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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
funny
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:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
I forgot how fun this series is. Suze is a bit ridiculous but also a gem.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I like everything that touch paranormal so I couldn't do otherwise than love this book. I can't wait to read more and see what awaits the characters in the next book. I like the character of Suze, I saw myself in her a few times. Unfortunately, I had a hard time tolerating the ghost of the school since she’s a very temperamental character.
J'ai vraiment beaucoup apprécié faire la lecture de ce livre. J'aime bien tout se qui touche au paranormal donc je ne pouvais faire autrement que d'aimer ce livre. J'ai hâte de lire la suite et de voir se qui attend les personnages dans le prochain tome. J'aime bien le personnage de Suze, je me suis vue en elle à quelques reprises. Par contre, le personnage du fantôme de l'école j'ai eu beaucoup de mal à la tolérer. Il s'agit d'un personnage très caractériel.
J'ai vraiment beaucoup apprécié faire la lecture de ce livre. J'aime bien tout se qui touche au paranormal donc je ne pouvais faire autrement que d'aimer ce livre. J'ai hâte de lire la suite et de voir se qui attend les personnages dans le prochain tome. J'aime bien le personnage de Suze, je me suis vue en elle à quelques reprises. Par contre, le personnage du fantôme de l'école j'ai eu beaucoup de mal à la tolérer. Il s'agit d'un personnage très caractériel.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF'd about half way
I can see where people would feel nostalgic over the kickass female MC, especially during the early 2000s. She is slightly reminiscent of Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, this doesn't hold up for the modern audience. I've tried to finish it multiple times. I just don't think this MC is likable. I waited for something in her personality to click with me but nothing did. She just feels like a typical fiction teen girl from the 2000s that was "too cool for school." I really wanted to like it as I'm a lover of ghost love stories as I know what happens with these characters later on. If I was 12yrs old I probably would've loved this. However, I read Meg Cabot's Avalon High (published a few years apart) and absolutely adored it. Even though I do have nostalgia from seeing the movie first, the book was amazing on its own. So, I guess this book just wasn't for me. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.
I can see where people would feel nostalgic over the kickass female MC, especially during the early 2000s. She is slightly reminiscent of Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, this doesn't hold up for the modern audience. I've tried to finish it multiple times. I just don't think this MC is likable. I waited for something in her personality to click with me but nothing did. She just feels like a typical fiction teen girl from the 2000s that was "too cool for school." I really wanted to like it as I'm a lover of ghost love stories as I know what happens with these characters later on. If I was 12yrs old I probably would've loved this. However, I read Meg Cabot's Avalon High (published a few years apart) and absolutely adored it. Even though I do have nostalgia from seeing the movie first, the book was amazing on its own. So, I guess this book just wasn't for me. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.
this series is one of the best i've ever read i love meg cabot and jesse!! <3
Original review: 4 stars
7/2020 reread: 3.5 stars
--
At this time, it was exceedingly difficult to find a copy of the previous installments. I think it was within the reprint period, when the original books were being slapped with flashier, abstract covers and emblazoned with Meg Cabot's name (rather than the pseudonym of Jenny Carroll). Internet shopping wasn't as advanced, then, so I spent a good amount of time worrying I would never know the events leading up to Haunted.
Of course, the series soon became accessible again--or I wouldn't be here over ten years later, writing this review. :D
Now, there's no doubt that much of my response to Shadowland and The Mediator series as a whole is tinged by significant nostalgia. I read the books when I was in middle school, or thereabouts, and sought out the series with a manic intensity. I hadn't been a particular fan of Meg Cabot (I read only the first two installments of the much-acclaimed Princess Diaries series, and only afterward would I dive into the 1-800-Where-R-U series (also due for a reread)). Later on, I would investigate her adult work, too.
In truth, Meg Cabot and I don't have all that great of a relationship. The Mediator series hooked me on her, and I spent about a decade desperately trying to find another one of her series that inspired such love in me. To no avail, I'm afraid to say. I've become increasingly critical of Cabot's skills as a writer, and often leave negative or apathetic reviews on her more recent work.
Undertaking a reread of such a beloved series from my young adolescence was daunting because of this. I feared I would open the books and realize they were absolute trash, perhaps even to the point that I couldn't finish them.
Well, guess what? I was wrong, and I'm having a fucking blast.
Listen, the writing isn't amazing. On a technical level, it just can't compare to the dense lyricism of recent YA works. The genre has advanced so far since the early-2000s; to compare it against something like [b:Six of Crows|23437156|Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459349344l/23437156._SY75_.jpg|42077459] simply isn't fair as the standards for and audience of YA have changed so drastically in the last decade or so.
