Title: Ghost House
Author: Alexandra Adornetto
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Mystery, Ghosts
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 2 stars
Purchase: Amazon
From the New York Times bestselling author of Halo comes the start of a beautiful and powerful new series.
After the loss of her mother, Chloe Kennedy starts seeing the ghosts that haunted her as a young girl again. Spending time at her grandmother’s country estate in the south of England is her chance to get away from her grief and the spirits that haunt her. Until she meets a mysterious stranger…
Alexander Reade is 157 years dead, with secrets darker than the lake surrounding Grange Hall and a lifelike presence that draws Chloe more strongly than any ghost before. But the bond between them awakens the vengeful spirit of Alexander’s past love, Isobel. And she will stop at nothing to destroy anyone who threatens to take him from her.
To stop Isobel, Chloe must push her developing abilities to their most dangerous limits, even if it means losing Alex forever… and giving the hungry dead a chance to claim her for their own.
After reading Halo, and not enjoying it all that much, I was hesitant about picking up Ghost House. Ultimately, my love for ghost stories decided for me, and I gave it a shot. I wasn’t dissapointed. The story is engaging, it has some original elements, the writing has improved from the Halo series, and characterization was slightly better as well. It still won’t land on my list of favorite books, but it’s a great improvement from the author’s first series.
That said, the book lacks passion. Anyone could’ve written it. The characters are bland and boring. Life-altering events, like the death of Chloe’s mom, are completely glossed over. Why should she feel pain over what happened to her mom when she has a new guy to swoon about? Yeah, right. The plot is uninspired. A girl loses her mother, moves into a large house with her grandmother, and starts seeing ghosts. She falls ofr a ghost named Alexander, and that brings about the rage of his former lover, Isobel.
Grange Hall is lifeless and dull, which is not what would be expected of a haunted mansion. It seems to be a reflection of the personalities of the characters. Chloe is a cardboard figure without real emotions. Alexander is your standard mysterious hero hiding secrets. The antagonist is as one-dimensional as the other characters, and her motives are never truly explained, or how she became such a powerful spirit.
Chloe is judgemental, dull, and has as much chemistry with Alexander as she has with a bed, a chair, or anything else. Which means: nada.
Also, I fail to grasp why Isobel gets all the blame. Why is it right that Alexander blames her for something that happened to her, and something she has no control over? For those of you who read the book, was this just as mind-blowing to you as it was to me? Isobel is another victim, not some evil tyrant. Makes no sense whatsoever. Why is she supposedly to blame for everything?
The book ended up being a dissapointment. The idea was good, but the plot failed halfway through, and the characters lacked depth.
It is a shame you did not get along with this book. I am a huge fan of ghost stories and may check it out.
The one thing that puts me off is the thing that everything sounds a little dull. I hate it when I love the concepts in a book but there is not fire behind them!
Here is to a better read next time!
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Alex @ The Shelf Diaries