Dig by A.S. King

Dig by A.S. King - 394 pages

Four teenagers -- The Shoveler, WhatCanIGetYou?, Loretta the flea circus ringmistress, and privileged Malcolm -- are guided by The Freak to better their lives and discover their connection.

This book won the Printz Award this year so I decided to try to read it.  It is told from multiple points of view including the five connected teenagers, a racist teen, and a couple who have lost connection with their family.  While the premise was interesting I was very distracted by the very heavy-handed way it conveyed its message.  There was literally a point in the book where a character starts yelling at the reader to wake up and stop being racist.  I also think the book did what too many "realistic" fiction books do -- stuff too many issues into a story including racism, abuse, death and more.

The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts

The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts - 324 pages
The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy #3

Hope loves her new job as the innkeeper for Inn Boonsboro.  She loves being in the same town as her best friends.  The one cloud is Ryder.  They just strike each other the wrong way . . . until they don't.  Now they're navigating a relationship when neither one of them really wants one.

This is the final book in The Inn Boonsboro trilogy by Nora Roberts.  I enjoyed listening to this story on audio.  A definite must read for Nora Roberts fans.

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

The Next Always by Nora Roberts - 489 pages
The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy #1

Beckett Montgomery has had a crush on Claire Bennett since high school.  He missed his chance before as she married her high school sweetheart and moved away.  Now she's back, widowed with three young sons.  He's fought these feelings for several years when the ghost in the inn they are rehabbing steps in and gets them together.

This is the first book in the Inn Boonsboro trilogy.  I actually listened to the second book before this by accident.  I am enjoying this series and have just started on book three.

The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts

The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts - 336 pages
The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy #2

Avery and Owen have always been great friends.  To their surprise, they now seem to be more than that.  To get to their happy ending, they will have to deal with ghosts -- both figurative and literal.

This is the second book in the Innsboro Trilogy.  I thought I had picked the first book to listen to on audio, however, somehow I had gotten wrong.  Still I enjoyed the book.  I am going to read the previous book though before moving on to the final book.

Cast No Shadow by Nick Tapalansky

Cast No Shadow by Nick Tapalansky - 220 pages

Greg is shocked when he is able to see a real ghost at the local haunted house.  Ghost Eleanor is the only bright spot in his life.  His father has moved in a new girlfriend.  The local buddy is constantly trying to get to him.  And his best friend has developed a crush on his enemy.  Then things really get bad when his shadow starts making trouble around town.

This was recommended as one of the best graphic novels from 2018.  It was definitely a different take on the topic of grief and moving on.  I would recommend this to younger teens.

The Suffering by Rin Chupeco

The Suffering by Rin Chupeco - 320 pages

This is the sequel to The Girl from the Well.  Okiku and Tark have reached an understanding where the vengeful spirit and the boy can coexist.  But stresses in Tark's life at school bring out the worst in both of them and it brings another student to harm.  A friend of theirs back in Japan led an expedition into the so called "Suicide Forest" and is missing so Okiku and Tark leave to go and try and find their friend.  They stumble into a mystery that blends the present and past in terrifying ways.

This book wasn't as good as The Girl from the Well.  It suffers some from heavy handed exposition where a lot of the background is told to the reader by a character who wanders through just for that reason and nothing more.  The violence in this teen series is pretty strong so it might be an issue for younger teens.   

Release by Patrick Ness

Release by Patrick Ness - 279 pages

Adam Thorn is having a bad day.  He's having to hide his boyfriend from his ultra-conservative religious family while also throwing a going away party for his former boyfriend.  Then things really start to go bad.  His boss at work ups the sexual harassment.  His best friend is moving away.  And now the world might be ending as a ghost has emerged from the local lake looking for retribution.

This was a very strange book.  I enjoyed the main story about Adam.  It was the second story about the ghost that was jarring.  I think it would have been a better book without its inclusion.  It took away from the main story and didn't really seem to add much to the book.  It also seemed to throw every possible topic into the book -- homosexuality, pregnancy, sexual harassment, parental issues, and more.  Still, teens would probably enjoy the story.

Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas

Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas - 375 pages
A Friday Harbor Novel

Zoe's life is about change as her grandmother has just been diagnosed with having had several mini-strokes and alzheimers.  She's determined to bring her grandmother to Friday Harbor to live with her.  This means having Alex remodel her family cottage.
Alex is going through a particularily rough patch right now.  He's in the middle of a nasty divorce.  His business went belly up when the economy tanked.  And worst of all -- he's acquired a ghost that won't leave him alone.  Now the ghost is pushing him to admit his feelings for Zoe as well as the ghost's relationship to Zoe's grandmother.

This was the best of the Friday Harbor novels so far.  It seemed to have much more depth than the previous two books.  It also lived up to it's paranormal romance description more than the others as the ghost was a main character in the story.

Wicked Widow by Amanda Quick

Wicked Widow by Amanda Quick - 330 pages

Madeline Deveridge is better known as the Wicked Widow throughout society ever since her husband was killed before being discovered in a burnt house.  It is believed that she is mad.  She is starting to wonder herself when it seems the ghost of her dead husband is haunting her.  She enlists the help of Artemas Hunt to help her discover the truth behind the hauntings.

This is the second book in the Vanzagara series by Amanda Quick.  The books are loosely tied together although the characters don't interact between the books.  I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the final book in the series.

The Only Girl in School by Natalie Standiford

The Only Girl in School by Natalie Standiford - 214 pages

Claire is not looking forward to her fifth grade year now that she is the only girl in the entire school.  She knows she is going to be out of place with all those boys.  It turns out to worse than she expected as her former best friend now won't have anything to do with her and the other boys all pick on her as the only girl.  Will she be able to survive the school year?

This was an interesting story.  While it is completely unbelievable that a school would have 70 boys and only one girl, it was a good look at gender relations of kids.  It was a very easy read and I think both boys and girls would enjoy this story.

Bad Girls Don't Die Trilogy by Katie Alender

Bad Girls Don't Die Trilogy by Katie Alender

Book 1 = Bad Girls Don't Die - 352 pages
Book 2 = From Bad to Cursed - 448 pages
Book 3 = As Dead as it Gets - 448 pages

This teen trilogy shares the crazy life of high schooler Alexis and her sister Kasey as they navigate the paranormal influences that are threatening their lives and those they love.  The dangers range from haunted houses, curses from secret societies and vengeful spirits,  I enjoyed this series because the female characters are the focus and they have agency over their lives and take action.  There is a high death rate throughout so bear that in mind for sensitive readers. 

Dangerous by Amanda Quick

Dangerous by Amanda Quick - 352 pages

Prudence Merryweather has the unusual hobby of investigating spectral phenomena.  Sebastian, Earl of Angelstone, has the even more unusual hobby of anonymously investigating crimes for Bow Street.  Now their two hobbies are meeting up in an investigation of a suicide at a country estate where is rumored that a ghost of a young woman is haunting.  Was it a suicide?  Is there really a ghost?  And who is behind the scheme to frame Angelstone's cousin for murder?
I listened to this book on audio.  I am wondering if I had read a condensed version of this book before.  Elements of the story were very, very familiar.  However, there were large portions of the story I had never heard before.  I did enjoy the story.  I would almost consider it more of a mystery than a romance.  The only problem I had is that the last CD was scratched and I was unable to listen to the final five minutes of the book.  As it was mainly the epilogue it wasn't too big of a deal.  I just wish I could have heard it to complete the story.

Tribute by Nora Roberts

Tribute by Nora Roberts - 451 pages

Cilla, a former child star, has come to Virginia to restore her famous grandmother's "little farm".  Cilla has always felt a connection to her legendary actress grandmother who died of an overdose long before she was born.  Now she plans to rehab her house to live in.  But someone doesn't want Cilla in town.  Vandalism escalates to harassment and assaults.  Now Cilla is working with her neighbor Ford to determine who, and why, someone wants her gone.

I listened to the audio version of this book.  It was very well done.  The narrator did a great job altering dialects, tones, and drawls to differentiate between the characters.

A Cast-Off Coven by Juliet Blackwell

A Cast-Off Coven by Juliet Blackwell - 323 pages
A Witchcraft Mystery #2

Lily's been asked by her assistant Maya to check out the sounds of a haunting at her art school.  When she goes to investigate, she discovers the body of a murdered man.  While most everyone at the school assumes the ghost killed him, Lily knows that it was a man.  But it turns out that man might have been possessed by a demon that was bound into a hidden closet in the school.  Now Lily has to find out who the demon is and get rid of him before more people get hurt.

