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A review by trupti
Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell
3.0
The thing is I am a little disappointed with this book. It has a fantastic premise and since it’s a ghost story I was eager to get freaked out. But this book turned out to be more of a thriller than a ghost story. Of course there is a ghost, but the book does not revolve around the creepy things the ghost does. It’s more about finding out why this person still is in the in-between world and what is his unfinished business on Earth? There were a couple of scenes that were a little scary but then the spooky feeling went away as soon as the scene was over.
14 year old Iris and Colette are 2 girls from Ondine, Louisiana. As their town has literally no entertainment to boast of, the girls try to entertain themselves with make belief spells and mysteries. As Ondine is a small town where nothing much happens, the thing that is remotely interesting and mysterious is a boy named Elijah. A few years back Elijah had disappeared from the town. As the number of youths running from Ondine to bigger towns was high, the police suspected that he had run away.
One day when Iris and Colette are in a graveyard chanting their make-belief spells, Iris suddenly hears a voice that addresses her. Because of certain circumstances, Iris concludes that it is Elijah’s ghost. She, Colette and a guy called Ben try to unearth the mystery behind Elijah and his disappearance.
The best part about the book was the relationships between Iris and Colette. The author totally nailed the dynamics between 2 teenage best friends. The atmosphere in the small town also seemed so real that at times I could feel the heat on my back and the frustration and boredom of living in a town as small as Ondine.
Again, I am not saying I didn’t like the book. I am just saying I expected more. Shadowed Summer could be a good for people who want to read a ghost story but are easily scared. Or it could also be a good introduction of horror stories for teenagers.
14 year old Iris and Colette are 2 girls from Ondine, Louisiana. As their town has literally no entertainment to boast of, the girls try to entertain themselves with make belief spells and mysteries. As Ondine is a small town where nothing much happens, the thing that is remotely interesting and mysterious is a boy named Elijah. A few years back Elijah had disappeared from the town. As the number of youths running from Ondine to bigger towns was high, the police suspected that he had run away.
One day when Iris and Colette are in a graveyard chanting their make-belief spells, Iris suddenly hears a voice that addresses her. Because of certain circumstances, Iris concludes that it is Elijah’s ghost. She, Colette and a guy called Ben try to unearth the mystery behind Elijah and his disappearance.
The best part about the book was the relationships between Iris and Colette. The author totally nailed the dynamics between 2 teenage best friends. The atmosphere in the small town also seemed so real that at times I could feel the heat on my back and the frustration and boredom of living in a town as small as Ondine.
Again, I am not saying I didn’t like the book. I am just saying I expected more. Shadowed Summer could be a good for people who want to read a ghost story but are easily scared. Or it could also be a good introduction of horror stories for teenagers.