Book Review: Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

This review contains clearly marked spoilers

Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over "breathers". Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody... and Cass loves dirt. She's on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.
But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass's whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.
As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim's life, she's surprised to realize he's not so bad — and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance... (From Goodreads)

This book has been on my to-read list for quite a long time, so I was ecstatic when I won a copy from Kristen of Bookworming in the 21st century!

Cass is an outcast, and has been since middle school. Of course, it's hard to fit in when you can talk to ghosts, and get the dirt on all of your classmates. I suppose people might be nicer if she didn't use that dirt against said classmates, but where would the fun be in that. When the student council VP, Tim, starts paying attention to Cass, she's justified in her suspicions. Really, he just hopes that Cass can help him connect with his deceased mother, even though it may not help him move on emotionally.

Crewe did a great job with the ghost aspect of this book. Once it became clear that ghosts remain until they can accomplish some sort of unfinished business, I started to wonder why Cass's sister had returned as a ghost. I have my theories, but this issue isn't really resolved in the book.

This paragraph contains spoilers, so if you haven't read the book skip this paragraph!

As the book drew to a close I was really worried that Crewe was going to fall into the YA cliche of making the two main characters end up together, despite neither of them being in the right place emotionally for one. So, I was relieved when that didn't happen! It's obvious that the two care for each other, but Tim really needs to focus on some counseling to help him deal with the grief of losing his mother.

(end of spoilers)

Overall, I thought that this was a good paranormal, and a quick read. I haven't heard anything about a sequel, but I still have my fingers crossed. While this book wrapped up nicely, there's still more I'd like to read about.

Give Up the Ghost
By Megan Crewe
Published by Henry Holt and Co.
256 Pages
Rating: B

Teaser Tuesday (November 9)

What is Teaser Tuesday?
It's a meme hosted by Should Be Reading and here are the rules:
Grab your current read...
Open to a random page
Share two teaser sentences from somewhere on the page
Don't include spoilers.

"You would think it'd be easy to get alone with a person after she's dead. Not Paige."
-Give Up the Ghost, Page 1, by Megan Crewe

In My Mailbox (October 24)

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren, who was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. All of the synopses you see below were found on Goodreads. Here are the books I got this week:

Christmas came early this week. I won two contests, and all the books had been on my wishlist for quite some time!

From Kristen at Bookworming in the 21st Century

Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over "breathers". Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody... and Cass loves dirt. She's on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.
But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass's whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.
As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim's life, she's surprised to realize he's not so bad — and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance...

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret - he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now the creatures under the hill want him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants.

A month ago, Mackie might have told them to buzz off. But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tate, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?


Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?


Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

Avery Hood is reeling from the loss of her parents--and the fact that she can't remember what happened to them even though she was there.

She's struggling to adjust to life without them, and to living with her grandmother, when she meets Ben, who isn't like any guy she's ever met before.

It turns out there's a reason why, and Ben's secret may hold the key to Avery finding out what happened to her parents...

But what if that secret changes everything she knows about--and feels for--Ben


From Princess Bookie's Contest Craze -

The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell

Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she's been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father's too mo ...moreSixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she's been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father's too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he's not a hero in any way, or else he's stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first.