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A review by megaeralwrites
Ghost Tamer by Meredith R. Lyons
5.0
26-year-old Raely is an aspiring comedian looking forward to a hopeful future when her life is literally derailed by a horrific train accident. Raely is badly injured, and her best friend, Joe, is killed. At first it seems like Raely is handling this tragedy remarkably well, but it soon becomes apparent that she is not, in fact, handling it. At all.
As she attempts to brute-force her way through the aftermath of her accident, things quickly get weird. First, she starts seeing ghosts. And then her newfound abilities begin to attract all kinds of unwanted attention, of both the living and non-living kind. Raely finds herself tangled up with an awkward ghostly tag-along whom she dubs “Casper”, a skeezy ghost hunter (think Pete Venkman with the creep factor dialed up to 11), an eerie medium, and, worst of all, a highly aggressive and extremely scary entity called a Jimani that seems to have it in for her, specifically.
While the first ghost she encounters turns out to be something of a guardian angel, some of the others are not so friendly. In addition to the horrifying Jimani, Raely encounters a variety of other types of ghosts, many of which attach themselves to vulnerable humans and feed off their unhappy vibes. We get tantalizing glimpses of a complex spirit realm with its own set of rules and expectations. Raely must learn to navigate her newly expanded world and avoid its dangers with Casper’s help, all while struggling to come to terms with her own traumas. As it turns out, her emotional wounds run deep—and go back much further than the recent loss of her friend.
While Ghost Tamer is very much a literal ghost story, it is also, at its heart, a book about dealing with grief and trauma. It manages to find a nice balance of snark, humor, warmth, sadness, and solid scares—similar to that spicy blend of emotions that Raely must connect to within herself in order to tap into her full potential. Having lived in Chicago for about 15 years and taken the Green Line countless times, and knowing a lot of people who are part of Chicago’s comedy and theater scene, this book was also a sweet little taste of home for me.
I loved watching Raely’s complex emotional arc slowly unfold, but I also found myself longing for a deeper look into the fascinating ghost world that Meredith Lyons has developed. Luckily, the ending leaves the door open for a sequel that does just that. I do hope we get to see more of Raely’s ghostly adventures in the future, but either way, Ghost Tamer was a satisfying and deeply emotional read that stands well on its own.
As she attempts to brute-force her way through the aftermath of her accident, things quickly get weird. First, she starts seeing ghosts. And then her newfound abilities begin to attract all kinds of unwanted attention, of both the living and non-living kind. Raely finds herself tangled up with an awkward ghostly tag-along whom she dubs “Casper”, a skeezy ghost hunter (think Pete Venkman with the creep factor dialed up to 11), an eerie medium, and, worst of all, a highly aggressive and extremely scary entity called a Jimani that seems to have it in for her, specifically.
While the first ghost she encounters turns out to be something of a guardian angel, some of the others are not so friendly. In addition to the horrifying Jimani, Raely encounters a variety of other types of ghosts, many of which attach themselves to vulnerable humans and feed off their unhappy vibes. We get tantalizing glimpses of a complex spirit realm with its own set of rules and expectations. Raely must learn to navigate her newly expanded world and avoid its dangers with Casper’s help, all while struggling to come to terms with her own traumas. As it turns out, her emotional wounds run deep—and go back much further than the recent loss of her friend.
While Ghost Tamer is very much a literal ghost story, it is also, at its heart, a book about dealing with grief and trauma. It manages to find a nice balance of snark, humor, warmth, sadness, and solid scares—similar to that spicy blend of emotions that Raely must connect to within herself in order to tap into her full potential. Having lived in Chicago for about 15 years and taken the Green Line countless times, and knowing a lot of people who are part of Chicago’s comedy and theater scene, this book was also a sweet little taste of home for me.
I loved watching Raely’s complex emotional arc slowly unfold, but I also found myself longing for a deeper look into the fascinating ghost world that Meredith Lyons has developed. Luckily, the ending leaves the door open for a sequel that does just that. I do hope we get to see more of Raely’s ghostly adventures in the future, but either way, Ghost Tamer was a satisfying and deeply emotional read that stands well on its own.