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A review by moirwyn
Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire
5.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2019/01/16/sparrow-hill-road-by-seanan-mcguire/
Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire is the first book in the Ghost Roads series. It’s about a girl named Rose Marshall who was run off the road and killed on prom night. Now Rose is a ghost, and she travels among America’s highway preparing to confront Bobby Cross, the man who killed her.
But that description doesn’t do the story justice at all, because Sparrow Hill Road is a lot more experimental and far less linear. The plot of the story jumps around in time and space. Each chapter is like a short story starring Rose, and only when taken together do you really get a sense of the larger plot. And because the book is more like a collection of short stories gathered into one place, organized into a chronology, but not meddled with overly much, the story takes on an almost lyrical quality as Rose repeats certain bits of wisdom and lore about being a ghost.
Sparrow Hill Road is dark and whimsical and a delight to read, even when the story itself feels like it could be a bit more polished to hang together as a novel rather than as separate stories.
Seanan McGuire is one of those authors who is able to blend older vintage elements with the modern era without that contrast seeming jarring. That means that Rose talks like a normal person, she can dress like a normal person, interact with modern people, while still being the same Rose who died in the early 50s and who still hasn’t let go of her past.
My sister had been telling me for years that I need to read something by Seanan McGuire. I’m so glad I finally did!
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2019/01/16/sparrow-hill-road-by-seanan-mcguire/
Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire is the first book in the Ghost Roads series. It’s about a girl named Rose Marshall who was run off the road and killed on prom night. Now Rose is a ghost, and she travels among America’s highway preparing to confront Bobby Cross, the man who killed her.
But that description doesn’t do the story justice at all, because Sparrow Hill Road is a lot more experimental and far less linear. The plot of the story jumps around in time and space. Each chapter is like a short story starring Rose, and only when taken together do you really get a sense of the larger plot. And because the book is more like a collection of short stories gathered into one place, organized into a chronology, but not meddled with overly much, the story takes on an almost lyrical quality as Rose repeats certain bits of wisdom and lore about being a ghost.
Sparrow Hill Road is dark and whimsical and a delight to read, even when the story itself feels like it could be a bit more polished to hang together as a novel rather than as separate stories.
Seanan McGuire is one of those authors who is able to blend older vintage elements with the modern era without that contrast seeming jarring. That means that Rose talks like a normal person, she can dress like a normal person, interact with modern people, while still being the same Rose who died in the early 50s and who still hasn’t let go of her past.
My sister had been telling me for years that I need to read something by Seanan McGuire. I’m so glad I finally did!