But you know what? It's got moxie. Suze Simon always was, and remains, That Bitch. Spiritual successor (or downright ripoff of) Buffy Summers, she's two-parts scrapper and one-part Instagram baddie. She'd be the type of gorgeous, leather-clad girl you meet while crying over your asshole boyfriend in a bar bathroom, and the next thing you know, she's gotten thrown out for slugging his dumb smirking face on your behalf.
Unlike more recent iterations of this character archetype, Suze feels authentic. She's burdened with a power that has made her wise beyond her years, exposed her to significant personal grief and the after-effects of murderous violence, and made a pariah of her. Yet she's still very much a teenage girl, compartmentalizing all this trauma into a brash, no-nonsense attitude while still dreaming of her first kiss.
And let me say, the love interest in The Mediator series, Jesse "Heart Eyes" de Silva, remains so beyond the reach of even modern-day YA authors that I want to just take a second, just a little breather, to throw a Chef's Kiss to Meg Cabot. Thank you, Meg, for blessing the world with one of the dreamiest, most soulful, most interesting LIs in the fucking game.
Jesse's dead. Let's just start there--he's dead. And not just dead, no--this dude was murdered at twenty years old, in his sleep while on the way to his fucking wedding. All his dreams cut short, ripped from his loving family, and cursed to remain in limbo, haunting the place of his murder, for the next century-and-a-half. Alone. When Suze strides into the bedroom and asks him, verbatim, "Who the hell are you?" this boy turns around to see if she's really talking to him. He hasn't spoken to anybody for so long, the very act of speaking comes slowly.
The emotional heart of this series centers around the relationship between Suze, a mediator, and Jesse, a ghost haunting her house--and particularly her room--for the past one hundred and fifty years. This framework is, on its own, incredibly compelling. The tension that results from this conflict is off the charts. Suze's "job"--her purpose as a mediator--is to facilitate the passing of souls from the purgatorial state they're in to whatever place they're meant to go in the afterlife. She, bad bitch that she is, takes this seriously. By the time she meets Jesse, she's helped probably hundreds of spirits pass on, some of them unwillingly. Her own deceased father instructed her on these things when she was about ten years old. She knows in her heart, even as she begins to resist it, that she must eventually help Jesse move on. Not just because it's the natural order of things, and her place in the world to safeguard that order, but because (increasingly) she owes it to him as somebody who loves him deeply as both friend and romantic partner.
And Jesse knows that he can never provide Suze with the life or the relationship she deserves, but he resists this knowledge. He realizes that there's a purpose for his continued existence in the realm of the living, and from the moment Suze walks in and sees him, he understands implicitly that it's her. Perhaps not to have, but to help, and so that's what he does.
Now if that isn't already tragic and weighty as fuck, let's also add that these two actually build a relationship. Suze's early interactions with Jesse are a joy to read because they're funny and natural. His presence is an unwelcome annoyance to her, as is natural in this situation, and she tells him repeatedly to get lost. Suze's slang-slinging dialogue versus Jesse's confused but respectful responses strike just the right balance between humorous and heartfelt.
Sorry, I just have emotions about these two. I don't want anybody to think nothing else is going on in this book besides Jesse x Suze, because that's simply not the case. As shown in the quote at the beginning of this review, Suze's first week at her new school in Carmel, California (where she moved after her mother's second marriage), is tainted by the vengeful spirit of a cheerleader who committed suicide after her boyfriend broke up with her. Heather's grief and regret at her actions channel into rage that she directs at her ex, Bryce, and the new girl who is given her now-vacant spot at the San Junipero Mission Academy, Suze. Heather presents a very real threat to Bryce, Suze, and all the students at the Academy, and the tragedy and immediacy of this plot keeps the book moving at a quick, intense pace.
Suze works alongside her mentor,Giles Father Dominic, a Catholic priest/mediator who has devoted his life to his God-given "gift," as he likes to call it, and quickly becomes mentor to hotheaded Suze, for the rest of the series, alongside her two close friends Xander Adam, cute funnyman, and Willow CeeCee, quick-witted investigative-journalist-in-training. Also adding complexity and realism to the plot are Suze's three new stepbrothers, Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc (Jake, Brad, and Dave), whose personalities and interactions with Suze provide much-needed levity and normality to the otherwise dark themes present in the novel.
