City of Ghosts: An Easy, Haunting Read
An adventurous paranormal story about friendship
Trigger Warnings: Death, Murder, Kidnapping
“Every time I get nervous or scared, I remind myself that every good story needs twists and turns. Every heroine needs an adventure.” — Victoria Schwab, City of Ghosts
Genre: Paranormal Fiction
Age Level: 11+
Summary
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab is a quick-paced story that follows a young girl named Cassidy Blake who can see ghosts ever since she had a near-death experience a year ago.
The paranormal seems to surround her. Her best friend Jacob is a ghost, and her parents write a series of books about ghost-hunting.
Cassidy can even pass back and forth between the worlds of the living and the dead by passing through the “veil.”
When her parent’s book series gets picked up as a television show, the family is off to Edinburgh, Scotland for filming.
In Edinburgh, Cassidy meets a girl named Laura who shares the same abilities as she does.
Laura teaches Cassidy what her true purpose is. As the story unfolds, the trio must stop the Raven in Red, a ghost known for kidnapping children.
Review
City of Ghosts is a delightful read for all ages. Schwab creates an enthralling spiritual world, and the story moves along swiftly without lulls in the storyline.
At 272 pages, this book is a quick read which you could even get through in a single sitting. I listened to the audiobook, and it only took five hours to finish the story.
While the book centers around the ghost world, the story is not scary. Don’t be intimidated if you are not a fan of horror or if you frighten easily.
My favorite theme throughout the story is “friendship.” Schwab builds an unbreakable friendship between Cassidy and Jacob which is downright adorable.
The end of the book made me cry happy tears.
One thing to note is that the book does make quite a few references to the Harry Potter series. The “veil” seems to be inspired by the veil Sirius Black falls through in Order of the Phoenix.
The many Harry Potter references might be distracting and uncomfortable to some people. However, Schwab wrote City of Ghosts before J.K. Rowling began showing her true colors.
Plus, the Harry Potter fanbase has attempted to “reclaim” the series, and Rowling does not profit from City of Ghosts in any way.
