The Ghost Files (The Ghost Files (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
Mattie is 16 and sees dead people. No, really. She thinks it may stem from the time her mother tried to kill her and succeeded in killing herself. Her father is an unknown, so she’s been in the foster system for most of her life. So, yeah, she’s dragging some baggage around. She’s just trying to live a normal life, but ghosts keep popping up. What’s a girl to do? She mostly ignores them until the day one of them turns out to be a friend of hers. Now it’s personal and Mattie finds herself hunting for a serial killer. She gets some help from the gorgeous Officer Dan, a rookie cop working his way through college. Things heat up quickly and Mattie finds herself fighting for her own life.What I liked:The whole premise is loads of fun and Apryl does a great job with the backstory on Mattie’s abilities. She’s created a full mythology and it will be fun to see what she does with it throughout the series. It’s a complex storyline with lots of room to grow.I loved her dialogue. She has a gift for making it seem natural. You find yourself in the room with the characters.Yeah, not so much:Just a personal preference, but Mattie seemed a bit conceited. I would have liked to see a little more humility and self-doubt. The fudgepops didn’t work much for me, either. A bit annoying.I’m not sure I bought the Officer Dan being-in-college-while-still-a-cop-at-age-20. Maybe a little more depth to his story would set me straight. I did like him, however; he’s another great book boyfriend.Lastly, what happened to Jake? He kinda drops off the planet. Maybe that’s wrapped up in Book 2?Final Recommendation:Oh, heck, yeah! Give it a try! I think you’ll really like it if you’re into YA paranormal. I’m going to download Book 2 as soon as I finish this review. It’s a great start to a fun-filled series. Thanks, Apryl! Keep writing and giving us great stories. "Didn't I see Ava over there wearing knockoffs?""I know! Can't believe she thought she could pass those boots off as designer. I mean, really."I almost put the book down right then, page 5. But I'm stubborn. I hate putting books down before I've given them a fair chance. So I struggled on. And I have to say, this may be the worst book I've ever read. I honestly have no idea how it got 5 stars or how it's in the process of being turned into a movie, but there's no accounting for taste.I can understand why the main character's mother tried to kill her. I wanted to kill her. I rooted for her untimely death every time she faced a dangerous situation. Messed up, I know, but I really hated Mattie. I wanted to smack her almost every time she opened her mouth. I like a tough, snarky main character but she was a snot.A little girl who had been shot- "The kid was at least 9 or 10- old enough to know better than to go off by herself. I knew that even before entering the foster care system at five years old! Really, how stupid can you be?"More like how insensitive can you be? A little kid is dead and she's going off about how stupid the kid was for wandering away. And that was not the first or only time she went off like that. My first impression of her was that she was insensitive and shallow.And "Office Dan". Wow. Firstly, a cop falling for a 16 year old snot head- I can't suspend my disbelief that far. He must not have valued his job very much when you also consider how much trouble he watched her get into without doing anything- like breaking into houses, and all he did was sit back and go, "Gee, Mattie, you really shouldn't do that." And it was decidedly a bizarre and awkward scene when she ends up sitting on his bed (in a band poster-plastered bedroom in his parent's house because of course) His parents hollering at them to "Leave the door open" only completed that awkward picture. And let's not forget that she was dating a major hottie who she was totally in love with even though they'd only been dating for a week. And how she had the hots for pretty much every guy she came across and she must have been pretty hot shit because the guys (most of them 18+) all flocked to her. One word, guys- jailbait.The dialogue felt horribly stilted and false, the characters badly fleshed and unlikable. I wanted to like this book, truly I did. The book cover was drop-dead fantastic but that's the only nice thing I have to say about the book. I almost put this book down several times during the process of reading it but I forced myself to finish it because I didn't think it would be fair to review it without having read the entire thing. It felt like the author mashed Suze Simon (The Mediator series) and Rose Hathaway (Vampire Academy, same last name and everything) but did a horrible job of it. If you liked this book or if you hated this book but love paranormal romance and/or snarky main characters, I HIGHLY recommend that you pick up The Mediator series by Meg Cabot or Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.
What do You think about The Ghost Files (The Ghost Files (2013)?
This was really good for readers that love the paranormal/young teen read!!
—Glen_coco
I read a while back, so good I read again!!! Free on Wattpad!
—Beefone
