Posts Tagged: Fantasy

I received this book for free from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Pram Bellamy is special--she can talk to ghosts. She doesn't have too many friends amongst the living, but that's all right. She has her books, she has her aunts, and she has her best friend, the ghostly Felix.

Then Pram meets Clarence, a boy from school who has also lost a parent and is looking for answers. Together they arrive at the door of the mysterious Lady Savant, who promises to help. But this spiritualist knows the true nature of Pram's power, and what she has planned is more terrifying than any ghost.

New York Times bestselling author Lauren DeStefano is beloved by critics and readers alike, and her middle grade debut is lyrical, evocative and not to be missed.

This book was all sorts of fun to read. The characters were interesting and so was their story. What I love the most about middle grade books is that even if there is a bit of child romance, that is not the focus. Instead, the focus is more on what is happening or a building friendship. Initially I was thinking, “Oh boy, another ghost story.” but although it does have ghosts, it didn’t wear on me or feel like every other ghost book out there. There was a bit of creepiness to the story, and a lot of thrills. This is a great story for younger ones leading into Halloween season or anytime.

Pram is a very smart little girl who lives with her aunts. Her mother died when she was born. Of course we know the circumstances, but not the whole story. Pram is also odd and different. Her aunts have home schooled her all her life, but now she must go to real school. She meets Clarence and they become friends. They are both a bit odd. They prefer to be alone, and they don’t need the company of others. They want to be invisible instead of stand out. Pram has never had a real life friend, but it’s nice. She is very happy to have found a friend in Clarence, and she is slowly becoming okay with going to real school and spending time away from her home. She’s bright, and determined. And very brave. She discovers a lot about herself through this story and I thought that she grew into a wonderful person by the end.

I really liked the relationship between Pram and Clarence. It starts off pretty silly, but then they fall into a routine, and friendship. Pram feels comfortable enough eventually to let him know that she can see ghosts. They decide to help each other. Pram to try to help him find his mothers ghost, and Clarence to help Pram find her father. They never expected the danger that they could run into along the way. They end up on quite the unexpected adventure. One that makes them both learn many things about themselves and each other. It also brings them closer even as it tears them apart. Their friendship was one that just filled my heart to bursting.

This was a fun story that involved ghosts, friendship, magic, and love. For such a short book it really told such an amazing story and I felt it was very complete. At least for this part of their story. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and their history. It had plenty of adventure to keep it moving along, but not so much that it was overwhelming. Overall this was a great story that I can’t wait to read to my daughter when she’s a bit older. I think that it will be loved by many and I look forward to more of this series.

3.5 Hot Espressos