Book Review / Haunt Me by Liz Kessler

Joe wakes up from a deep sleep to see his family leave in a removals van. Where they've gone, he has no idea. Erin moves house and instantly feels at home in her new room. Even if it appears she isn't the only one living in it. Bit by bit, Erin and Joe discover that they have somehow found a way across the ultimate divide - life and death. Bound by their backgrounds, a love of poetry and their growing feelings for each other, they are determined to find a way to be together.

Joe's brother, Olly, never cared much for poetry. He was always too busy being king of the school - but that all changed when Joe died. And when an encounter in the school corridor brings him face to face with Erin, he realises how different things really are - including the kind of girl he falls for.

Two brothers. Two choices. Will Erin's decision destroy her completely, or can she save herself before she is lost forever?


Published:     6th October 2016
Publisher:  Orion
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy by Publisher

 

MY REVIEW

Honestly, this story confused me.  I liked it but I didn't and I can't quite figure out the middle ground.  Basically, this is the story of a girl who falls in love with a ghost but meets the ghost's real life brother so she has a chance at normal but she is not sure what she wants to do.  The ghost being Olly who died in his bedroom and his ghost is stuck there despite the fact that his family moved away and a new family (including Erin) moved in.    Honestly, I wished there was more to the story than the paranormal love story type and I would have loved to have followed Olly and his family more, learning about the past etc.

This was an OK story to me but the writing was really good.  I had previously read Read Me Like A Book, Liz's previous book, and enjoyed that also.  I look forward to seeing what comes next from this author. 

Book Review / Read Me Like a Book by Liz Kessler

Ashleigh Walker is in love. You know the feeling - that intense, heart-racing, all-consuming emotion that can only come with first love. 

It's enough to stop her worrying about bad grades at college. Enough to distract her from her parents' marriage troubles. There's just one thing bothering her . .

Shouldn't it be her boyfriend, Dylan, who makes her feel this way - not Miss Murray, her English teacher?

A thought-provoking coming out story from a highly skilled author.





Published:     14th May 2015
Publisher:  Indigo
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

What I liked about this book...    This was the first time reading a LGBT style book so I was really excited to see what I thought about reading this.  What I liked the most has to be the character of Ashleigh and her development throughout the story.  We see her at the beginning thinking that she was like everyone else (which she was apart from the fact that she felt more for her English teacher Miss Murray than her boyfriend Dylan).  This was very much a coming of age story, watching Ashleigh grow from discovering the feelings that she had and leaning to deal with this.

What I didn't like with this book...  If I had to pick something I would have to say that even though Miss Murray was the object of Ashleigh's affections throughout the book I felt that this character was just an 'object' in the story that came in and went.  Honestly, it could have been any other person in the story other than Miss Murray and the story would probably be the same.  

In summary...   This was a good interesting read especially for character development and discovering what it is like through the eyes of the person feeling what they feel.   I felt this was more aimed at a younger audience than a mature reading audience.