this book is terrible AND i loved it. so there, world!
let's start with the obvious: the title.
it's dumb. like stupid-dumb. and the girl on the cover, veiled mysteriously in a curtain, making her look like a demented bride or elaborate victorian doily, isn't doing the book any favors. other than this: when you see it, you need to pick it up and say, "what's this about then?" and then you read it. because it looks awful.
does that make any sense at all?
of course, then there is the plot, which, at its best, is like a rip-off of every teen flick, ghost flick, and ro-co flick out there. we've got alexis, with her pink hair and devil may care approach to education, friendships, and boys. she, of course, is a photographer (artistic, not pretentious), she is in constant trouble with school admin for skipping what she perceives to be unnecessary classes in school spirit, and she hates the cheerleaders. she's got a pesky, socially awkward little sister kasey who collects dolls, a love interest with formerly suicidal tendencies and the amazing physical similarity to a lanky cherubin, oh, and an evil spirit haunting her mishmashed gothic house of terror.
you know, that old chestnut.
there's a whole lot of action as the ghost possesses the weak-willed kasey and proceeds to use her body to steal genealogy projects (which are surprisingly thorough for middle schoolers), cut wires in cars, and make things go bump in the night. or the day. or whenever. there are good spirits, bad ones, charms, and avenging cheerleaders. there's also the prom, pyrotechnics, and psychotherapy...oh, and a girl named pepper.
did i mention this book was awesome?
so, here's the deal. in terms of its utter ridiculousness, of its willingness to embrace how cliched and awful it is, of its ability to be entertaining regardless of its content, i'd give this book 5 stars easily. i would. but because it's trite, and jam-packed with too many plot points (photos, teenaged rebellion, the doom squad, the repressed town culture/forbidden library books, the awkward sister, the bad mother who works so much that she is never around to actually mother, the father who spends most of the book in the hospital after a car accident, the cheerleaders, the boyfriend's sordid past, the ghost herself, the other ghost, megan's backstory, megan's grandmother, the fact that the novel is pretty much a ghost-themed ripoff of "footloose," etc. etc. etc) that never get appropriately resolved, and reeks of regurgitated ideas, the english teacher in me would give it one.
so, let's split the difference. totally a guilty pleasure and totally reading the second one!