City of Ghosts: 1

Product Information

Obviously, I am not the intended audience for this, so a room full of Middle Graders may have a completely different opinion than me. Mary King's Close" sounded too fascinating to pass on it and since I’m a little history geek Edinburgh sounds like the perfect place to be. The books are perfect for middle-grade readers and fans of Neil Gaiman and Laini Taylor - they are ghostly stories of friendship and adventure that are haunting and mysterious, without being too terrifying. And while in Scotland, Cassidy meets a ghost that is more evil than any of the others she’s ever encountered before.

Cassidy Blake isn’t the most popular girl in her school, but she has the only friend that she needs; a ghost named Jacob that saved her from death. It’s pretty obvious who the villain is before we even reach the halfway point and you keep wondering how the ultra-smart detective can’t see the obvious.They need to go to one of the most haunted cities in the world (Edinburgh) so the can film the first episode. She (plus her ghost best friend, Jacob, of course) are in Paris, where Cass's parents are filming their TV show about the world's most haunted cities. It has a lot of harry potter references which can you find just okay like me or can really annoy you. I don’t read many historical fiction books because I find myself a bit lost in that time as I wasn’t a big fan of history in my school time but I was born and raised in an easter European country and the setting for this story is very close from home, and the description made me want to give it a try and read it. With the powerful thread of the rousing classical musical greats of the time knitting the plot together, this is a who done it of the most macabre.

There are numerous references to the debilitating siege of the city, the reverberation of the incredible stress and want that this caused, and yet the fierce sense of survival that arose in the populace to overcome this torrid time. I saw some negative reviews (all from adult readers) which actually made me go into this with lower expectations. All the books that I've read from Victoria Schwab (her YA and adult books alike) have been pretty dark and this one is no exception really.This said I really liked Cassidy as a character and I adored and loved her close friendship with Jacob. He’s a perfect best friend to Cassidy, and he’s so precious that I just wanted to squeeze and protect him. Hooking you from the very first page, it has just the right amount of spookiness, mystery and action, keeping you on the edge of your seat without getting gory. This was a quick read and a little girl seeing ghosts wasn't uninteresting but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are 12 or under, or usually love MG.

The strength of this book is in the writing, which has an immersive scene-setting similar to Cruz Smith at his early best. bestselling author Victoria Schwab delivers a thrillingly spooky and action-packed tale of hauntings, history, mystery, and the bond between friends (even if that friend is a ghost. Since this was my first Victoria Schwab book I can finally say that I’m intrigued by her writing style. Cassidy Blake is a girl with a special ability - ever since she was saved from drowning she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead and enter the world of spirits. The late-Stalinist era is vividly rendered in all its paranoid horror, the cast is colourful and the whole thing, with its emphasis on musicology and the horrors of the infamous Leningrad blockade, has a pleasing thoughtfulness, intellectual rigour and historical depth.The setting of an icy Leningrad in late 1951 is the best feature of a good thriller which goes a bit over the top towards the conclusion.