. I love the fast pace, the tight love of the friends-family, the magic and mysticism, and the scandal and tragedy that can plague small communities.

sumayyah_t's review against another edition

4.0

Ghost Girl in the Corner

Welcome back to the world of shadow shaping. Taking place shortly after the events of "Shadowshaper," this novella focuses specifically on Tee and her girlfriend, Izzy. While trying on a dress left behind by the recently deceased Manny, Tee encounters the silent spirit of a teenage girl. Keeping this existence of the ghost secret strains her and Izzy's Rocky relationship, and puts Tee smack in the middle of a missing persons case. Adored this, and am looking forward to sequel.

blacksentai's review against another edition

5.0

So this is the best short story of 2016 as well as the best short story I've read in years. It manages to avoid all the short story stuff I don't like. The story seems highly appropriate right now. It's about the power of community and the failure of society to even attempt to protect its vulnerable members. But it's also a story with a hopeful ending. It manages to avoid the 'humans are the real terror' thing that feels so cheap by focusing on a story so many of us understand. There's a dead black girl, and no one outside of her family and community care. We know the statistics on the abduction of black children vs white children. White girls get front page headlines on major newspapers and if you aren't fortunate enough to have a local paper, or have a decent sized social network you'll never know how many black girls go missing. News editors have been heard on record about talking about how missing black girls doesn't rank as news.
Another killer feature is that we have here, a story of young black lesbians doing good in the world and not ending in tragedy. It shows the vulnerabilities and emotional turmoils of young relationships without leveraging implied tragedy for an emotional spike. The book earns all of it's feelings through the hard work of giving every character a justifiable world view, and space to grow within 100 pages. It's really impressive writing.
My favorite thing in a book is when the author knows the audience they're writing for. And this is a story written for people who actually know how hard it is out here for black girls and don't need to revisit tragedy in gory detail. It's basically perfect.

kaa's review against another edition

5.0

I would read pretty much anything Daniel Jose Older published, at this point, but this was an especially outstanding piece. I LOVED getting to spend more time with Tee and Izzy. The plot was fast-paced and just the right size for a novella, with plenty of excellent social commentary woven in.

mxsunny's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed this novella from Daniel José Older. It picks up after the events of Shadowshaper and focuses on Tee and Izzy - two of the cutest queer girls of color you'll meet in a book - as they unravel the mystery of the ghost girl in the Searchlight office. The dialogue and plotting are excellent. I appreciated how Older took a real life dynamic, media obsessions over disappearances of white girls but neither media nor police lift a finger for missing girls of color, and spun out a suspenseful and thrilling novella. Well worth $0.99.

delmama's review against another edition

5.0

Everything he writes is magic , i cant wait for the new release in September.

polzhar's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

jmanchester0's review

4.0

This novella adds an interesting dimension to the Shadowshaper series. It takes place not too long after the ending of the first novel and mostly follows Tee and Izzy (a perfect couple if I ever saw one) and a bit of a mystery. 

Of course, as far as mysteries go, it leaves more unanswered. On to Shadowshaper #2!