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Beyond: A Ghost Story
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Jane is not your typical teen. She and her best friend Lexi call themselves the Creep Sisters. Only Lexi knows why Jane is different from anyone else: Her own shadow seems to pull her into near-fatal accidents. Jane is determined to find out why these terrifying things happen, and to overcome her shadow enemy. Her sleuthing with Lexi connects her own horrors to the secret
...more
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Hardcover, 226 pages
Published
September 11th 2012
by Wendy Lamb Books
(first published January 1st 2012)
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Dec 26, 2012
Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
horror,
own-a-dtb,
reviewed-in-2012,
young-adult,
arc-2012,
review-copy,
hachette,
i-see-dead-people
Beyond is the second young adult book by a Canadian male author I’ve read in the last year (first was The Repossession by Sam Hawksmoor), they were both published by Hodder, and they’re both original and refreshing. I’m even more picky and difficult with horror than I am with steampunk, which is why I’m especially happy to report that the horror parts of this story met my extremely high standards. But I’m getting ahead of myself here…
Jane is afraid of her own shadow… literally. Every time she fa ...more
Jane is afraid of her own shadow… literally. Every time she fa ...more


~~4.5 HEARTS~~
Before I discovered romance books I was into Horror and Paranormal books, so reading this was a touch of nostalgia for me. I believe in the afterlife. I believe there's an in-between world. I also believe that souls get stuck in the in-between world when they have unfinished business. This book was about a soul that could not or did not feel worthy of going into the light because of horrific things that happened to him while he was alive. I have an open mind and I believe in all of ...more

So, back when I was a sweet little tween, I was easily freaked out by Fear Street books and the like (especially the Cheerleader series, CREEPED ME OUT, I wouldn't go showering after games at the gym is noone was around anymore, the girl dying because of boiling shower and steam still haunts me). And though I don't really read or watch scary stuff much these days, I figured this would get me back to those days in which I LOVED them.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way for me.
You see ...more
Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way for me.
You see ...more

What if your shadow controlled you? What if your shadow tried to kill you? What if when you flatlined, something came back to life with you? Not to mention what if you were a teenage girl in high school just trying to be normal and have a boyfriend like other girls?
Beyond: A Ghost Story deals with serious issues - abuse, kidnapping, predators - framed in the guise of a ghost story dealing with the wounds on the psyche such events can have on the individuals involved. This story manages to do thi ...more
Beyond: A Ghost Story deals with serious issues - abuse, kidnapping, predators - framed in the guise of a ghost story dealing with the wounds on the psyche such events can have on the individuals involved. This story manages to do thi ...more

3.5 coffee cups
Beyond offers up a perfectly creepy ghost story with a twist that should delight young readers. McNamee delivered a tale filled with creepy goodness involving a ghost and a killer. This was a fast paced, easy read and I was thoroughly entertained.
The tale begins when we meet Jane. She has had several near death accidents and the most recent has her walking around with a nail in her head. Her parents think she is accident prone, others think she is suicidal but Jane knows the truth ...more
Beyond offers up a perfectly creepy ghost story with a twist that should delight young readers. McNamee delivered a tale filled with creepy goodness involving a ghost and a killer. This was a fast paced, easy read and I was thoroughly entertained.
The tale begins when we meet Jane. She has had several near death accidents and the most recent has her walking around with a nail in her head. Her parents think she is accident prone, others think she is suicidal but Jane knows the truth ...more

Rated 2.5 really.
Excerpt from my review - originally published at Offbeat YA.
Pros: Interesting premise. Lead you can empathise with. Peculiar sidekick. Family plays a big role.
Cons: Main characters lack depth. Their friendship feels a bit unlikely. Massive use of colloquial/informal speech (understood subject).
WARNING!: Kid abuse is implied. There's tension and psychological horror, and the ending is pretty intense. Nothing terribly scary though.
Will appeal to: First-time horror/supernatural re ...more
Excerpt from my review - originally published at Offbeat YA.
Pros: Interesting premise. Lead you can empathise with. Peculiar sidekick. Family plays a big role.
Cons: Main characters lack depth. Their friendship feels a bit unlikely. Massive use of colloquial/informal speech (understood subject).
WARNING!: Kid abuse is implied. There's tension and psychological horror, and the ending is pretty intense. Nothing terribly scary though.
Will appeal to: First-time horror/supernatural re ...more

