A review by lazygal
Homecoming by Tonya Hurley

4.0

This is one of those "horror lite" books - Charlotte has graduated from Dead Ed. and is stuck in customer service (which consists of waiting for Those in Need to call in for help, at which point she's supposed to act as that small, still voice that gives them good advice). She's living with Maddy, who appears to be one of those controlling friends that doesn't want Charlotte's old friends to be a part of her life; those old friends have reunited with people from their pasts and seem to be settling in to eternity rather well. Enter Charlotte's still-living BFF Scarlett, whose sister Petula is in a coma and whose boyfriend Damen isn't around as much as she'd like... By the end, Charlotte has "grown" as a dead person, Petula is slightly nicer, Maddy's been vanquished and Scarlett and Damen are solidly a couple.

While the book is, for the most part, quite charming, and those that know the horror genre will enjoy the shout-outs to horror Names (Charlotte's an Usher, for example), the ending is a bit unsatisfying. Charlotte's solving a problem like Maddy seems to be a little abrupt: there's nothing in the previous chapters that would allow one to make the leaps that she makes in terms of understanding what's going on, and I hate solutions that take place off-stage with no hope of following along.

Still, for those for whom that isn't a problem this will be a really fun read. And count me in on hoping for another in the series.