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A Girl, a Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills
When Holly's mother dies unexpectedly, she thinks things can't get much worse. But then her dad starts dating again. And his new girlfriend is Holly's aunt-her mom's sister! Aunt Claudia is known in Hollywood as the Queen of B Movies. Horror films, zombie flicks, she's made them all. Holly never liked her aunt, but now she positively can't stand her. Especially once the ghost of her mother appears and tells Holly that Claudia was to blame for her death. Inspired by Hamlet , this funny novel about the danger of family secrets is a modern comic take on a classic Shakespearean tragedy.
- GenresYoung Adult
306 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2010
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119 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
September 12, 2020
This is quite possibly the worst book I've ever read. I had a blast ripping it apart in the GroupMe with my class though.
The writing is bad, the main character is unlikeable, the ending is so far from satisfying.... Would not recommend! Isn't even one of those "so bad it's kind of good" :(
The writing is bad, the main character is unlikeable, the ending is so far from satisfying.... Would not recommend! Isn't even one of those "so bad it's kind of good" :(
April 18, 2012
Holly has problems. Her mom died, and her dad has taken up with her mom's sister, Claudia, which is pretty oogy. Something that may or may not be her mom's ghost is crying out for vengeance, and Holly doesn't know whether to trust it or not. Everyone in Holly's life has names that start with the same letter as characters in Hamlet, only gender-reversed. That's not a problem per se, but Holly has apparently never heard of Hamlet, which makes me think the curriculum in that fancy East-coast prep school she attends is distinctly problematic, and it's sad for Holly, because she's missing out on a great work of literature.
Holly narrates. Her voice is uncomplicated, but offers some oddball details, and rather a lot of passive voice: "Three days later it was Christmas. It was the first one without my mom and I went through the motions like a cheerleading zombie in one of my aunt's movies." The tone suggests early on that the Holly's tale won't end in a Shakespearean only-an-heir-survives bloodbath, but it's not initially clear if the ghost is to be trusted/not to be trusted/not really there, or what the outright-borrow/vaguely-evoke ratio will be between Hamlet's plot and the novel's. I figured the answers out before Holly did, but then, I'm (apparently) better read. The denouement was a bit more involving than I expected it to be, if a little pat/tidy; I was definitely emotionally invested enough to pull for Holly to make choices leading toward a positive outcome.
(Rounding up. 3 stars seems generous, but 2 seems harsh.)
Holly narrates. Her voice is uncomplicated, but offers some oddball details, and rather a lot of passive voice: "Three days later it was Christmas. It was the first one without my mom and I went through the motions like a cheerleading zombie in one of my aunt's movies." The tone suggests early on that the Holly's tale won't end in a Shakespearean only-an-heir-survives bloodbath, but it's not initially clear if the ghost is to be trusted/not to be trusted/not really there, or what the outright-borrow/vaguely-evoke ratio will be between Hamlet's plot and the novel's. I figured the answers out before Holly did, but then, I'm (apparently) better read. The denouement was a bit more involving than I expected it to be, if a little pat/tidy; I was definitely emotionally invested enough to pull for Holly to make choices leading toward a positive outcome.
(Rounding up. 3 stars seems generous, but 2 seems harsh.)
March 26, 2011
I'm a little torn on ths one. The writing is excellent. The characters are pretty engaging. BUT the plot development and relationships in this book were overdone or underdone.
The book begins with the promise of supernatural events, but ends with a person coming to grips with emotional and mental turmoil caused by the trauma of a mentally ill parent taking her own life.
The character of Oliver, the love interest, is often flat and largely unbelievable. He almost seems like a forced ingredient in the story.
The relationship between the father and the aunt is disturbing and disrespectful on so many levels to the teen character, yet the story justifies it in the end. At the very least most people wait a year or two to move in on a widow or widower of any kind, especially when kids are involved.
The mental illness of the mother is discussed in passing and there is not enough depth to the discussions on how it impacted the heroine or her father. If the book had to highlight the tragedy of a mentally ill person killing themselves, the least it could have done was give the complexity of the disease more air time in the story.