As for flaws, there are a lot. Representation is pretty poor, of course, and the book includes the very questionable use of some slurs regarding homosexuality and albinism. Heather's mental illness is addressed, but perhaps not as well as it could have been if this book was written in the modern day. Additionally, the pacing is somewhat too brisk, not in the way it feels but in page-time and plot-time. A lot of stuff happens in just two in-world days, which just didn't have to be the case. Some filler could have stretched out the events to around a month or two, rendering them more realistic. The writing itself is, as I stated above, not incredible. Cabot attempts at lyricism but mostly fails, and the story is therefor carried not by the strength of her prose but by the framework of her novel and the unique, arresting interactions between a medley of strong characterizations, particularly that of her two MCs, Suze and Jesse.
I'm honestly not sure how a new reader would react to these books. As I said, the bar is so much higher than it was, and new YA readers expect very different things when picking up a new novel in the genre.
I will say, though, that I wasn't disappointed at all by this reread. I wholeheartedly maintain that the central Suze x Jesse dynamic--and the characters of Suze and Jesse themselves--remain iconic. I can't wait to watch these two fall in love again and to finish out their journey with [b:Proposal|27412183|Proposal (The Mediator, #6.5)|Meg Cabot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450188098l/27412183._SY75_.jpg|48026523] and [b:Remembrance|25573701|Remembrance (The Mediator, #7)|Meg Cabot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1469621850l/25573701._SY75_.jpg|23959466].
And I'll tell y'all right now that I will be gushing like this over every book with no regrets.
7/2020 reread: 3.5 stars
--
"Heather Chambers was baptized a Roman Catholic, and despite the cause of her death, she deserves a Roman Catholic exorcism."The first time I read The Mediator series, I began with volume number 5, [b:Haunted|23225|Haunted (The Mediator, #5)|Meg Cabot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388187648l/23225._SY75_.jpg|3239545]. My elementary-era best friend, Sarah, had the book and raved about it (particularly the dreamy love interest, Jesse). Despite the fact that I'd never read any of the previous installments, I dove in and soon became obsessed.
At this time, it was exceedingly difficult to find a copy of the previous installments. I think it was within the reprint period, when the original books were being slapped with flashier, abstract covers and emblazoned with Meg Cabot's name (rather than the pseudonym of Jenny Carroll). Internet shopping wasn't as advanced, then, so I spent a good amount of time worrying I would never know the events leading up to Haunted.
Of course, the series soon became accessible again--or I wouldn't be here over ten years later, writing this review. :D
Now, there's no doubt that much of my response to Shadowland and The Mediator series as a whole is tinged by significant nostalgia. I read the books when I was in middle school, or thereabouts, and sought out the series with a manic intensity. I hadn't been a particular fan of Meg Cabot (I read only the first two installments of the much-acclaimed Princess Diaries series, and only afterward would I dive into the 1-800-Where-R-U series (also due for a reread)). Later on, I would investigate her adult work, too.
In truth, Meg Cabot and I don't have all that great of a relationship. The Mediator series hooked me on her, and I spent about a decade desperately trying to find another one of her series that inspired such love in me. To no avail, I'm afraid to say. I've become increasingly critical of Cabot's skills as a writer, and often leave negative or apathetic reviews on her more recent work.
Undertaking a reread of such a beloved series from my young adolescence was daunting because of this. I feared I would open the books and realize they were absolute trash, perhaps even to the point that I couldn't finish them.
Well, guess what? I was wrong, and I'm having a fucking blast.
Listen, the writing isn't amazing. On a technical level, it just can't compare to the dense lyricism of recent YA works. The genre has advanced so far since the early-2000s; to compare it against something like [b:Six of Crows|23437156|Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459349344l/23437156._SY75_.jpg|42077459] simply isn't fair as the standards for and audience of YA have changed so drastically in the last decade or so.
But you know what? It's got moxie. Suze Simon always was, and remains, That Bitch. Spiritual successor (or downright ripoff of) Buffy Summers, she's two-parts scrapper and one-part Instagram baddie. She'd be the type of gorgeous, leather-clad girl you meet while crying over your asshole boyfriend in a bar bathroom, and the next thing you know, she's gotten thrown out for slugging his dumb smirking face on your behalf.
Unlike more recent iterations of this character archetype, Suze feels authentic. She's burdened with a power that has made her wise beyond her years, exposed her to significant personal grief and the after-effects of murderous violence, and made a pariah of her. Yet she's still very much a teenage girl, compartmentalizing all this trauma into a brash, no-nonsense attitude while still dreaming of her first kiss.
