City of Ghosts Spoiler Free Review

City of Ghosts
Victoria Schwab

Synopsis:

Cassidy Blake's parents are The Inspectres, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When The Inspectres head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn't sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn't belong in her world. Cassidy's powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 4.5 stars. It was like a cross between Casper the Friendly Ghost and Tim Burton films. It was the perfect spooky children’s book. Highly recommend reading it in preparation of Halloween.

The story follows a young girl who can see ghosts. Cassidy had an encounter with death that left her with the ability to see ghosts However no one believes her, not even her parents who write about the paranormal.

The book starts off with Cassidy finding out that her parents are going to be filming a tv show about the most haunted places on earth. This first book took place in Edinburgh, Scotland and I can only assume that each book in this series will be in a different haunted place. I’m into it. 

Cass pretty much only has one consistent friend throughout the book, Jacob. Jacob is the ghost of a young boy who intertwines himself into Cassidy’s life. He provides stability considering no one seems to believe that she can see ghosts. I enjoy their friendship, it goes both ways, it isn’t just one of them taking more from the other. 

I can’t help but compare this to Vicious, also written by Victoria Schwab. It had a bit of a similar premise to Sydney from Vicious, so if you liked Vicious and want to read a children’s version of that I would recommend this. I would suggest reading it anyway because it was really fun, but if you weren’t already sold, then I hope this does it for you.

Overall, if you are looking for a book that’s mature with complicated plots and heavy character development, this may not be for you. It’s very simple and good for its target audience: children. But if you are looking for something more simplistic and still has that spooky vibe then this may be for you.