A book that did a good job of conveying what this book failed to do was MAD LOVE by Suzanne Selfors. That book combined a parent with a mental illness with actual supernatural events and often did it with sharp wit and irony while still conveying the complexity of life with the mental disease.
The book begins with the promise of supernatural events, but ends with a person coming to grips with emotional and mental turmoil caused by the trauma of a mentally ill parent taking her own life.
The character of Oliver, the love interest, is often flat and largely unbelievable. He almost seems like a forced ingredient in the story.
The relationship between the father and the aunt is disturbing and disrespectful on so many levels to the teen character, yet the story justifies it in the end. At the very least most people wait a year or two to move in on a widow or widower of any kind, especially when kids are involved.
The mental illness of the mother is discussed in passing and there is not enough depth to the discussions on how it impacted the heroine or her father. If the book had to highlight the tragedy of a mentally ill person killing themselves, the least it could have done was give the complexity of the disease more air time in the story.
A book that did a good job of conveying what this book failed to do was MAD LOVE by Suzanne Selfors. That book combined a parent with a mental illness with actual supernatural events and often did it with sharp wit and irony while still conveying the complexity of life with the mental disease.
August 1, 2010
Holly's mother died about 6 months ago. She's been mad at her dad for dating her mother's sister, so she's been avoiding them, but now she's come home from boarding school for Christmas break. She becomes convinced that her aunt murdered her mother because she's seeing ghosts and has performed some Santeria rituals, and now she just has to prove it so her dad will dump Claudia.
Completely horrible dialogue, very obvious plotlines, and a mixed-up, wishy-washy unconvincing main character. This book was not what I thought it'd be.
Completely horrible dialogue, very obvious plotlines, and a mixed-up, wishy-washy unconvincing main character. This book was not what I thought it'd be.
February 1, 2011
I love this book. I had a very good time reading it. I actually just borrowed it from my best friend. She told me that it was nice and offered it to me. So, I said yes. The story's a mix of romance and mystery! It's a MUST read! If I were you, I'd buy this book immediately. You'll love it. :)
September 28, 2011
This book was kind of weird...
It had an awesome idea, but I was disappointed by the "ghost."
It seemed kind of misleading.
And the relationship between her and Oliver was flat.
He seemed kind of drama queen-ish.
I dunno, I guess it could've been a lot better.
It had an awesome idea, but I was disappointed by the "ghost."
It seemed kind of misleading.
And the relationship between her and Oliver was flat.
He seemed kind of drama queen-ish.
I dunno, I guess it could've been a lot better.
August 12, 2017
This had so many holes in it I don't even know where to start.
November 2, 2017
I was excited to read this book, but was disappointed when it wasn't the supernatural read I was hoping for. It wasn't a bad read, just deceiving.
September 13, 2020
one of the worst books I've ever had to read for school. pls stay away unless you love bad, out-of-touch dialogue that sounds like an alien impersonating Californian teenagers.
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October 20, 2010 In the introduction to A Girl, a Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills, the author explains that her intent is to portray a “Hamlet-inspired ghost story unlike any other”, and there are obvious similarities. Holly has gone off to the East Coast at the start of her freshman year of high school, just a few months after her mother’s death. Not long after her departure for high school, her father drops the bomb that he has begun seeing her aunt; Holly’s late mother’s sister, Claudia. Naturally, Holly is extremely upset with her father and puts off returning home for breaks or holidays to cope with the situation until Christmas break. Shortly after her arrival home for Christmas break, Holly begins seeing her dead mother’s ghost, who asks Holly to seek revenge on Claudia. All of this is very much reminiscent of Hamlet, including the idea that Prince Hamlet may be mad in his visions of the ghost of King Hamlet. In A Girl, a Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills, however, Holly finally agrees toward the end that she is creating these visions, thus ending the idea of a ghostly element.