And let me say, the love interest in The Mediator series, Jesse "Heart Eyes" de Silva, remains so beyond the reach of even modern-day YA authors that I want to just take a second, just a little breather, to throw a Chef's Kiss to Meg Cabot. Thank you, Meg, for blessing the world with one of the dreamiest, most soulful, most interesting LIs in the fucking game.
Jesse's dead. Let's just start there--he's dead. And not just dead, no--this dude was murdered at twenty years old, in his sleep while on the way to his fucking wedding. All his dreams cut short, ripped from his loving family, and cursed to remain in limbo, haunting the place of his murder, for the next century-and-a-half. Alone. When Suze strides into the bedroom and asks him, verbatim, "Who the hell are you?" this boy turns around to see if she's really talking to him. He hasn't spoken to anybody for so long, the very act of speaking comes slowly.
The emotional heart of this series centers around the relationship between Suze, a mediator, and Jesse, a ghost haunting her house--and particularly her room--for the past one hundred and fifty years. This framework is, on its own, incredibly compelling. The tension that results from this conflict is off the charts. Suze's "job"--her purpose as a mediator--is to facilitate the passing of souls from the purgatorial state they're in to whatever place they're meant to go in the afterlife. She, bad bitch that she is, takes this seriously. By the time she meets Jesse, she's helped probably hundreds of spirits pass on, some of them unwillingly. Her own deceased father instructed her on these things when she was about ten years old. She knows in her heart, even as she begins to resist it, that she must eventually help Jesse move on. Not just because it's the natural order of things, and her place in the world to safeguard that order, but because (increasingly) she owes it to him as somebody who loves him deeply as both friend and romantic partner.
And Jesse knows that he can never provide Suze with the life or the relationship she deserves, but he resists this knowledge. He realizes that there's a purpose for his continued existence in the realm of the living, and from the moment Suze walks in and sees him, he understands implicitly that it's her. Perhaps not to have, but to help, and so that's what he does.
Now if that isn't already tragic and weighty as fuck, let's also add that these two actually build a relationship. Suze's early interactions with Jesse are a joy to read because they're funny and natural. His presence is an unwelcome annoyance to her, as is natural in this situation, and she tells him repeatedly to get lost. Suze's slang-slinging dialogue versus Jesse's confused but respectful responses strike just the right balance between humorous and heartfelt.
Sorry, I just have emotions about these two. I don't want anybody to think nothing else is going on in this book besides Jesse x Suze, because that's simply not the case. As shown in the quote at the beginning of this review, Suze's first week at her new school in Carmel, California (where she moved after her mother's second marriage), is tainted by the vengeful spirit of a cheerleader who committed suicide after her boyfriend broke up with her. Heather's grief and regret at her actions channel into rage that she directs at her ex, Bryce, and the new girl who is given her now-vacant spot at the San Junipero Mission Academy, Suze. Heather presents a very real threat to Bryce, Suze, and all the students at the Academy, and the tragedy and immediacy of this plot keeps the book moving at a quick, intense pace.
Suze works alongside her mentor,
As for flaws, there are a lot. Representation is pretty poor, of course, and the book includes the very questionable use of some slurs regarding homosexuality and albinism. Heather's mental illness is addressed, but perhaps not as well as it could have been if this book was written in the modern day. Additionally, the pacing is somewhat too brisk, not in the way it feels but in page-time and plot-time. A lot of stuff happens in just two in-world days, which just didn't have to be the case. Some filler could have stretched out the events to around a month or two, rendering them more realistic. The writing itself is, as I stated above, not incredible. Cabot attempts at lyricism but mostly fails, and the story is therefor carried not by the strength of her prose but by the framework of her novel and the unique, arresting interactions between a medley of strong characterizations, particularly that of her two MCs, Suze and Jesse.
I'm honestly not sure how a new reader would react to these books. As I said, the bar is so much higher than it was, and new YA readers expect very different things when picking up a new novel in the genre.
I will say, though, that I wasn't disappointed at all by this reread. I wholeheartedly maintain that the central Suze x Jesse dynamic--and the characters of Suze and Jesse themselves--remain iconic. I can't wait to watch these two fall in love again and to finish out their journey with [b:Proposal|27412183|Proposal (The Mediator, #6.5)|Meg Cabot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450188098l/27412183._SY75_.jpg|48026523] and [b:Remembrance|25573701|Remembrance (The Mediator, #7)|Meg Cabot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1469621850l/25573701._SY75_.jpg|23959466].
And I'll tell y'all right now that I will be gushing like this over every book with no regrets.