I enjoyed this book as much as the first one in the series.  It was a light, fun mystery to read.  It was also a quick read.  The only thing that bothered me was the main love interest that seems to waffle way too much between believing and not believing in the supernatural.

If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell

If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell - 326 pages
A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery - #1

Melanie Turner is temporarily running her father's home renovation business while he recovers from her mother's death.  Unfortunately, it's been two years and it doesn't look like he'll be ready to take the business back anytime soon.  To make things worse, her latest job has become a nightmare.  The owner, a family friend, has been arrested for killing his business partner on the house.  And the murdered man is haunting Melanie wanting her to find out who killed him and why.

I picked this book up because I liked the author's first book in another series.  So while I was waiting to get the second book in that series I tried this one.  I didn't care for it as much.  It took a lot longer to get interested in the story and then when I was I found that I was much more interested in the side characters rather than the Melanie the main character.  I also found that I was taken out of the story quite a bit by the author's descriptions on how to do renovations and flip a house.  It didn't seem organic to the story but put in to show that the author knew what she was talking about in regards to construction.

Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell

Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell - 325 pages
A Witchcraft Mystery #1

Lily has only been in San Francisco for a short while.  Her vintage clothing shop Aunt Cora's Closet is just starting to take off when a client dies of apparent supernatural means.  Lily is determined to figure out what happened and to rescue a missing girl as she feels responsible since she had laid a spell of protection upon the woman.

I am glad I picked up this book.  I almost didn't.  It was a quick, fun mystery with a little romance thrown in.  I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.

The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky

The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky - 149 pages

Eleven schoolgirls go on a secret expedition to a cave with their teacher and her friend Morgan.  Only the girls return.  What happened to the teacher?  Who was Morgan?  And why was everything a secret?

This was an interesting book.  It shows the power that an adult figure can have over children -- how they think, what they believe, and the secrets they'll keep.  While the characters would lend you to think the book was for kids, it it definitely a book for teens.

Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

Far Far Away by Tom McNeal - 369 pages

Jeremy Johnson Johnson hears ghosts.  One ghost in particular -- Jacob Grimm, writer of Grimm's fairy tales.  While Jeremy is comforted by the voice and its friendship, it has also caused him to be looked down upon in his town.  This is made even worse when he and his friend Ginger get caught playing a prank on the town baker.  While the baker forgives them, the rest of the town ostracizes them.  That's not the only problems facing Jeremy and Ginger.  There is also the fact that the bank is foreclosing on Jeremy's house in just a few weeks.  And Jeremy and Ginger have become the focus of someone kidnapping children.

I've been wanting to read this book since it came out last summer.  When I saw it on the YALSA Best Books for Teens list I decided to go ahead and pick it up.  I really enjoyed the book.  The sense of menace and inevitable doom builds throughout the book.  It was also interesting to read a book narrated by a ghost from the 1800s trying to make sense of modern teenage life.  It is a challenging read though in that it is not quick-going.  It felt like work reading the first half of the book.  However, the second half really picked up speed with the mounting danger to the teens.  I would suggest this to those who like fairy tales, ghost stories, and suspense.

Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones

Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones - 274 pages

Mig is upset to learn that they are going to have to spend their Easter vacation at Aunt Maria's.  That's before she finds out that they are expected to wait hand and foot on Aunt Maria.  That's before a ghost starts appearing in her brother Chris's room every night.  That's before Aunt Maria turns Chris into a wolf.  Now Mig must figure out how to save her brother and the rest of the town from her Aunt Maria.
I love Diana Wynne Jones.  Her books are wonderful fantasies for kids and teens.  This one took a little time to get into the story, but once I did I loved it. 

Possession: A Greywalker Novel by Kat Richardson

Possession: A Greywalker Novel by Kat Richardson - 368 pages
(Book 8)

Seattle private investigator, Harper Blaine, takes on the case of a comatose woman whose sister thinks the may be possessed.  Blaine has an affinity for supernatural cases due an ability to slip into the grey areas between worlds that happened after she was clinically dead for a brief time.  The pursuit of this mystery uncovers other potential victims and ties into horrific crimes from Seattle's past reaching into the present through vengeful spirits.  Blaine allies herself with a vampire necromancer to try and save the victims before their souls are lost forever.  Seattle itself is almost a character in this very atmospheric series.  The main mystery is resolved in each book but the relationships will make much more sense if you start from the beginning.