I had high hopes for this novel given the excerpt on the back, but very quickly, I discovered dialogue that seems contrived accompanied by an easily determinable conclusion. No thrills and chills are to be found within the pages. Instead, the reader will likely find themselves feeling a bit slimy from the content as it includes interjections of sexual content, including a scene in which Holly overhears her father and Claudia having sex.
As there is no real paranormal/ghostly presence, but instead a distraught teenager who struggles to cope with her mother’s death and her father’s indiscretions, this wouldn’t really fall into the horror category.
The publisher’s information says the book is for ages 12 and up; grades 7 and higher, but I would be more apt to say ages 14 and up and grades 9 and higher given the sexual content. If added, I would suggest this be included in a YA public library collection.
Contains: Sexual content
Reviewed by Kelly Fann
I had high hopes for this novel given the excerpt on the back, but very quickly, I discovered dialogue that seems contrived accompanied by an easily determinable conclusion. No thrills and chills are to be found within the pages. Instead, the reader will likely find themselves feeling a bit slimy from the content as it includes interjections of sexual content, including a scene in which Holly overhears her father and Claudia having sex.
As there is no real paranormal/ghostly presence, but instead a distraught teenager who struggles to cope with her mother’s death and her father’s indiscretions, this wouldn’t really fall into the horror category.
The publisher’s information says the book is for ages 12 and up; grades 7 and higher, but I would be more apt to say ages 14 and up and grades 9 and higher given the sexual content. If added, I would suggest this be included in a YA public library collection.
Contains: Sexual content
Reviewed by Kelly Fann
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2011
As if her mother's death wasn't hard enough to process, Holly's father spring the worst news on her at the worst possible time. He's dating someone: his dead wife's sister. It's just too sick for Holly to think about. But she's forced to deal with both her father and his new zombie loving girlfriend, Aunt Claudia, a horror film producer. It's only a few weeks, and it should be relatively easy to avoid them both since her father is always working and Aunt Claudia doesn't live her.
But things have changed since the last time Holly was home from school. Her father still works a lot, but not as much as he used to meaning he's home a lot more. And worst of all, Aunt Claudia has moved in. Okay, no big deal Holly thinks. She'll just have to try harder to avoid them, that's all. And besides, It's only a few weeks. With the help of best friend Felicia and new boyfriend Oliver, winter break will fly by and Holly won't really have to deal with them.
That is, until her deceased mother pays Holly a very unexpected visit asking Holly to seek revenge on the one person she's trying to stay as far away from as possible - Aunt Claudia.
A Girl, A Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills is a (very) loose rewrite of William Shakespeare's famed play Hamlet. Even though author Lizabeth Zindel doesn't stick closely to the original storyline, readers will see enough similarities within the text to see where inspiration was drawn from.
The only real flaw I found to this book was the California slang. It sometimes felt a bit over the top and stereotypical. For example, when Holly and best friend refer to each other as "dudette" at times.
Zindel is a strong writer who doesn't beat around the bush. Plunging into the meat of A Girl, A Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills from the start Zindel's book is a quick and fun read. But what really makes it what it is, is her heroin Holly. Holly's determined, passionate almost to the point of obsessive when it comes to seeking revenge, but most of all, she's real.
But things have changed since the last time Holly was home from school. Her father still works a lot, but not as much as he used to meaning he's home a lot more. And worst of all, Aunt Claudia has moved in. Okay, no big deal Holly thinks. She'll just have to try harder to avoid them, that's all. And besides, It's only a few weeks. With the help of best friend Felicia and new boyfriend Oliver, winter break will fly by and Holly won't really have to deal with them.
That is, until her deceased mother pays Holly a very unexpected visit asking Holly to seek revenge on the one person she's trying to stay as far away from as possible - Aunt Claudia.
A Girl, A Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills is a (very) loose rewrite of William Shakespeare's famed play Hamlet. Even though author Lizabeth Zindel doesn't stick closely to the original storyline, readers will see enough similarities within the text to see where inspiration was drawn from.
The only real flaw I found to this book was the California slang. It sometimes felt a bit over the top and stereotypical. For example, when Holly and best friend refer to each other as "dudette" at times.