Beyond: A Ghost Story has in interesting premise and just enough creep factor to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Sara (she's called Jane in the blurb on the back of the book but Sara in the ARC) is recovering from a near-death experience. She still has the nail from the nail gun in her head. She was dead and brought back to life. Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend in Sara's life. She drank drain cleaner, grabbed a downed electric wire that was live, and almost got hit by a train before th ...more
Sara (she's called Jane in the blurb on the back of the book but Sara in the ARC) is recovering from a near-death experience. She still has the nail from the nail gun in her head. She was dead and brought back to life. Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend in Sara's life. She drank drain cleaner, grabbed a downed electric wire that was live, and almost got hit by a train before th ...more

Seventeen-year-old best friends Jane and Lexi aren’t typical teenagers. Known by their classmates as the Creep Sisters, they have a special ‘freakishness’ in common, but it’s Jane who has the upper hand on the truly weird - her shadow sometimes moves on its own, dragging her towards dangerous situations. Setting out to discover what this disturbing being wants from her, Jane begins to uncover a story that links her ghostly influencer to a serial killer.
Written in present tense, ‘Beyond’ is a wi ...more
Written in present tense, ‘Beyond’ is a wi ...more

Wow!
I will run, not walk, to get the other books by Graham McNamee.
An intriguing concept: a young girl who has a near-death experience but survives to be haunted by... A compelling story: the concept is developed slowly and carefully, nuance and depth added piece by piece leading ultimately to an exciting and rewarding conclusion. Realistic, complex characters with depth: Jane and her best friend Lexi are interesting without verging on the annoyingly precocious adolescents of an adult's fantasy ...more
I will run, not walk, to get the other books by Graham McNamee.
An intriguing concept: a young girl who has a near-death experience but survives to be haunted by... A compelling story: the concept is developed slowly and carefully, nuance and depth added piece by piece leading ultimately to an exciting and rewarding conclusion. Realistic, complex characters with depth: Jane and her best friend Lexi are interesting without verging on the annoyingly precocious adolescents of an adult's fantasy ...more

When I read this book I feels like in detective movie, because that book so interesting, has perfect characters and easy in reading. That book have little romance story, child story , horror moments. Also that book is not so long and in comfortable format to reading and feels good. I'm recommended this book for both, girls and boys.
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I am a rabid Stephen King fan. It’s just a fact of life in my house (kinda like breathing, or my inability to change out the garbage bag in the kitchen.) If there is a new book. I will buy it. Do not try to stop me or I will bite of your pinky toe. So when I got a catalog from Hachette in December with a book in it that said “If Stephen King wrote YA…” I knew I had to read it.
I will admit, my expectations weren’t all that high. It is Stephen King after all, and if you are going to throw around t ...more
I will admit, my expectations weren’t all that high. It is Stephen King after all, and if you are going to throw around t ...more

This had a lot of different things that I like in a book. It was fast-paced, suspenseful, and dealt with a realistic conflict (a murder mystery that happened in that town ten years prior) and a paranormal/supernatural horror with Jane’s own shadow lashing out at her and attacking her. Some books are character-driven, some more plot-driven. I would say this is more of a plot-driven book, as the majority of the book revolves around finding out more and more information about the shadow or ghost th
...more

The story opens up with Jane attending doctors meetings to discuss the removal of a nail that is lodged in her skull. Something that doesn't seem to surprise her as she has lived through several other near-death situations throughout her young life. Electrocution, poisoning and a near miss by a train.
Although Jane's parents have known her whole life she is prone to "accidents" Jane knows that it is something else, something that is a part of her that is causing her accidents. Her Shadow. She has ...more
Although Jane's parents have known her whole life she is prone to "accidents" Jane knows that it is something else, something that is a part of her that is causing her accidents. Her Shadow. She has ...more

This book was phenomenol! This book was extremely easy to understand,but also had some difficult vocabulary too. The book had many character changes and had a very important theme. Lexi, Jane and Janes parents all changed. Lexi changed beacuse she went from overprotective to calm. " Im not worried anymore evr since you surgery ive learned to calm down."(209). This shows that Janes surgery and being done with all of her ghost and shadow creatures calmed Lexi down a lot! JAne changed from being a
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I read the book “BEYOND”. I think this book is great because it’s about a girl named Jane dying multiple times and trying to avoid her shadow that’s seems to be trying to kill her. Later in the book she meets this demon face to face while she died again and she seemed to have got away, or did she. Ever since she meet her shadow she has been seeing things and feels as if she’s being watched.
I liked this book because of its intense moments and crazy encounters, but I would have changed the chara ...more
I liked this book because of its intense moments and crazy encounters, but I would have changed the chara ...more

I had never read Graham McNamee's work before and this was a good book to begin with. Short, fast-paced and spooky, it's the perfect late-night read. Jane is being haunted by a force that wants her dead. She and her best friend, Lexi, try to find out the source. I loved the "Creep Sisters" idea and thought Lexi was a great character. Jane was good, too-- although descriptions of her constant fatigue were, well, exhausting (even though that was the point). Although there was a scene at the very e
...more

Jane has survived poisoning, electrocution, a near-collision with a train, and most recently, a nail gun to the head. She's not accident-prone, or even suicidal, like people believe. Her shadow is trying to kill her.
Creepy, atmospheric teen thriller that reminds me of my middle-school days, curled up in a chair reading RL Stine's Fear street novels with all the lights on, though with slightly older appeal--8th grade and up, maybe, for those looking for a light scare. ...more
Creepy, atmospheric teen thriller that reminds me of my middle-school days, curled up in a chair reading RL Stine's Fear street novels with all the lights on, though with slightly older appeal--8th grade and up, maybe, for those looking for a light scare. ...more

Oct 18, 2017
Dekota
added it
this book was about a girl Jane who's shadow is trying to kill her in near fatal accidents. She finally gets the courage to go and find out why all this crazy stuff keeps happening to her.
...more

This was a weird book. Slow the build the creep factor, then about 75 solidly creepy but fun pages. There was almost a really well done allegory for abusive relationships that just gets dropped. Then a turn for the extremely creepy. Then it just got super weird.
Rec for students looking for Realistic Fiction with ghosts. Grade 7+ be aware some sex talk, strange religious angles and intense serial child rape/murder hinting.
Rec for students looking for Realistic Fiction with ghosts. Grade 7+ be aware some sex talk, strange religious angles and intense serial child rape/murder hinting.

Dude.
Calm down with the exclamation points.
It does not make into an exciting horror story.
In fact, it makes it a really shitty 'horror' story.
(view spoiler) ...more

A good, straight-forward ghost story with enough of a twist to be unique. A great hi-lo pick that reads fast but still feels old enough for teens to enjoy. Like the setting as well, was almost it's own character.
...more

This was an enjoyable fast read with a creepy premise. MC's shadow's trying to kill her. There's a few legitimately freaky moments though I wouldn't call it full-on horror, and the rainy BC setting dovetails nicely with the plot. Solid entertainment for ages 12+.
...more

A good scary read
This book caught my attention early. I just couldn't quit reading it. It is very scary though, just a little warning. ...more
This book caught my attention early. I just couldn't quit reading it. It is very scary though, just a little warning. ...more

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Graham McNamee. Male. Caucasian. 5'10". Brown hair. Brown eyes. Do not approach. Extremely shy.
Author of: HATE YOU, NOTHING WRONG WITH A THREE-LEGGED DOG, SPARKS, and ACCELERATION. HATE YOU was an ALA Best Book for young Adults and an ALA Quick Pick, won the Austrian Children's Book Award, and was nominated for the Governor General's Award. SPARKS won the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellows ...more
Author of: HATE YOU, NOTHING WRONG WITH A THREE-LEGGED DOG, SPARKS, and ACCELERATION. HATE YOU was an ALA Best Book for young Adults and an ALA Quick Pick, won the Austrian Children's Book Award, and was nominated for the Governor General's Award. SPARKS won the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellows ...more
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“There are cases where coffins have been dug up and they’ve found scratch marks on the lids inside, broken fingernails stuck in the wood, bloody handprints.” I shudder,”
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