Zindel is a strong writer who doesn't beat around the bush. Plunging into the meat of A Girl, A Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills from the start Zindel's book is a quick and fun read. But what really makes it what it is, is her heroin Holly. Holly's determined, passionate almost to the point of obsessive when it comes to seeking revenge, but most of all, she's real.
January 8, 2012
First of all, this book is not horrifying. The main issue in here is that the main character is going through a pressured psychological period after her mother's death. She refuses to accept that other people close to her mom move on so fast. Also, throughout most of the story, she doesn't try to see the issues through others perspective. I think that the issues are there because her mind and body refuses to find peace. She starts to see spirit of her mother. The spirit of her mom is not real. She invents this in her mind because she misses her mom so much that she starts to get insane. I liked the ending, although i sort of know all along that the main character is seeing and feelings things because she is experiencing trauma. The ending of this book is kind of like saying the line "and so, Harry Potter wakes up from his long, long dream" at the end of the 7th Harry Potter book.
May 28, 2013
I knew going in this book would probably just be a quick, fun read at most with a little Shakespearean influence going on. And for a good bit of it, I did enjoy it.
Then came the "twist" ending (it's not really a twist, but for the lack of a better word, it'll work), and it just fell apart for me. It's about a girl who's working through her grief over the loss of her mom, and it has its good moments. If that was the entire book, then it would be fine. If it was a straight-up homage to Hamlet, then that would be fine. Instead it is a mish-mash of the two that doesn't work, as if two half-finished stories were tied up together instead.
Then came the "twist" ending (it's not really a twist, but for the lack of a better word, it'll work), and it just fell apart for me. It's about a girl who's working through her grief over the loss of her mom, and it has its good moments. If that was the entire book, then it would be fine. If it was a straight-up homage to Hamlet, then that would be fine. Instead it is a mish-mash of the two that doesn't work, as if two half-finished stories were tied up together instead.
April 16, 2011
I really disliked this book, feeling like I was getting in for a supernatural murder mystery, but was sorely disappointed. Instead it was about a spoiled little rich girl who is having issues over the death of her mother and becomes delusional. the "romance" is too unrealistic and boring. Only finsihed it because I was hoping for a twist ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2012
I got 50 pages in and just gave up. The writing was terrible, there may have been one instance where "he said" or "she said" was replaced with something more creative, and the main character was obnoxious. Absolutely adore the cover, it's why I picked it up in the first place, but the story itself was a total flop. So sad, I really wanted to like this!
January 31, 2017
2.5 stars. This spin-off is more cheerful than the play on which it's based, but it's sort of dull overall. There is insta-love, the progression of the story and the characters themselves aren't very engaging, and the climax falls flat. The story has occasional sweet and interesting moments. An okay read.
June 11, 2011
This book had potential. It was an interesting take on Hamlet, but the more I read, the more I thought my time would've been better spent scraping gum off the bottom of library tables. Started out good enough, ended like crap.
unfinished
July 2, 2011I typically really enjoy modernizations of Shakespeare...and I was enjoying this until I hit this sentence: "And our eyes were pools, but not pools of tar, where parts of the past got stuck and died." Granted, they were at the La Brea Tarpits in this scene...but still.
February 9, 2014
I saw that this book got a lot of negative criticism, however, I really enjoyed it! The writing is good, not too much deatil, but there's still a good amount, I love Holly's character and the world she lives in. The first time I read this was over a year ago, and now I'm reading it again.
December 31, 2010
The ending was a little open-ended...is there a sequel in the future?
July 3, 2012
I wish the ending was more like Hamlet.
Read
August 11, 2013Ugh.
August 9, 2014
2.5 stars - good premise it just fell a bit flat.
March 7, 2015
I loved it! I didn't want to put the book down! I wanna know what happens next! :)
September 14, 2015
It's been a few years since I've read this but as far as I remember it was a great book
August 26, 2014
I do not like how I was pretty much promised paranormal and all I got was normal.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews